Memberships vs class packs for gyms and studios

A membership gives someone access while their membership is active, according to the offer they buy. That might mean unlimited gym entry, two classes a week or eight eligible class bookings a month. Memberships can renew regularly or cover a fixed term.

A class pack gives someone a fixed number of visits or credits, usually bought in one purchase. Each eligible booking uses part of that balance. A ten-class pack runs out after ten qualifying bookings, unless its expiry date arrives first.

Both can restrict which classes someone books and how often they book them. Those restrictions do not turn a pack into a membership. The pack still has a purchased balance that runs down.

If the balance can pay for different activities, booking pack is a clearer overall name. A class pack is one kind of booking pack. Credits describe the units inside it. A ten-class pack can be sold in plain language even when the software records ten credits underneath.

For your club, the decision starts with how often people attend and what you want the offer to include.

Start with the bookings each offer covers, then compare the price at realistic attendance levels. A cheaper headline price can cost more per attended class if someone cannot use the allowance.

Here is an illustrative studio example. These are fictional customer prices, not Go Grow Connect software prices:

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  Drop-in: £18 for one class.
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  Class pack: £150 paid up front for ten classes, valid for 90 days from purchase.
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  Membership: £96 a month for up to eight class bookings in each calendar month, with no rollover in this example.

Assume all three cover the same classes, there are no extra fees, and all ten pack visits are used before expiry. The pack works out at £15 per attended class. The membership works out at:

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  Four classes in a month: £24 per class.
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  Six classes in a month: £16 per class.
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  Seven classes in a month: about £13.71 per class.
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  Eight classes in a month: £12 per class.

In this example, the membership costs less per class from seven attended classes a month. That follows from £96 divided by £15, which is 6.4 visits. It is a comparison of use, not a promise that every customer will attend seven times.

The pack still requires a £150 payment up front. Its £15 rate assumes all ten visits are used. If someone uses only seven before the pack expires, the actual cost is about £21.43 per attended class.

When setting your own prices, check that the allowance is usable within your timetable and capacity. Compare like-for-like classes, include any fees and show the full purchase price as clearly as the per-class example.

Suppose a customer buys ten credits for eligible yoga and Pilates classes, with a maximum of two class bookings a week. If each class costs one credit, two confirmed bookings scheduled in the same calendar week leave eight credits and use that week's class allowance.

When the weekly allowance resets, they can book under the cap again. Their balance is still eight credits. The reset gives them permission to use more of their existing balance; it does not add two new credits.

A mixed booking pack can use the same principle. For example, one twenty-credit balance could have a cap of two eligible class bookings and five eligible facility bookings a week. Each cap counts its own booking category, while both categories draw from the same finite balance.

Booking counts and credit costs are separate. If a facility reservation costs two credits because of its duration, that is still one facility booking for a cap measured in bookings. The customer needs to see both the cost and the remaining allowance.

These are example offer rules, not standard settings every pack must have. For a reformer timetable, your eligible sessions and capacity may call for different terms. Our Pilates studio booking setup covers the wider operating questions.

They can, provided automatic booking checks the selected pack before confirming each class. A request to book a regular class is not a promise of unlimited future places.

For a finite pack, the useful checks are straightforward: is the pack valid, is this class eligible, is there enough balance, is the booking within its limits, and is a place available within the booking window? A booking should use credits when it is confirmed.

A full class or a booking limit affecting one date should not be treated as an exhausted pack. Later eligible dates may still be bookable.

When the selected pack runs out, expires or is revoked, automatic booking should pause and tell the customer what needs attention. Bookings already confirmed and funded should remain booked when the remaining balance is exhausted. Cancellation terms still apply to those bookings.

Buying another pack should be a separate choice. The system should not silently charge a card, switch to another balance or restart a paused routine without the customer's instruction.

Membership automatic booking also needs to follow the membership's access and allowance rules. A recurring payment alone does not guarantee a place in a full class.

We are expanding Connect's booking packs around this distinction: a one-off purchase with a finite balance, alongside memberships that define access while a plan is active.

The planned setup lets a club choose the eligible classes, courses and facilities, with optional weekly or monthly booking limits. Those limits control usage without turning the pack into a subscription or replenishing its credits. The purchase records the terms sold to that customer, so a later edit to the offer does not quietly change an existing pack.

For members, the important information is practical: which bookings the pack covers, what a booking costs, how many credits remain, and any limits or expiry that affect their choice. This belongs alongside how members book and pay.

Optional class automatic booking is planned to use a selected pack, check it before each confirmation and pause if that pack is exhausted, expired, inactive or revoked. A customer can then choose whether to buy another pack or resume with eligible funding.

Bring your actual offers to a founder conversation, including any awkward limits or combinations. We can discuss the intended setup and its implementation status. For the cost of running the platform, see Connect software pricing.