What are your opinions about the YMCA family memberships/programs?

[rafiki]

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[Plucky]

I like the Y, but making money is their main focus. Which is fine as long as people realize it.

[Rosy]

In my area, a family membership for a family of 6 costs $100/mo. This doesn't include any of their programs, just being able to get in the door, use the equipment, swim in the pool, etc. When I was a kid, the Y was the cheap option. I think they do some good things and our nearest Y has a homeschool PE program that gets rave reviews, but $100+/mo. isn't affordable for what we'd be getting, especially since it's not in our city and we'd have to drive 20 min. to get there.

[asta]

I used to work part time for the Y.

 

It was the only way I could afford to go there/have my kid get swim lessons there.

 

My opinion? What a bunch of self righteous, [insert vulgarity here] pompous @sses.

 

There are two tiers at the Y: the "make more money than god" tier, and the "here, take our charity" tier. Tier one never lets tier 2 forget that they are tier one. You were quoted $100 for a family of 6? You were just put into tier 2. Because the "Y believes in a sliding scale so that ALL families can participate".

 

Mmm. Yeah.

 

One person, in 2001, cost $60 a month plus program fees. That was tier one. And this was in a low cost of living city.

 

Why do they do this? I was never able to wrap my brain around it. The "staff" would offer platitudes about how, through their fee structure, they were able to fund their summer camps, their after school programs, etc. - but the kids I saw at those programs were the same, upper middle class kids whose parents were in tier one to begin with, so...

 

I thought to myself, well, maybe they are raising funds HERE, and funding a Y in an urban, inner city without the same income level. Nope. All Y funding is local. My wine and cheese Y was just that - whine and cheese. I have no clue where inner city Ys get their funding. Corporations, maybe?

 

It's sad, because it's not like there are a lot of options for pools, fitness classes, etc. in cities without good public services. Sometimes a local college or university is open to the community, but otherwise, bubkus.

 

 

asta

[Carrie12345]

I can't afford for us to join the Y, which really baffles me. Yes, I know it's expensive to run, but our local gyms (with free, but limited, and variable quality child care) are much, much cheaper. So are our rec department activities. While I'd love to be able to have all of our activities under one roof, it's just not worth the money.

 

I do have an online friend who's dh works pretty high up in the Y. With all of their fundraising activities, I don't understand how the membership is priced so high.

[CookieMonster]

We pay $60/mo for a family membership which includes free use of the facilities (pool, fitness room, gym, sauna, steam room, teenior room, childcare, a whole slew of fitness classes, and soon-to-come others).

 

When I decide I want my son to take a class, I get a discounted rate. His 8 week long swim class he is currently in cost us $34.

 

This is not my definition of cheap, but I don't consider it to be terribly expensive considering the alternatives.

 

I've never encountered any of the unpleasantness described by others who have posted.

[cjzimmer1]

Growing up I pretty much lived at the Y in the summer. I don't know what kind of membership my mom had but the cost must have been pretty reasonable or she never would have let me take as many classes as I did. My sister has memberships for her kids at the same Y I went to growing up. Their monthly membership rates are about half what the monthly rate is for my local Y plus the class fees are cheaper too. So I'm use it depends on where you live and who "owns" the local Y. I know ours is owned my a different person than hers is. But since I live in a large city, the school district offers many classes to the community so we do swimming and some arts classes through that (they also offer other sports and tons of Adult activities) and it's a fraction of the cost at the Y. We use to do the Homeschool Phy Ed (one of the few things that participants didn't get charged more for than members) at the Y but in two years they doubled the price so we went somewhere else. I'm not impressed with our local Y.

 

Stephanie

[kalanamak]

 

I've never encountered any of the unpleasantness described by others who have posted.

 

Nor have I, and the membership and options are better than the private gyms in the area. I didn't know how lucky we were, as it is the only Y I've dealt with.

 

That said, some of the members have been less than optimal. I dealt with a person with mental problems (came up and did karate-like manuevers in my face) while I was in the nude (staff said, oh she's harmless, which may be so, but still...), and hubby joined the homeschool group last year and at the "getting to know you" meeting was assigned (didn't ask for) the boy's locker room. He came home and said he was having reservations about it because of the glares he got from that moment on from some moms. The next day the leader called and said she'd made a mistake and we hadn't gotten in, sorry. Could have been the truth, could have been pressure from the upset moms. Who knows. I'm just glad they made it clear from the get-go.

