I’ve been an “all-sport” member of 24 Hour Fitness for probably a decade & have been paying an obscenely low rate for the past 8 years, and mostly I just use them for the pool access(with the occasional treadmill stint if weather dictates). It’s been fine for my needs. However, my work requires travel on a semi-frequent basis, so I’ve found a renewed interest in other franchises as I sometimes head to towns without a 24 Hour Fitness available(or the only available one is a ‘super sport’). Trying to find pricing info online for the other franchises is a royal pain in the ass though, they seem deliberately coy about their prices. Does anyone have info on prices for other franchises(L.A., Lifetime, etc.) when it comes to their ‘all-gyms’ packages?
p.s. I use swimmersguide.com as well, and it is a useful tool. I’m just exploring all options here.
I use the local YMCA. $70 bucks a month for family membership, less for individual. I think if you are Y member you can workout at any Y for a minimal charge. I avoid the “chain gyms”,too much smoke and mirrors for me.
I’m a lifetime member at an “onyx” level club and pay about $98/month. Onyx clubs are generally nicer and you have access to all club levels except the tennis clubs (I think), of which there are only a few. But Lifetime is only in a few cities (well, more than a few, but not a ton) - I’m lucky that most of the cities I travel to have one, though.
I pay $89 a month for single location gym without a pool. This is for a family membership. (I have a pass for a local swimming pool). It has everything I need with the exception of a pool. Their other locations that are further from my house have pools, but the rates jump to $135/month for the family membership. My wife doesn’t swim so I can’t see spending the extra $40 a month to join the gym with the pool.
I also pay $170 a month on top of the $89 membership for personal training. This is more of a 5-6 person group setting. It’s three workouts a week, 45 mins each. A steal of a deal if you ask me .
I travel a lot and also belong to 24 Hour Fitness. I pay for a All Super-Sport Clubs access $67 per month for all their clubs nationwide (Super Sport and below)
Also belong to New York Sports Club (and all their clubs from Boston to DC) for $77 per month.
One thing that you can check out is your company’s health insurance to see if you have an option to belong to www.Globalfit.com (or similar programs)
They offer discounts on area gym memberships (and some national like nationwide access to All- Sport Club 24 Hour Fitness, etc)
Individual memberships are roughly $70/month for gold, and $180-ish/month for diamond. Diamond memberships come with lots of free stuff that you’d pay for by-the-drink at the gold clubs, plus the clubs are a lot nicer. Don’t know the specifics about bronze, onyx, or platinum, but I’m sure they’re priced to market.
At least for Gold clubs, it’s easy enough to add spouse/family - that was another $30 month.
All memberships have somekinda initiation or startup fee, but 2x a year, they waive it. Look for one of those opportunities.
Lastly, LTF is a member of some national fitness club association - forgot the name - but it allows you reciprocal privileges to many other chains - the one I remember most is Equinox in NYC. Some reciprocal privleges are free, other have a per-day fee that’s much less expensive than walking in and buying a day pass. If I remember the name, I’ll post it later…hope that helps.
There is no one gym price even at the same gym. Theyll charge full rates if busy but there are promos and long term member rates wayyyy lower. If you offer to prepay up front you also can get deals.
I feel the best deal for gyms is the ymca. They get a lot of if tax breaks which allow them to offer more for the money. If you have kids the childwarch alone pays for the nembership.
Ymca is also great about travel - have never been turned down ir charged extra at out of area ys. In fact im using one now this week!
Before I went to college, I used to pay $26 for L.A. fitness. They are in most towns… Super negotiable. It also depends who you talk to. I went in the first day and the lowest the person I talked to would go way $40 something. Went in the next day and talked to the manager and got “hooked up”
Damn i am locked in golds gym as a founders member for 21.?? +tax a month for life and going to joing a great hospital backed gym for 35.00 a month for life.
I was a member at LA Fitness for 5 years and paid $35 a month. I was able to use any LA Fitness in the country, and they all have pools. I travel most days of the week and they have a location in 90% of the cities I travel to for work. That said, the closest one to me now is in Clearwater and I don’t feel like driving 35 minutes (without traffic) any day I’m home and want to get in the gym. I already belong to the St. Pete Masters and use their pool, so I just joined St. Anthony’s Outpatient Center’s gym for $75 a month (for myself and my wife combined). TRX and weights for me, machines for the wife.
