Is ClassPass Still Worth It?

One year ago I started on my fitness journey, the week before Memorial Day, and as a critical step signed up for ClassPass. I have written about my love affair for the gym membership service here, here, and here, but they are trying to test my faith. Last month, they made waves, and not in a good way, but raising their membership dues yet again.   The service – that allows me to attend workout classes at boutique fitness studios around New York City – started at $100 per month, then went up to $125 per month, and now, it is going up again. 

Doing the math, the old unlimited plan at $125 per month plus tax came out to a monthly $136 charge on my credit card. Now the new unlimited plan, that has no changes to the actual service I get,  will be over $200 per month which for any for gym or workout package reaches on almost unprecedented threshold – with New York State tax it will be $206 per month.

Having talked to many friends I know some who only used the service a few times a month and canceled on the spot, while others, including two training for the New York City Marathon in November, are going down to the 10x per month as they need to incorporate more runs.  When chatting with some friends and coworkers they assumed I was going to choose the lower option as I, “look good now” or “don’t need to workout as much,” but less than three classes a week is really not going to cut it for me.  After that last sentence it may not come as a surprise but last weekend I did not go the recommended route but instead am going all in, at least for now. 

 

For me, even with the increase in price, it is worth it.  In 2016 I have attended, on average, 24 classes a month and it is a real lifestyle change for me.  And believe it or not, the fact that you can not cancel with less than 12 hours until the class starts does wonders for me.  When my alarm goes off at 6 a.m. I never want to get out of bed but I know I should go work out and on principle I refuse to forfeit the $20 you are automatically charged if you miss a class.  And a fun throwback from last week:  

 

Today is my one year @classpass anniversary and I’ve taken 228 classes since joining! ???? #teamgetfit #summerbody

— Kelly Donlin (@kellydonlin) May 27, 2016

This Classpass price increase nets out to a ton of money but for me it is worth it to attend on average six classes a week doing exercise that I actually enjoy.   As you can see in the screenshot above, beginning June 20th I will start paying more for the service I love an I will see, from there, how everything nets out . The two big things I want to see – if booking classes gets either with less congestion and what our new corporate rate is at Equinox. 

What kind of gym do you belong to?