And third, hubby had his car searched by an off-duty sheriff (who apologized and said his wife wouldn't let him rest until he questioned hubby) in the parking lot because my son was crying at the entrance (they had a TV up in the hall and there was a newsreel with firebombs in Iraq going off and he became horrified) and hubby was giving him a toy or some such thing and the wife decided he was an abductor. Our upset son was kept from his dad, which upset him more (I hope he screamed the ear off the person holding him back), and by the time he got home I couldn't pry a word about the whole incident out of him. Luckily, we now view this as one of the funnier moments of life with kiddo, who was 3 at the time.

[kat19]

Our Y just built a brand new huge building.

 

Our Y charges a one time fee of $87 for a family and the monthly fee is $73

I just got this info online, so not sure if it's accurate.

This is just to use the facility, if you want your kids to do other programs, they cost more.

We can't afford the extra expense right now.

 

Our Y does a Gym and Swim program for homeschool kids but it would cost me $100 to send my kids for 8 weeks/one day a week.

Just can't do it.

[teamturner]

I switched to the Y after I had my last child since we were signing up 3 dc for t-ball and we realized that the kids sports would be free if we were members. At that time the joining fee was something like $20. Plus, 24 Hour Fitness where I had a single membership was about half of the family membership at the Y and at the Y I could put my baby in the child care at 6 weeks versus 6 months at 24Hour. So the math made the decision easy. Since then, we've had sports free (you get 2 sports free a year) and we love the Homeschool PE class which is also free for us. My boys can work out on the equipment for young people as well. I like how the Y promotes a healthy lifestyle for the whole family. I've never thought they seemed to be all about money. Their sports programs are horribly disorganized and we've moved on to more competitive organizations but for younger children I think the sports programs provide a nurturing start. While the monthly fees do go up slightly each year, we pay around $75 for a family of 6. I don't think our Y has tiers.

[5knights3maidens]

At our Y it is over $825.00 a year for a family full membership And $100.00 a year for a family program membership. We still have to pay for the classes for either the family OR Program memberships. With the program membership you cannot use the pool at all only if you sign up for a class.

I just signed up for the program membership because I needed to get Katie into some type of swimming...she needs it.

[Tammyla]

The membership expense made it cost prohibitive for us. I think it depends on your local Y and income.

[Danestress]

We have a number of nice facilities, and there is a strong Christian emphasis, but non-Christians are also made welcome and there is a good "community feel" at the one we used to belong to.

 

When our tennis club put in a workout room, YMCA membership seems like a waste for us, so we no longer belong. But we had good experiences there and my MIL still uses it daily.

[EarleneW]

Our Y is fabulous! We love it and the kids love it. We pay $81/month for a family of 6. There are set prices/no tiers at ours, though you can apply for a hardship. We have never had a bad experience there and all the classes, etc have been great.

[Sunshyne]

I don't know where I'd be without our Y. I'm the Youth Sports Coordinator at our center, and so I pay about 13.00/mth for our family. I think full price is 73.00/mth. We have the cheapest sports fees in the area, and a great program (but I'm biased!) We have an indoor pool and a great wellness facility.

 

All aside, it's the people that make our Y awesome. I started working there after I joined as a member because I loved the atmosphere.

 

We have an income-based sliding scale, and we work hard to maintain the fund that allows financial assistance.

 

While I realize that the quality of your membership will be based on your individual YMCA, I can honestly say that the Y of Middle Tennessee (and Putnam County) is top notch!

[Cindy in FL.]

I can't be of any help here, but I do have the Village People stuck in my head now.

 

Cindy

[bettyandbob]

I like my local Y. I joined a few years ago when a homeschool gym and swim program was offered--they no longer have this, but many Y's have extensive homeschool programs. If I just count the monthly fee and the very small fee for the gym and swim program it was expensive. However, really it was a lifesaver. There was childcare for my infant during gym and swim and a wonderful caregiver, who made me feel special at a fragile time for my family. That meant all kids were occupied and I had 2 hours twice a week to start an exercise program. I didn't loose weight, but the stress relief was crucial to my sanity.

 

We kept up the membership and found other things that were helpful. older ds did tae kwon do (at a substantially cheaper price than elsewhere) for a few years while dd did swim team. Where else can you occupy your children in different activities that suit individual interests at the same time?

