How to Set Up Memberships and Class Packs

A membership is a recurring payment for ongoing access, usually monthly. It suits regulars and gives you predictable revenue. A class pack is a prepaid bundle of visits that a member uses at their own pace. It suits people with irregular schedules and is often the step between a first visit and a membership. A drop-in is a single visit at your highest per-class price.

You do not always need all three. A personal training studio may only need session packs and a monthly coaching plan; a high-volume gym may lead with memberships and keep a drop-in for visitors. Start from how your members actually attend, not from what other studios list.

BurnOn uses the same split: a Membership is paid every month or term until it ends or is canceled, and a Package is paid once for a set number of classes or sessions.

Price them as a ladder: the more someone commits, the less each class costs. Then check the break-even point between your pack and your membership, because that point decides which one your regulars buy.

Say a drop-in is $25, a 10-class pack is $200 ($20 a class) and an unlimited membership is $160 a month. The membership breaks even with the pack at eight classes a month ($160 divided by $20). A member who trains twice a week or more is better off on the membership, which is exactly where you want your regulars.

If the break-even point is higher than your regulars actually attend, the membership is overpriced or the pack is underpriced. Fix that gap before you add more options.

Keep the gap between the drop-in and the pack wide enough to matter. If a pack saves only a dollar a class, few members commit; if it saves a few dollars, the pack becomes the obvious next step after a first visit.

• Drop-in: the highest price per class, no commitment.
• Class pack: a lower price per class, paid up front, used at the member's pace.
• Limited membership: a set number of classes a month, for members who come once or twice a week.
• Unlimited membership: the lowest effective price per class, for your most frequent members.

Write the rules before you sell the product, not after the first argument at the front desk. Freezes and cancellations deserve the most thought, because that is where members feel the rules. A freeze policy might allow up to one month a year for travel or injury, with start and end dates agreed in advance. BurnOn does not have a freeze setting for memberships, so handle pauses case by case. A cancellation policy should state the notice period and the date of the last charge in plain words, so nobody is surprised by one more payment.

In BurnOn, each plan can set the services it covers or excludes, whether sessions are unlimited or a set number, and optional caps per day, week, month or billing cycle; a membership's session allowance refills at each renewal, and unused sessions do not carry over.

Whatever system you use, every membership and pack should answer these questions in writing, at the point of sale:

• Which classes or services does it cover, and which are excluded?
• Is it unlimited, or a set number of visits per month?
• Is there a cap per week or per day, so a monthly allowance is not used up in one week?
• Do unused visits roll over to the next month, or reset at renewal?
• Is there a minimum term, a notice period to cancel, and a way to freeze?
• Does a late cancellation or no-show use up a visit?

An expiry date keeps pack holders coming at a steady pace and stops old packs from piling up as classes you still owe. Size it to the pack: a 10-class pack might be valid for three months, a 20-class pack for six.

Whatever you choose, show the expiry at checkout and on the receipt, remind members before it arrives, and check local consumer rules on prepaid services first. Decide in advance whether you allow a one-time extension for injury or travel, so the answer does not depend on who asks. BurnOn does not set an expiry date on a package, so track and enforce it yourself.

Memberships do not need an expiry date of their own. A monthly allowance that resets at renewal does the same job, and members understand it without a rule to read.

1. 1
   List what you sell today

   Write down every product, its price and how many people bought it in the last few months. Retire anything nobody buys.

2. 2
   Choose a small ladder

   Keep a drop-in, one or two packs and one or two memberships, each with a clear type of member it is for.

3. 3
   Price the ladder

   Lower the price per class as commitment rises, and check the break-even between your most popular pack and your membership.

4. 4
   Write the rules

   Set what each product covers, usage caps, rollover, expiry, freezes, cancellation notice and the late-cancel consequence.

5. 5
   Name products plainly

   Use names that say what the member gets, such as "10-Class Pack" or "Unlimited Monthly", not internal codes or vague tier names.

6. 6
   Sell everything everywhere

   Make every product available wherever members buy: front desk, website, app and links your staff can send.

7. 7
   Move existing members over

   Give notice before prices change, decide whether current members keep their rate for a set period, and honor packs already paid for.

Six-week challenges, 12-week programs and seasonal terms sit between a pack and a membership. Price them as a whole term, then let members choose how to pay: in full up front or in installments across the term.

A fixed-length BurnOn membership can end after a set number of payments and offer more than one way to pay for the same term, such as monthly or in full.

Intro offers should lead somewhere. A first-month or two-week intro priced below your membership is only worth it if the last week of the offer includes a clear conversation about which product comes next, and the member leaves that conversation with a recommendation, not a menu.