Why booking a ‘basic’ fare with Ryanair is actually cheaper
EVER travelled with Ryanair and had to upgrade your fare to include more luggage? Well, you could be spending more than you need to.
Even though Ryanair is a budget airline, when it comes to booking a flight, if you want anything more than a small bag under the seat in front of you, you have to upgrade.
The same goes for if you are travelling as a group and want to sit together.
But, new findings by Which? have revealed you might actually be spending more money when you upgrade your fare, instead of just booking the most basic ticket and adding the extras on afterwards.
When you are booking a flight with Ryanair, a banner often appears stating that “Regular is ideal for your trip”.
This Regular fare is different to Basic, as it includes priority boarding, carry-on luggage and free standard seat selection.
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However, on around 30 checks over the last two years, Which? found that if they had followed Ryanair‘s advice – choosing its more expensive Regular fare rather than Basic – it would have actually only been cheaper in one instance.
Every other time it would have been cheaper to book Basic and add the extras individually.
Which? also looked at 15 flights to a range of locations for travel this month and again found that only once was the Regular ticket cheaper.
Often the Regular fare was more expensive by just a pound, but sometimes it was much more.
For example, for flights for a family of four from London Stansted to Alicante, it would have cost £61 more to choose Regular rather than Basic, for exactly the same priority boarding, cabin bags and seat selection.
Flights from Manchester to Marrakesh with a Regular fare were £45.50 more.
Instead, Which? found that if you choose Basic and just add bags and seat selection yourself later in the booking process, it works out cheaper.
If a family of four choose to book the airline’s Basic fare with four cabin bags – instead of eight with the Regular fare – then they could save £163.
It is worth noting though that the Basic fare (not with the add-ons) does have strict bag rules where your bag must fit under the seat in front and cannot measure more than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm.
If your bag is bigger than this and they spot it at the gate you could face an additional fee between £46 and £60.
If you do add cabin luggage, the same strict rules apply.
Cabin luggage must measure a maximum of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm – but if it is bigger than this, you could be charged an extra £70 to £75.
People have even been caught out in the past by a zip or handle, so it is worth being within the measurements.
And this isn’t the only way to save when booking with Ryanair…
Which? claims that passengers should also ignore Ryanair’s Plus fare, where passengers get a 20kg suitcase and seat selection.
On a summer London Stansted to Malaga route, Which? found it was actually £35 cheaper for a family of four to choose Basic and add the extras later.
Last year, the airline denied that it’s cheaper to buy the Basic fare with the extras, than use its Regular or Plus fares.
Which? asked again in February 2026 and the airline said it had nothing further to add.
And as for the Family Plus option – it isn’t needed for most families.
When Which? checked the price for two adults, a teenager and a four-year-old to travel to Alicante, they found that it would be £260 extra for the Family Plus option.
Instead, if they booked a Basic ticket and added seat selection, three 10kg cabin bags and a larger, 20kg suitcase to check-in, they would’ve paid £45
less.
Ryanair’s Flexi Plus offering has a similar story.
This fare allows you to change your flight without a fee as well as the option to choose your seat, more legroom, fast track through security and two cabin bags.
Which? found that this would cost an extra £354 for a couple flying from London to Alicante; the same extras (but without the flight change allowance) bought separately would cost £186 – a saving of £168.
Other advice Which? has for passengers travelling with Ryanair is to not add the airline’s travel insurance as it is unlikely to be tailored to your needs and could be more expensive.
Similarly, passengers should not let Ryanair do their currency conversion.
When you book a flight with Ryanair, the fare will be shown in the currency of the country you are departing from.
For example, if you were heading back from Spain it would be in euros.
The airline then converts the fare into pounds, but it is often charged at a terrible exchange rate, meaning you could be paying more for your flight.
You can opt out of Ryanair’s automatic conversion rate, but it isn’t the easiest process.
After you enter your card number, a figure will appear that shows the conversion rate.
There is then a small arrow downwards, with the question: “Want to
learn more about our guaranteed exchange rate?”
If you click on the arrow, another message appears: “If you do not wish to accept the exchange rate, you can pay in the currency of the flight and have the currency converted by your Payment Service Provider.
“However, bear in mind that the rate you receive from your bank is not guaranteed and is subject to daily fluctuations, which could result in a significantly different cost for you.”
There is then also a pre-ticked box, with the message: “We recommend you do not untick the checkbox so that you receive our guaranteed exchange rate.”
Which? recommends that travellers ignore this and untick the box, leaving the exchange rate to be calculated by your bank.
Since 2017, Which? has found that the bank rate has always been better.
However, Ryanair told Which? that this claim is false and said that its currency conversion is competitive.
Another piece of advice is to consider checking in a 20kg bag, instead of taking two 10kg bags.
If you are not bothered by priority boarding, it can work out cheaper to check in one 20kg suitcase than having two 10kg hand luggage bags and priority boarding.
Which? found that this method was £3.50 cheaper on a route to Alicante in 2026.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel said: “Ryanair’s low cost fares may look tempting, but make sure you have a calculator with you when you book.
“By the time you’ve paid extra for basics like cabin bags or simply sitting next to your own family, the headline price quickly unravels – and other airlines can work out cheaper.
“It pays to do your own research.”
Ryanair repsonds to Which? claims…
A SPOKESPERSON for Ryanair said:
“Your claims are false and inaccurate.
“People should avoid Ryanair’s high fees for outsized bags – they can do so by simply travelling with bags that meet our agreed dimensions.
“Our sizers are bigger than our permitted dimensions, so if the bag fits in the sizer, it gets on, if it doesn’t, it gets charged.
“Your claim that it is ‘cheaper’ to book the basic fare and then add the same extras than to book Ryanair’s bundles – it is never cheaper.
“The Ryanair bundles are a facility, which make it easier for passengers to buy and book the bundles.
“They are however dynamically priced, using the cheapest available fare at time of booking, and so the Ryanair bundles are the same price as the underlying air fare, plus the extras if booked separately.
“Your claim that it is ‘cheaper’ to book separately is false.
“We don’t care whether people buy Ryanair’s travel insurance or third-party travel insurance, as long as they buy travel insurance.
“We strongly recommend all passengers buy travel insurance.
“Your advice in relation to currency conversion Ryanair’s currency conversion is competitive, but again we don’t care whether people use our currency conversion or use some other currency conversion service.
“As usual this Which? report is false and inaccurate.
“Although since almost nobody reads Which?, and certainly nobody pays any attention to your advice, we won’t either.”
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