 

I started teaching swimming there and no longer have to pay the full membership fee. Working there, I don't see the tier 1 and tier 2 described by another poster, but I don't work in administration. As an employee all members are members and are treated equally by me and my coworkers. My dc still do programs at the Y. youngest ds is in group swimming. He has down syndrom so his disabilities are obvious. His ability to participate is a source of pride for me and I'm pleased the his inclusion is a nonissue.

 

Here, membership fees is not completely out of line with health clubs that include childrens programming (fitness activities, games and sports, not just childcare). The rec center is cheaper, but there is no childcare option so working out while only one child is in an activity is not an option. If you want a place that just an adult is going to cardio machines and weight equipment, the Y will not be you cheapest option.

 

The "extra" money the Y gets from membership and class fees goes to scholarships for daycare and daycamp. It also funds the sliding scale membership fees. People who have a reduced rate do not have a sign on themselves. The general staff at my Y (fitness, aquatic, daycare, camp counselor) do not know who paid what and that is the way it should be. My Y also has free programs for teens in my community, regardless of membership. It has a nice supervised, safe teen center for teens to hang out, with homework help and games. Some teens do not have a good place to go and would not make good choices were this not available.

 

I think you have to review all the programs at your local Y and rules to decide how much use you can get out of it. Look at all the classes and times of classes you might want to utilize. Look at the range of classes for kids. Which ones cost extra. How much extra do they cost compared to getting them elsewhere. Is there a convenience factor provided by having different overlapping activities for the kids in one place. Try to join during a special offer. In the past my Y has had no joiner fee during September and January.

[Bee]

The one we go to is in a college town.I pay $41/month for a single parent membership (dh doesn't go).We go on average twice a week.I work out and we all swim.Right now one dd is taking private swim lessons at $12/ 30 minutes.Well worth it,IMO,since she has learned so much in just a couple of classes.I pay $2/hour for my youngest if the children go in the playroom.I don't pay for oldest dd to be there.

The children don't do classes there because the only classes they offer for children are at night and they haven't expressed any interest.We originally started going because we heard there was a local hs group meeting there for gym classes but they moved to a church location instead and I liked the Y better so we decided not to connect with them.

I like it better than going to a gym.It's mostly average people trying to be healthy.Most people are pretty respectful of other people there;nobody hogs the machines. Usually people share lap lanes or wait their turn to swim.The pool is rarely crowded when we are there.

[Jennifer3141]

We loved ours in our old town. Well, DH did. As I got more and more into fun "girlie" classes like yoga and Pilates, the Y didn't meet my needs well.

 

But the one in our town now is awful. It's dark, dank, and all the equipment is about 40 years old - at least the weight stuff. The soccer stuff on the other hand is always brand spanking new.

 

They are building a new one in this town. I'm anxious to see what it will be like.

 

Jen

[Jenn in Mo]

I don't get it. Our is expensive to join, still charges fees for every class (gymanstics for 3-5 year olds is $30 per month per child on top of the monthly family fee,) and takes in generous donations from community business owners. I thought it was supposed to be a not-for-profit organization? Wasn't the original purpose to provide services to those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it?

[Rosy]

I don't get it. Our is expensive to join, still charges fees for every class (gymanstics for 3-5 year olds is $30 per month per child on top of the monthly family fee,) and takes in generous donations from community business owners. I thought it was supposed to be a not-for-profit organization? Wasn't the original purpose to provide services to those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it?

 

That's exactly how I feel. I don't get it either.

[TN Mama]

I have been a member of the Y for 6 years and have been part-time staff for 5. I know there are differences from Association to Association, but I have never heard of the tiers a previous poster mentioned. At my Y (and our whole association) there is a one time join fee of $25 for a single or $50 for a family membership and monthly fees range from $49 to $73 per month. The $73 membership includes anyone who lives in your house. The fee also includes access to the facility for swimming, classes, childwatch, etc. The only extra costs are classes that are not performed by Y staff. There are karate or ballroom dance instructors who rent space from the Y and then charge Y members for the "extra" services. They are open to the public, but Y members receive a discount.

 

As far as the fundraising and what that money goes toward - the Y does not turn people away for inability to pay. The funds go toward scholarships for families to work out or children to go to summer camps or families to take swim lessons or children who need child care or after school care. So the purpose IS to raise money to help those who can't afford it. The scholarship program is called Open Doors - feel free to contact your local Y to find out if you qualify. There is a packet to fill out and documentation is required.