I know what you mean. I did one of the prepaid memberships 8 years ago for all clubs with 24 Hour, and now I’m at $99 a year. When the Super Sport clubs started coming out I was thinking about upping my membership and they do offer it for an extra $20 a month. Not worth it for me since the Super Sports aren’t really close.
Three years ago for $400 I bought a transferable lifetime membership which costs me $55 annually and is full access. I go maybe once a month and with such low Masters dues, I am still paying next to nothing. Check on Ebay for one. It will cost you initially but saves in the end given the number of facilities and pool access.
I know what you mean. I did one of the prepaid memberships 8 years ago for all clubs with 24 Hour, and now I’m at $99 a year. When the Super Sport clubs started coming out I was thinking about upping my membership and they do offer it for an extra $20 a month. Not worth it for me since the Super Sports aren’t really close.
I hear you. I’m paying $20/year for my 24-Hour membership & I’m loathe to give that up. I enjoy watching the face of the rep every May when I renew the membership for another year. It’s a completely irrational badge of honor.
Gyms very rarely have their pricing information available online. You usually have to physically go and sit down with a rep. GymSnoop lists out what actual people pay at gyms, so you can get a baseline idea of what fees are like (and perhaps negotiate better rates).
negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. It can’t hurt to comparison shop as well. The equipment is just sitting there is you aren’t using it. I have found that when I engage in discussions, lower prices will suddenly pop up. You can’t be afraid to walk out. My last gym deal, I got the price cut in half as I was literally walking out the door (no pool, but paying $12 a month)
I’ve been a member of a few difefrent gyms but mostly the NYSC (town sports clubs) chain in the last 10 years… I was paying maybe 82 a month for access to all their clubs in the northeast …very few have pools. Anyway a friend of mine told me he left and came back to NYSC and was getting same membership as me for 42! I immediatly went to the office and said what F! Basically I had to call the corporate office and i got them down to 60 a month…there is a such a wide range of fees at gym that you just have to talk to someone and give them the story…i dont want to spend alot blah blah… I go to a different gym that cheaper…blah blah
I’ve been a heavy user of the YMCA system for years; You get reciprocity. Usually have access to a pool anywhere. They always have a treadmill, and there are spin classes when your in a pinch for a ride but the Wx stinks. Dirt simple and not fancy, but it works.
However, this year, I got into Target Training in Westport CT to try and bump it up a few notches b/c i feel like i hit a plateau. Love it.
The gyms charge wildly different rates depending on the lenght of the term, years of membership, location, etc.
It’s like a plane - you might be paying $1000/yr whereas the guy next to you who joined 7 years ago at a low rate is paying $60/year. It’s that much of a difference, especially for older outfits.
Newer gyms like ones just built up from the ground tend to have more even pricing structures at least for the first few years.
You can get big discounts if you offer to pay for the whole year up front as well. They won’t tell you that but the management does in fact have that option in almost all cases. (I got half off.)
I still like the YMCA for best national availability and no-hassle. There’s usually a pool at the YMCAs, and at almost all Ys that I’ve been to out of state, they don’t even ask me to show my ID, they just wave me through. Most reliable bet, imo.
I’ve been a member of a few difefrent gyms but mostly the NYSC (town sports clubs) chain in the last 10 years… I was paying maybe 82 a month for access to all their clubs in the northeast …very few have pools. Anyway a friend of mine told me he left and came back to NYSC and was getting same membership as me for 42! I immediatly went to the office and said what F! Basically I had to call the corporate office and i got them down to 60 a month…there is a such a wide range of fees at gym that you just have to talk to someone and give them the story…i dont want to spend alot blah blah… I go to a different gym that cheaper…blah blah
Wow! That’s a major swing in prices. I did the same with a gym I was paying 90 at - got them down to 75 due to rates I saw other people I saw paying on the website i posted above