Ryanair hits out at 'fake news' after cheap flight hack shared by Which?

Ryanair has slammed a Which? article that claimed customers could cut their travel costs with a nifty trick as 'fake news'.

The budget airline might offer plane tickets that are a lot cheaper than some of their competitors, but it's been alleged that travellers are still paying over the odds.

It's all to do with the different fare options that Ryanair offer and according to Which?, a lot of people have been spending more money than they need to.

An article written by travel writer Trevor Baker in February claimed that families could save 'well over a hundred pounds' when booking their next trip if they 'ignore its recommendation of what kind of fare you should book'.

Ryanair explains that its 'basic fare' is the cheapest option - and with this passengers only get to bring one small cabin bag to slide under the seat in front of them. Seats are also 'randomly assigned', unless you pay extra.

Whereas if you opt for the 'regular fare', the airline says this comes with standard seat selection, priority boarding and the ability to bring two cabin bags onboard.

Travellers who book the 'regular' fare enjoy perks such as priority boarding (Getty Stock Image)

According to Baker, when he was booking flights for his family of four from London to Alicante for later on this year, 'a banner popped up saying that regular [fare] is ideal for your trip'.

"But if we'd followed Ryanair's advice – choosing the 'Regular' fare instead of 'Basic' – we'd have ended up paying £59 more for exactly the same luggage and selection of the cheapest seats," he claimed.

"With the 'Basic' fare you can add bags and seat selection later in the booking process, for a lower price.

"If our family decided that we could get by with four cabin bags instead of the eight included in Ryanair's 'Regular' fare, then we could reduce the fare by £163 from Ryanair's recommendation.

"It's just one of the ways you can save money on Ryanair's notoriously complicated website."

According to Which?, after conducting checks on this around 30 times over the past two years, the consumer champion brand have only found the 'Regular' fare to be cheaper on one occasion.

"We looked at 15 flights to a range of locations in February 2026 and only once was the regular ticket cheaper, even if we wanted all those extras," it said.

The airline said that the alleged travel hack was 'fake news' (Getty Stock Image)

"On seven occasions it was more expensive - often just by a pound or so but sometimes much more.

"Ryanair's 'regular' fare also assumes that, even if two adults are travelling with two toddlers, they'll want to take a large cabin bag for the overhead locker and a bag to go under the seat for each of the four passengers. If they choose Basic and add fewer bags, separately, they'll save even more."

But after getting wind of this supposed travel hack shared by Which?, Ryanair claimed it was a load of nonsense.

In a statement shared with Sky News, a spokesperson for the airline said: "This is more fake news from Which?

"Thankfully no one reads, or takes any notice of Which's fake recycled news articles or your spurious 'advice', as our traffic growth from 200 million to 208 million passengers in 2025 proves."

Ouch!

LADbible has contacted Ryanair for further comment.