I'm proud to say that our facility has provided 100% of the scholarships applied for. I have seen many lives (including my own) changed for the better because of the YMCA.

 

If you have any other questions, I'm more than happy to try to give you an answer. Membership is what I do at our facility.

[annabanana1992]

We have had a great Y experience. $81/month for our whole family. All adult classes are free, the kid's stuff is extra. Ours is clean, and waaay cheaper than comparable health clubs in our area.

[Joanne]

I've worked for one of our local YMCA's, though not *at* the facility. That gives me a different perspective on some of the choices they, as an entity, make.

 

From a family perspective, the YMCA membership is worth it here. If I could, I'd probably get the "city wide" membership instead of the local one, but I can't afford it right now.

 

Our local YMCA has homeschool classes: Spanish, Arts and Crafts, PE. The quality of the classes varies according to staff. Just this year, they've started charging for PE - that decision bothered me. I paid it; but they get the memberships of most of the homeschooling families, and the facility gets used by members during an other wise "off" time. Most of those families would not be members (ie, paying monthly fees) if it weren't for the homeschool program. I understand the Arts and Crafts supply fee (though we've had season of art where it was *not* utilized well).

 

As happens in such settings, I think the adult coaches often congregate together instead of with the kids; this creates issues of under supervision, which creates predictable problems with kids. This year, the YMCA tried to change the ages of the participants in order to stop the problems, but it wasn't the ages - it was supervision that was the problem.

 

It's not perfect but it does serve a "need" I'm willing to continue to pay for.

[Elm in NJ]

Too expensive. Here are the membership fees, all programs also require a $50 registration fee, in addition to the program fees. They just built a new building so I guess we have to pay for it. As you can see, we have no family membership and it will cost our family of 6 $360 for the year just to join.

 

 

 

 

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

 

 

TYPES ANNUAL FEE JOINERS FEE

____Adult Wellness Center $351.00 + $75

 

____Adult Program $60.00

 

____Teen Wellness Center $201.00 $16.75

 

____Teen Program $60.00

 

____Youth (up to age 17 ) $60.00

[TN Mama]

Too expensive. Here are the membership fees, all programs also require a $50 registration fee, in addition to the program fees. They just built a new building so I guess we have to pay for it. As you can see, we have no family membership and it will cost our family of 6 $360 for the year just to join.

 

 

 

 

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

 

 

TYPES ANNUAL FEE JOINERS FEE

____Adult Wellness Center $351.00 + $75

 

____Adult Program $60.00

 

____Teen Wellness Center $201.00 $16.75

 

____Teen Program $60.00

 

____Youth (up to age 17 ) $60.00

 

How bizarre that a family membership isn't an option. Would you mind linking to your Y site? Or if you'd rather PM me the link? Of course, if you'd rather not do either I understand. Just curious about the facility. I'm sorry it isn't a better option for your family.

[GailV]

We've had family memberships in 3 different states. It's interesting how much the facilities and relative price vary from place to place.

 

Right now we have a metro membership so we can use any of the Ys in the area. I'm amazed at how much they vary in quality just within the same metro area. I pulled my kids out of the swimming program at local Y because it was really crummy at certain levels. The Y just a few miles away was totally different -- had the quality of instruction I expected. I guess I figured there would be consistency within a metro area -- like, don't they talk? discuss best practices?

[camibami]

Our Y in Wahsington state was fabulous! The family membership was $50, then the classes were $25-$30 a month. We took a mommy and me type class, 2 swim lessons (1 for each firl) and my oldest took dance and gymnastics.They had homeschool classes, too, but mine were still too young at that time. You got discounts based on classes enrolled, so for my oldest to do swim, gymnastics and dance and my youngest to do mommy and me and swim it was >$200 a month. Far cheaper than seperate classes at private places all added up. Plus, I could work out, not that I ever did even once, lOL.

 

But when we moved to Mississippi the Y stank. Swim was $$$, the monthly membership was more expensive, and the clientele was..well...no nice way to put this- stuck up! It definitely catered to the upper-middle class, yoga/pilates/spin class type crowd. We had transferred our membership (to avoid a joining fee) but let it drop after seeing what it was like. My oldest was on a swim team that practiced at the Y, but that was it for us. It was very dissapointing- like a high priced gym, really, not a Y!

 

I don't know what the Y is like here, as we are too far invested in gymnastics to have nay free time left for anything else!

