Remember, most gym contracts will renew automatically. Can you freeze your membership or transfer it to someone else? The Office of Fair Trading and the Competition and Markets Authority have clamped down on some of the shadier gym practices of recent times, but you still need to be wary.Īlways ask what happens if you are ill or injured, move house, get pregnant or change jobs. For example, it is currently offering a four-week membership of Nuffield Health for £18.50 in Clubcard vouchers. If you shop at that supermarket, check out deals it has for Clubcard points. But the arrival of the budget operators such as The Gym and Pure means that local-authority annual membership deals are sometimes more expensive than the private sector. For example, Hough End in Manchester charges non-members £4.90 for entry, plus £2.50 for the pool. Many have decent facilities that hugely undercut the prices of the swish private centres. It also waives the £10 joining fee.ĭon’t forget your local leisure centre. Pure Gym also offers corporate membership and is upfront about the discounts: 5% off if the company signs up 25-50 employees, or 10% of there are more. The upmarket operators, such as David Lloyd, Nuffield Health and Virgin Active, offer negotiable discounts to corporate members, usually knocking around 10% off the membership price. Most gyms offer deals in January with no joining fees, and at other times of the year if you are signing up for 12 months, a little haggling should get you out of it. These have generally tumbled in recent years, and you’re a bit of a mug if you pay one. For example, in Bristol it lists the Mercure hotel’s gym and pool at £5.50 for one visit or £46.80 for 10. It may also find hotels that have good health spas attached. It’s particularly good for short-term deals – finding passes that let you in for one, five or 10 days, or a month. PayAsUGym is an interesting concept: enter your postcode into the site and it selects deals in your area. The budget chains have adopted this mentality for their business model, with no tie-ins, leaving you free to quit any time simply by cancelling your direct debit. Paying as you go on a monthly basis gives you a lower-cost way to try out a gym before committing for a year. Monthly pay as you goĪ big decision for gym-goers is whether to lock into a cheaper 12-month contract, or opt for the more expensive monthly rolling contract. The Gym sells day passes starting at £4.99 (lots of workout equipment, but no pools) or a multi-day pass that gives you access for three or five consecutive days from £12.99.įor irregular users, these may be much better value than paying monthly or annually for facilities you rarely use. If you are too lazy to bring your own towel, you can hire one for £2.50. For example, Bannatyne in Chepstow Street, Manchester sells day passes for £10 for a recently-upgraded health club that includes gym, pool and sauna. Many gyms now allow you to buy a one-day pass, which is often not much more than paying for entry into a local authority gym. Some, such as PureGym, Fitness First and Anytime Fitness, offer free passes lasting three days, while Nuffield and DW Fitness have free one-day passes. But, inevitably, you have to give all your details and must be prepared to be heavily sold to, either at the gym or later on via marketing emails. But there are other factors to consider before you sign up. Your choice will be down to the level of luxury you want or can afford, as well as local factors such as car parking. Only after lots of prodding were we able to obtain prices. Even then, they were hesitant about saying exactly what the monthly rates would be. Each time we were referred to a sales person, who asked lots of questions about our lifestyle and potential gym usage. However, neither David Lloyd nor DW Fitness do, and, when we phoned, they were very reluctant to give out membership costs. Refreshingly, many of the chains we tested now offer their prices online. Money’s Consumer Champions regularly deal with readers who think that, by cancelling their direct debit, they are leaving – only to find painful terms and conditions that tie them in for months. The Gym and PureGym offer deals that do not tie members into lengthy contracts and therefore avoid subsequent cancellation problems. But, in their favour, there’s a refreshing transparency around contracts. So don’t expect intimately-lit pools or luxury design. What separates the budget operators is that they rarely offer swimming pools or “spa facilities”.
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