Monthly payment passes getting the ax?

[warfelg]

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I saw this and was very perplexed as to the reasoning for why. Maybe that article about people taking advantage of the food pissed them off.

 

[Nicole]

Has this actually been officially announced anywhere?

 

[CoasterAuditor]

The option seems to still be on the website for SFA.

 

[horsesboy]

My Gold level SFA pass is still actively being charged and is listed as active on the app.

 

[rswashdc]

Easier to raise rates year to year than on monthly passes.

 

[Nicole]

Raising rates on monthly subscription services is pretty standard practice.

EDIT

I got curious and looked at the SFA site. You can get any membership with a monthly payment plan. Only the season pass is a one-time purchase. They seem to have changed the pass vs membership structure, as well. A pass appears to be equivalent to a BGW Fun Card. It has no benefits beyond unlimited access to the park. There are several membership tiers with a spectrum of benefits, however. Based on a cursory glance, the membership perks seem to be the same as before.

So, I am still curious if there is any actual evidence to support the tweet.

 

[Gavin]

Glancing at their site, memberships are not offered for SFMM or SFoT. SFFT still has them though.

 

[Gavin]

On further investigation, Memberships are now dead at SFMM, SFoT, SFDK, and La Ronde (and all their associated water parks). All other parks still currently offer Memberships as of this post.

 

[RollyCoaster]

Does this maybe have to do with park presidents having a bit more control of parks after SIX cut some key corporate positions?

 

[Nicole]

It is possible, given that SFA‘s passes and memberships have been restructured, that the other parks are also in the process of creating new pass and membership offerings. So, perhaps their monthly options will pop back up, as well.

 

[horsesboy]

There is this from SFA fans on FB.

 

[b.mac]

I saw this and was very perplexed as to the reasoning for why. Maybe that article about people taking advantage of the food pissed them off.

Multiple reasons why actually.

- Memberships as a whole were not being paid after a couple of months, so Six Flags had to bring in collection notices to try and collect the unpaid dues.
- Memberships were so cheap that guests who had the plans were essentially paying as little as $5 a visit along with all the added perks of StL passes and discounts on food and merch
- The discounts on food and merch along with the season dining plans started negatively affecting profit margins for the food departments along with increasing lines for foods because of the amount of people on the dining plans

While Six Flags was usually okay in the past with allowing some money to walk away in terms of admissions through single day gate and season passes, they hoped to recoup that money inside the gates. However the memberships worked in the opposite direction and they ended up losing even more money inside the parks instead.

On further investigation, Memberships are now dead at SFMM, SFoT, SFDK, and La Ronde (and all their associated water parks). All other parks still currently offer Memberships as of this post.

I'm pretty sure with a few of these parks if you tried subscribing to a membership they wouldn't let you. The plan seems to be a three-pronged rollout across the chain where some are already on the ball and others will be changing at a later date.

I'm thankful that SF at least is keeping the price levels varied throughout the different parks in the chain, because SFA will still end up being the cheapest top-tier pass in the chain.

Does this maybe have to do with park presidents having a bit more control of parks after SIX cut some key corporate positions?

More Six Flags rolling back on a plan they should not have rolled out in the first place. Park Presidents having more control was more in line with the appearance and direction of the parks in terms of capital investment and maintenance. The pass structure would still be a company wide thing with some minor variance in whether parks would have certain benefits or not.

___________

What is missed in this whole discussion is that the passes are not full pay up front. The passes at Six Flags Magic Mountain and other parks have a 4 payment installment plan to them, so for example you'd pay $82.50 four times for an Extreme Pass at Six Flags Magic Mountain. What Six Flags is getting rid of is the in perpetuity of the membership plans.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Multiple reasons why actually.

- Memberships as a whole were not being paid after a couple of months, so Six Flags had to bring in collection notices to try and collect the unpaid dues.
- Memberships were so cheap that guests who had the plans were essentially paying as little as $5 a visit along with all the added perks of StL passes and discounts on food and merch
- The discounts on food and merch along with the season dining plans started negatively affecting profit margins for the food departments along with increasing lines for foods because of the amount of people on the dining plans

Reasoning for removing Six Flags Membership program appears reasonable. PFW

(it's busy season I just want everything to appear reasonable).

 

[b.mac]

Let's not also forget that COVID caused SF to bump up the membership tiers while retaining the customer's current payment price, and they were also reducing the monthly payments for certain cancelees to try and keep them as a customer. Some Diamond Elite members are/were paying insane rates like $5/month for what was originally a $25/month+ value.

Six Flags has needed to increase their prices for a long time, and I mean a *long* time. My first season pass to Great Adventure in 1996 was the same price as one I could've bought in 2018.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

^It sounds like they f*cked up. Sheesh. Might go take a look at those financials between the years the memberships became a thing, before and now.

 

[rswashdc]

I'll give Six Flags credit that at least they are largely ripping off the band-aid in terms of dealing with their terrible pricing model. Even if they were profitable under it, the incentives are terrible and create all kinds of undesired effects.

 

[b.mac]

I'll give Six Flags credit that at least they are largely ripping off the band-aid in terms of dealing with their terrible pricing model. Even if they were profitable under it, the incentives are terrible and create all kinds of undesired effects.

I'm gonna be honest I'm amazed they were as profitable as they were, but it was very obvious it was only a temporary thing and once JRA left it became very obvious the house of cards was going to come crashing down.

 

[super7]

Be happy crooked Six Flags is eliminating their membership scam. I had one and I had to nip through hoops to cancel it after 12 months. To do it online, it required input of the ORIGINAL receipt number. After spending a long wait for their customer service in the phone to get that number, they then said there was a 45 day minimum cancellation period even thought the original 12 months were up. I haven’t been to a Six Flags park since this and dint plan on returning. They are the trashy parks run by dishonest management.

When my Busch membership reached 12 months they allowed me to cancel the same day with a simple phone call. Quite the opposite of the Six Flags rip off

I’m honestly surprised Six Flags is ending them given the amount of money they have fleeced out of their customers with perpetual billing after 12 months and the 45 day cancellation scam. I’m guessing they had enough upset customers that just simply cancel their credit cards etc to stop them from continuing to take money that they ended up with collections issue. If so great. They deserve it

Did I mention how I feel about Six Flags?.

 

[bill s]

The only problem I had with cancelling my membership was the price they offered to continue was too good to pass up.

Six Flags has been, um, successfully perpetuating some of the best parks in the world.