[Guest janainaz]

We have a brand new, beautiful facility right by our house. I'll always just be admiring it from the outside, because it's way too much money for us :(

 

I got upset at them on the phone because I could not believe it was so much to join. I thought those letters stood for something else. We also have a Lifetime Fitness near us, the hoity toity of health clubs and the YMCA was priced the same, I could not believe it. Oh, well! At least the park and sidewalk are free!

[Stacia]

I don't get it. Our is expensive to join, still charges fees for every class (gymanstics for 3-5 year olds is $30 per month per child on top of the monthly family fee,) and takes in generous donations from community business owners. I thought it was supposed to be a not-for-profit organization? Wasn't the original purpose to provide services to those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it?

 

My thoughts too. I was excited quite a few years ago when a new Y was opening close to our house. We can't afford it at all. It is, by far, the most expensive option around us.

 

It's expensive to join, plus a monthy fee, plus an additional fee on top of that if you want to take any classes.

 

I didn't join & just signed dd up for some classes (paid extra since we weren't members) there when she was younger. I didn't feel a sense of community, nor did I feel it to be worth the expensive prices they were charging. I guess it's all about the $$, at least here. And, unfortunately, it has really negatively tainted my opinions of what the Y is & what it stands for.

[bugs]

I've been a member of our Y for 13 years (just 3 blocks away) so I don't know how much it is to join but I have noticed they run specials waiving the joining fee. I also know that they offer scholarships.

 

Ours is now about $85/month (for a family). Programs like Tae Kwon Do are cheaper for members than non-members. Spinning classes, step aerobics, etc are all free including the use of the pool. There is an afternoon teen hang out place- I don't think it costs anything.

 

For me, if I didn't have my Y to go work out at during our soggy fall, winter, spring (and half of summer) months, I'd be a little "thicker" than I'd care for:eek:.

[PeterPan]

Wow, can't believe the negativity of some of these posts. (everyone has their own experience?) In our case, we've had an incredibly positive experience. In fact, dh was just saying tonight that he's so pleased with the maturity and that extra something that he sees developing in dd as she goes to classes at the Y on her own. It's adding a new dynamic to her development. So absolutely I'd pursue Y classes!

 

You can do just an "associates" membership for your dc alone and then pay slightly higher fees for each class, or do a membership for just your dc and get lower fees (pans out well if you plan to do classes consistently), or join for a larger group. I wouldn't just for your whole family unless you really think you'll use it. And like I said, I've been so pleased with the instruction dynamic in the classes dd has done at the Y, I think they're a great way to introduce the dc to something. Like say you wanted to swim as a family or go to open swim, well dc could take swim lessons first and be more confident. Or say you wanted to play basketball as a family, well then let dc take some basketball classes first. We've had great experiences so far.

[rafiki]

.

[Stacy in NJ]

Our YMCA was recently expanded. It now has 3 pools and a ton of sports and art classes. I couldn't even list them. It has two facilities with a building on both sides of town.

 

The annual fee for family membership is $1133. For Youth (ages 12 and under) is $169. Classes are extra, of course. Non-members can take classes if there not completely filled with members at an additional cost. Pools are only available to members.

 

We do swimming and others sports classes at the Y, as well as enjoying the open swim time during the winter.

 

Our facilities are excellent and the staff is usually very good. We have had problems with the administration/running of the place. They've lost membership information, cancelled classes planned for homeschoolers on us and are generally inept in this regard.

[Amy in Orlando]

WOW - everyone's experiences are so different. We joined our local Y 2 years ago - $93 per month for a family + $150 one-time registration. For us it was not a good fit. We did use the pool quite a bit and my youngest son got some wonderful swimming instruction. But, unless I left the kids home, there was no way for me to work out. The boys were too old for the child-care section and too young to do anything at our Y on their own. They have a "teen-center" but it was rarely open and the few programs my boys wanted to do there were constantly cancelled at the very last minute (meaning we'd drive over only to learn they were cancelled).

 

We attended a few of the family events and really never felt like we fit in and never felt like we were welcome. Finally, we dropped the family membership. We still pay around $60/65 per month for dh's membership. But dh is a much nicer person if he gets a work out in in the morning - it's worth the money.

[ummix3]

My niece is enrolled in the Y right now. She pays I believe $150 to be a member and its $88 for the first swimming session. Thats in Queens, NY.

