STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

crystal · Kate Spade

gym membership

Patricia · BCBG

I pay $39/month and I think it was $50 to join. I got half off b/c its in my office park, so it should have been $100. I think they're first time fee has gone up in the years since I started.

I'm in a suburban area outside Philadelphia, so I would imagine you will pay more in LA. I would defintiely TRY to negotiate but I don't know that you'll succceed. I tried to get out of the $50 and had to pay it, and when my bf joined his gym I tried to get them to let him out of the three year agreement and they wouldn't let him. If you have alot of gyms around I'd visit them all and play them off each other.

Personally I think a gym membership is a good thing. I do make use of it because I paid for it. I find myself thinking "Damn, I paid $40 and went to the gym twice this month, that's $20 per visit, what a rip-off. How dumb of me." So I'll get in there more often. BF on the other hand pays every month and I can't tell you the last time he went. It's like Gold's is his charity.

So that is urely personal I guess.

Drew · Gucci

Mine is $39 monthly with no initiation fee, no contract. It is 24 hours, two-levels, indoor pool, the works. It is the cheapest around here. Most places, like WOW, charge $59 - $69 a month; I think NYSC charges around $70 - $80. They both have initial charges of $300+ and usually have contracts.

PS. My gyms current rate is $49 now, but I was grandfathered in at the lower rate.

Patricia · BCBG

Holy cow, Drew - good deal. Mine's not that nice. I don't have a contract and the gym is around the corner from work. I think I could actually see it from the parking lot of our new office. That made it easy to decide.

Prissy · Dooney & Bourke

I pay $80/month but that is for my husband and myself. No enrollment fee.

honey · Gucci

i go to bally's. my initiation fee was $125 and i pay $60 per month. i also live in the nyc area so if it seems high to you that's why. i like bally's, though i know a lot of people have problems with the contract. they have a manhattan specific clause that allows me to exit my contract without penalty. but the biggest selling point is the fact that my monthly rate is never going to go up, and after i complete my contract (i believe it expires at the end of this year) it will only go down. which makes it worth it to me, since the cost of a gym membership are virtually guaranteed to keep going up. there are people at my gym who pay $20 per month.

also as far as negotiating, you can do that (i negotiated), but now is not really the best time since it's a new year and lots of people rush to join gyms to make good on their resolutions. if you want to negotiate you're better off doing so in the summer, and around the end of the month. a lot of the sales people have quotas and might feel extra generous if they haven't met their quota.

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

i pay $29 a month at LA Fitness, i think the initiation was like $200? hope i'm remembering right, since i joined like 6 yrs. ago. also, i signed my best friend up as friends and family a few years ago and she only has to pay $25 a month. I like it but the different locations really vary, the one by my parents is HUGE while the one in westwood is cramped in comparison.

oh and i'm also a member of gold's gym but i don't know how much that is since the firm picks up the tab.

crystal, i didn't know you lived in LA! whereabout?

crystal · Kate Spade

hey esquiress, i live in santa monica... that la fitness in westwood looks so nice, i never knew it was cramped, thanks for the input! so i just found out if i sign up w/ a friend at 24 hr fitness i can pay $600 up front which will last me 3 yrs (i.e. $16.67/mo) and then it's $20/YEAR!! u can attend any 24 just about so even if i move i could still use it. plus, as long as i'm w/ my company it will be completely paid for. now if i can just find a "friend" who has $600... any LA gals out there??

ETA: btw, where r u esquiress? doesn't this weather SUCK!

-- Edited by crystal at 15:42, 2005-01-07

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

i work in downtown and live in pasadena and yes this weather is just awful! the 110 is like a river right now! anyway, my friend belongs to 24 hr and i think she likes it, she was just raving about her yoga class the other day. oh and the westwood LA fitness is nice but it really is small compared to the big huge gyms they have in the suburbs (where land is much cheaper). oh and you can most definitely negotiate gym memberships--the guys selling them remind me of car salesmen so if they're giving you some ridiculous rate just be like that's ridiculous and get up to walk out (trust me all of a sudden they'll remember some "promotion" you qualify for). btw, if you want a free 2 wk membership to either gold's or LA fitness, just pm me--i think i have a few passes.

Tara · Dooney & Bourke

Crystal - I have been thinking of quitting my gym (LA Fitness) for SO long. I go to the one in the Marina, and it is AWFUL. I work in Santa Monica, so I would consider joining 24 hour fitness with you - where is the 24 hour fitness in SM? I know there is one, but I heard it is crappy

Elle · Hermes

My SO goes to 24 hr in Spokane - we pay $26 a month and I think the enrollment was $150?

crystal · Kate Spade

hey tara! i know exactly where that la fitness is, i went to LMU so it was right there... sorry, it's just so weird talking to people on here that are from la! anyways, the 24 is on ocean park & 31st (in the business park area) and is a "sport" so it has extra amenities. i actually used to belong to the one in bev. hills and it was okay but it was sooooo far. i'm not sure about how nice this one is.... maybe we should get 10 day passes & test it out first, but that would rock if u do want to join!! do u live in MDR tho? if so it could be kinda far for u and w/ such a long commitment i don't want u to waste ur money. email me & let's discuss... crystallynn@gmail.com

carmenb513 · Coach

I did not have to pay an enrollment fee but monthly it is $21. It's not 24 hours but the times are very good 4am (no way in hell I'll ever get up that early) to 10 or 11 pm.

BTW this is in Connecticut

-- Edited by carmenb513 at 22:20, 2005-01-07

sfclinevandy · Coach

I pay $38/month. I do make use of it because I'm more likely to work out if I get out and go to the gym rather than stay at home and run on my treadmill.

tosh · BCBG

I pay $29/mo w/ no enrollment fee and no contract. It's a pretty small gym, though and it's hell getting a treadmill at 5:30pm.

daiz519 · Dooney & Bourke

I go to Bodies in Motion and they originally asked somewhere between $200-400 down and $59 per month. When they realized I wouldn't join because it was so expensive they brought it down to $50 down and then $88 a month for two people to join. I got my sister to join with me so we each pay $44 and we split the $50 initiation fee. I still feel that is a little too high because I used to pay $24 a month at 24 hour fitness but this gym offers a ton of kickboxing and boxing classes along with other stuff like yoga, spinning, etc.

Lilykind · Hermes

quote:
Originally posted by: crystal
"hey esquiress, i live in santa monica... that la fitness in westwood looks so nice, i never knew it was cramped, thanks for the input!"

I live a few blocks away from the Westwood LA Fitness and my apt. manager belongs to them. I think she told me that she joined for $35 a month but that was probably a while ago. She also told me all about the gym culture there and she doesn't seem to like it too much...

I would join (I should, because I live so darn close I could walk there in 2 minutes) , but I can't bring myself to spend the money...yet. Maybe when everyone's not rushing to join the gym I'll take a look into it.

missbean · BCBG

I think I paid (or rather, my generous brother) around $700 for 3 years, and then $50/year thereafter for 24 Hour Fitness (all locations). Most of the ones I've been to are decent, but the one closest to my new house is terrible (low ceilings, crappy old machines, cramped & dirty locker rooms) so I just drive farther to my good ol' trusty one.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

I paid $200 (it was on special from $300) to start, and $50/mo. There are no contracts and it's open 24 hours and is pretty nice.

-gd

nyc_shopgirl · Dooney & Bourke

I pay $70 a month for New York Sports Clubs but I use it in the NYC, CT, and Washington Sports Clubs when I visit my parents. Plus personal training fees on top of that.