Is The Alaska Club Worth the High Membership?

[mamaminda]

I think it depends on where you live. I live in Eagle River, so it is close to the house, therefore I go all the time. If I lived in town, it would be the YMCA, way more cost effective. I do hate that they do not include childcare in the cost of the membership.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by LS57

They would not let us out of the contract. It had something to do with a 'special' when we joined up - no money down, and just the monthly membership. Supposedly it's normally about $800 to sign up normally, but they were running this special where you didn't have to pay that. So they said we could either pay that, or continue with the monthly contract. They did agree to drop up to an individual membership during that time, and I think there was a clause in there where we could drop the membership after 6 months if we weren't using it. As it happened, I was able to come back up here so we didn't drop it; we probably should have but I kind of felt like the previous months would have been even more wasted if we did - I do realize that doesn't make any sense LOL.
I imagine if we had been members for awhile it might have been different. As it was, we had literally just signed up. And after working continuously for 34 years, it was my first time to get laid off from a job - I was kind of in emotional shock or I might have been more insistent that they let us drop. As it was, I kind of wanted to slink back to Texas and regroup financially and mentally. Getting laid off is stressful; I realize that it happens all the time, but it just hadn't ever happend to me.
I don't blame AK club for their arrangement, but I would be very careful what I signed if I were doing it over. And we may not renew the membership this year.

Still does not make sense. We got the special too. Would not have joined if I had to pay a fee to join PLUS a monthly usage fee. They still let us out of our contract. We had it for like 8 months I think before we moved. I think someone really pulled the wool over your eyes.


You know, that is you are military or retired you can use the base facilities for free!!

[LS57]

We had the membership for literally a week before I got laid off. We had to move a couple of weeks later because I had a good job offer back where I came from and no decent prospects here. We came back up in mid-September. