How can airlines.........?

[KNIEVEL77]

........charge so little per seat to make it worth their while flying............or is it that they only have a tiny number of seats at very low prices and the rest are at inflated prices.............or do they have to keep their numbers up to
hold onto a particular route????

Oh, and does anyone know where I can get a Visa Electron card from so that I don't have to pay Ryanair extra for booking by card?

[Just a spotter]

Well, for a start, not every seat on the flight is sold at the lowest price (mind you, not every seat may end up being sold regardless of the price).

LoCo's offer a small number of seats per flight at a "promotional" price, say, free or 1 (insert local currency here), then as more seats on the flight are sold and/or as the date/time of the departure nears, they increase the price. It's failry simple economics 1-0-1, supply and demand. Additionaly, FR have agreements with at least some of thier airports that require them to deliver a certain number of PAX per year, so they can just give away seats in order to fulfil their obligations (and no doubt retain marketing support from the airport).

I recall a few years ago, having to travel from DUB to London for a weekend at short notice (booking the Wednesday evening to fly on the Friday). I had no particular preference on which airport to use in London, but as it turned out, there were limited seats available on the carriers operating out of DUB into any of the airports. In the end EI and FR were the two cheapest, EI €149 Premier Class (they had no other seats available) into LHR and FR €169 into Stanstead.

JAS

[Davidsoffice]

I believe the locos also help defray the cost of flying/maintain their profits by the revenue generated from the add-ons; Meals/drinks, Rail tickets, Credit cards, IFE, Additional baggage charges etc.

Perhaps you can get cheaper flights if you look for Stansted?

[Icare9]

You can get an Electron card with a Halifax Easycash (basic) account, although I'm sure they'll start to rethink if a lot of demand to avoid the Ryanair £5 per person per flight charge on all other card options.
There are a number of Ryanair promotions on at present, look for the All Inclusive as taxes and fees can make even a 1 penny seat expensive!!. Check several days either side of your preferred dates if possible to see if any cheaper are available (that applies to all airlines!!) and see if any alternative airports to depart/arrive that offer better value. I believe easyJet have just started selling with 25% off on flights from 1st March, so you may have alternative to Ryanair. Unless it is a long haul, you may not need to partake of food or drink or any other add ons. Good luck!!

[Seat62K]

The "alternative airports" advice is good; I found Gatwick-Alicante on Ryanair at a fare unavailable from Stansted (£10 return paying by Electron).