 

Michelle

[asta]

I have been a member of the Y for 6 years and have been part-time staff for 5. I know there are differences from Association to Association, but I have never heard of the tiers a previous poster mentioned.

 

Yes you have, it was probably just called something different. You are a paying member, and staff. You are tier one.

 

As far as the fundraising and what that money goes toward - the Y does not turn people away for inability to pay. The funds go toward scholarships for families to work out or children to go to summer camps or families to take swim lessons or children who need child care or after school care. So the purpose IS to raise money to help those who can't afford it. The scholarship program is called Open Doors - feel free to contact your local Y to find out if you qualify. There is a packet to fill out and documentation is required.

I'm proud to say that our facility has provided 100% of the scholarships applied for.

 

These people are tier two.

 

Perhaps you have a kind staff that doesn't put a *tone* in their voice when they say the word "scholarship"; the facility, and the camp I worked in, never managed to accomplish that feat. I worked in two different states.

 

 

 

asta

[Kris]

When Sweetie was a kid, he says he pretty much lived at the Y. I'll have to ask him how it was "back then." I *know* they didn't have any extra money.

 

When we lived in California, I checked out the Y, but there was no way we could afford it, and we were both working at the time. I remember being surprised at how expensive it was -- but it was over 15 years ago, so I can't remember the specifics now. I do recall that the local gyms were actually much cheaper.

 

I don't even know if we have one here. I'd be pretty surprised if we did, but I think I'll check on it. Since the experiences are so varied, maybe . . .

[TN Mama]

Yes you have, it was probably just called something different. You are a paying member, and staff. You are tier one.

 

These people are tier two.

 

Perhaps you have a kind staff that doesn't put a *tone* in their voice when they say the word "scholarship"; the facility, and the camp I worked in, never managed to accomplish that feat. I worked in two different states.

 

asta

 

 

I just replied to this and it disappeared. :confused:

 

No, there is no "tone" here regarding scholarships and most staff members don't even know who is on scholarship. And as a member of management I sat in on many meetings and have worked with the executive director who approves all of the open doors applications. There is no different word for tier - there are simply some members here through scholarship. I'm sorry your experience was so different.

 

My youngest daughter asked me on Sunday night if she could stay home from school the next day. When I asked her why she told me she was missing her Y friends and wanted to visit. She wasn't even talking about the children in ChildWatch, but instead - the members. The Y has been part of her world for as long as she can remember. :)

[6packofun]

We pay $60/mo for a family membership which includes free use of the facilities (pool, fitness room, gym, sauna, steam room, teenior room, childcare, a whole slew of fitness classes, and soon-to-come others).

 

When I decide I want my son to take a class, I get a discounted rate. His 8 week long swim class he is currently in cost us $34.

 

This is not my definition of cheap, but I don't consider it to be terribly expensive considering the alternatives.

 

I've never encountered any of the unpleasantness described by others who have posted.

 

We've had the same experience. It's less than $60/month for a family membership and there are 8 of us. Free child care and lots of free classes, including spinning and pilates and such. There are scholarships for lower income families and they offer discounts for those who have one of three major health insurance companies that they partner with.

 

I'm sure that every single YMCA is different, though, and we must live in a good area. I will say that their organized sports type classes are almost always scrambling for volunteer parent-coaches and it shows. LOL But it's still so cheap that unless we really want a well-organized, competitive sports option for our kids, we're OK with it.

 

I definitely believe that more families should have access to these programs and facilities, though!

[ChristusG]

We just recently signed our four year old up for a few things at our local YMCA. We are not members, but we paid the non-member fee for swimming lessons as well as soccer.

 

It's just too expensive for us to pay the montly fee to use the Y. I would not use it enough. We have our own pool here at home....I prefer to work out at home when it is convenient rather than the gym. The only thing we would use it for is classes. But I cannot justify paying their costly monthly fee in order to take some classes there. It's better for us to pay the non-member fee.

[SnowWhite]

We pay $60/mo for a family membership which includes free use of the facilities (pool, fitness room, gym, sauna, steam room, teenior room, childcare, a whole slew of fitness classes, and soon-to-come others).

 

When I decide I want my son to take a class, I get a discounted rate. His 8 week long swim class he is currently in cost us $34.

 

This is not my definition of cheap, but I don't consider it to be terribly expensive considering the alternatives.

 

I've never encountered any of the unpleasantness described by others who have posted.

 

This has been my experience as well. I'm not sure the cost, but I'm positive it's not $100 a month.