In its newest attempt to get your hips pushing through a turnstile, Six Flags unveiled a “membership” program. The pitch: Low monthly payments that keep the cost of a season pass manageable. This is by no means a new idea in the theme park industry. Before my wife started working at Disneyland, her annual pass was paid for monthly and I believe (though I may be mis-remembering) that Six Flags has offered something similar in the past.
The catch: The membership isn’t simply a payment plan. It’s a 12-month commitment, then beyond that, Six Flags will keep on billing you until you tell it to stop. You’re locked in for a calendar year and then you are free to cancel at any time. The real catch? How many Six Flags are open 12 months a year?
Right.
That low monthly payment won’t hurt a bit in May, June or July when the park is open seven days a week and the uses are a-plenty; but how are guests going to feel in February when they quite simply can’t go to their local theme park? Yeah, that’s probably going to upset a few people.
Here’s a breakdown of what you’re getting with a Six Flags membership (standard):
The standard membership at Six Flags Fiesta Texas (my “home” park) runs $6.58 a month if you purchase between 1-3 passes. If you increase your quantity to four or more passes (clever girl) they drop the price to $5.65 a month. For the gold membership you pay $8.75 ($6.49 for 4+) and get the a few additional benefits. The prices quoted above are after you’ve paid a $20 refundable security deposit. You can pay a dollar more a month and avoid making this payment; the deposit is returned after you cancel your membership (so long as you’ve kept it current for a year, of course).
Some of the additional benefits of getting a gold membership (at Fiesta Texas):
These features are identical to what is offered with the season passes, so the only meaningful difference is that the price is paid over 12 months instead of in a lump sum. Again, it’s not a payment plan. No doubt Six Flags’ plan of attack here is much the same as other companies offering a membership: They don’t want you to cancel. On May 4 next year I’ll be able to cancel my membership -- but they’re hoping I won’t -- whether that be thanks to a great experience at Six Flags parks this year or (more likely) because I forget to cancel it.
Benefits and costs for each membership vary from park to park. At Magic Mountain, the gold pass runs you $10 a month and includes admission to Hurricane Harbor -- the standard one-park pass is just $6.08 a month. How a regular pass at a Six Flags in southern California is cheaper than one in San Antonio, I don’t know. I guess it’s balanced out by parking at Magic Mountain costing an extra $10, or something.
There’s value to be had in Six Flags’ newest season pass offering, but you’re not going to be having much fun when you pay $9 for a service you can’t use come February. Six Flags is hoping your use come summertime will help ease the pain of the payments through the winter.
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I've always gone with a Season Pass over a Membership and will continue to do so as it is not that expensive and my visits to my local Six Flags (Magic Mountain) tend to vary in frequency. Some years, I've gone six or seven times, plus visited Six Flags parks in other areas of the country, while in other years I've only gone once or twice. As a general rule, if I don't anticipate four Six Flags visits in a year (total, not just SFMM) I don't buy a pass and just pay per visit (with discounts, $30-40 per visit is not uncommon).
Great article...
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Biggest thing that bugs me about the normal season passes is that no matter when you buy it in the year, it expires at the end of the year. Often it does get cheaper later in the year, but you're still paying for only part of a year.
The Membership is the same price annually (at least as compared to buying earlier in the year, like right now), but is good for the full year.
It also helps that Magic Mountain is open year round (just often only on weekends).
The one downside is that you do indeed need to take action to cancel, instead of action to renew.