Ryanair throws cheap mobile roaming deal at passengers

February 15, 2011 By 2 Comments

With 78 million passengers a year, Ryanair is looking to change the use of mobiles overseas on a grand scale following a deal signed with SIM provider Maxroam.

ryanair

The agreement sees the Maxroam service made available as an ancillary buy on the Ryanair website, giving passengers the ability to receive SMS and calls for free when they buy a SIM card for Euro 5.

Not content with just offering free incoming calls across a network of 43 European countries, passengers can buy a bundle deal worth Euro 29 giving them a phone, SIM card and Euro 10 call credit.

Charges run at Euro 0.29 per minute for a call within the network of countries and Euro 0.09 for every outbound SMS.

Given the current charges applied by many existing mobile service operator, Maxroam’s partnership with Ryanair appears to be quite a major package – with the potential volume of passengers snapping up the package a handy way of spreading the word virally through word-of-mouth.

With countless offers and other ancillary products thrown at passengers throughout the online and physical journey (including such items as lottery tickets), the challenge for Ryanair will be how to market the service.

Expect dual messages around “low fares, low roaming”, no doubt.

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Kevin May About Kevin May

Kevin May is editor of Tnooz. He joined as a co-founder in August 2009 after spending nearly four years as editor of UK-based business publication Travolution.

Passionate about the business of travel and the internet, Kevin played a major role in establishing Travolution in print, online, events and with an annual awards programme, as well as becoming a regular speaker and moderator at industry events.

Prior to Travolution, Kevin was web editor at Media Week (UK) and also worked in regional newspapers for two years at the Essex Enquirer. He started his career in journalism at the Police Gazette at New Scotland Yard in London.

Comments

  1. Joe Malone says:
    February 15, 2011 at 6:04 am

    I travel quite a bit and use a company called SimplyTravel SIM. Their website is http://www.simplytravelsim.com and I have to say service (prob similar to Maxroam) is excellent; incoming and outgoig call rates are free or v.low and the aftersales care was terrific

    Cheers – Joe M.

    Reply
  2. Kevin O'Sullivan says:
    February 15, 2011 at 6:55 am

    Travellers have become accustomed to roaming charges for making calls, and either put up with the premium rates, or simply don’t make calls. What still terrifies people, though, is the data roaming costs. If they target this audience they could have significant success. Wow, could Ryanair help make 2011 the year of the mobile we… etc etc..

    Reply

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