There’s no denying that popular boutique fitness classes, such as SoulCycle and Pure Barre, have developed a cult-like following. These stand-alone boutique studios promote fitness while developing a social community that keeps customers coming back for more, often at the cost of $25 to $40 per class.
That’s $75 to $120 per week if you go three times and don’t shell out for a (somewhat discounted) membership. In other words, that’s a lot of dough.
Luckily, if paying somewhere between $150 and $350 per month to get your fitness class fix isn’t in the budget, there are ways to reduce the cost of boutique fitness. One of the best and most flexible solutions is to buy a multi-studio membership passport. These passport plans provide users with access to multiple studios and boutique classes for a single, set monthly rate. The concept was first popularized by ClassPass, a service that originally opened doors to hundreds of the most popular fitness studios for a set monthly fee. But ClassPass isn’t the only option available—read on to see which option is right for you.
Fitness passports often have rules and guidelines regarding the number of classes you can attend, but if you’re not committed to a single studio, they provide options and discounts that are otherwise hard to come by.
1
ClassPass
ClassPass customers are able to access hundreds of boutique studios in their city with a single, ClassPass membership, but they have to choose a three-, five-, or 10-class monthly plan. For instance, members in New York City can pay $45 to attend three classes per month, $75 to attend five classes per month, or $135 to attend 10 classes per month. The rates come out to $10 or less per class, so it’s a pretty decent deal, but you’re limited by the number of classes you can take per studio. Those with a three-class pass are limited to one class per studio per month, those with a five-class pass are limited to two classes per studio, and those with a 10-class pass are limited to three classes per studio.
2
American Health and Fitness Alliance PassBook
You know those coupon books you can buy that are packed full of coupons to restaurants and entertainment venues? The PassBook is a lot like that.
Essentially, you purchase a PassBook (specific to New York, Chicago, Houston, or Los Angeles), and in the PassBook you’ll find free coupons and discounts to hundreds of fitness venues throughout the city. Each coupon is good for a minimum of two visits, but some are good for several weeks. For instance, the New York Fitness PassBook includes a one-week pass to Gold’s Gym and a two-week pass to Jazzercise.
Another benefit is that the coupons are good for the entire year, which means you can use them at your leisure. And if you happen to join one of the participating facilities before the year runs out, you’ll receive the entire cost of the PassBook back.
Each PassBook costs $95 plus a $5 shipping and handling fee.
3
FitReserve
FitReserve is another company much like ClassPass, but it’s currently located only in Boston, New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Seattle. The main differences between FitReserve and ClassPass are:
- With FitReserve you can attend classes up to four times per studio, per month. The exception is if you sign up for the three-class membership, in which case you can only visit a studio once per month, exactly like ClassPass.
- FitReserve offers exclusive studio partner perks to anyone who has been a FitReserve member for more than a month. This means you can receive special discounts and deals from partners like Lole, and Zeel.
- You have full access to studio schedules. In some cases, schedules are limited with ClassPass, offering only the less-popular time slots to ClassPass members. With FitReserve you can access even the most popular times and locations.
The total cost for a monthly membership is slightly higher than ClassPass. New York City’s three-class membership is $59 per month, the five-class membership is $79 per month, and the 10-class membership is $149 per month. There are also deeper discounts if you’re willing to pre-pay for a 10-class membership for three, six, or 12 months.
4
Yoga and Fitness Passport
The Yoga & Fitness Passport is a bit of a combination of a ClassPass format and PassBook format. You pay a flat fee for access to 30 classes at participating studios, but you have up to six months from the first use to use your vouchers before they expire. As long as you put your Passport to good use, it drops the per-class rate down to just $10.
You can also choose to take between five to 10 classes per participating location, a feature that blows ClassPass and FitReserve out of the water.
The Passport is widely available, including fitness centers and studios across the country, which may make it more accessible than some of the other multi-studio fitness options.
Before you pay full price, though, check Groupon for Yoga & Fitness Passport deals—they’re frequently advertised for up to 93% off the sticker price, which drops the per-class price significantly. Just search “Yoga & Fitness Passport.”
5
Zenrez
Zenrez is a little bit different than the other companies on this list. It’s essentially a discount reservation platform that enables you to discover new studios and sign up for classes at the lowest available rate, all from a single website. So instead of heading to a cycling studio’s website to reserve one class, then a barre studio’s website to reserve another class, you can do it all from Zenrez. The company also works with studios to offer “Daily Zen” deals that drop the price on specific classes to help Zenrez members discover new studios, instructors, and formats.
Zenrez is currently only available in five major metropolitan regions, but they’re expanding quickly.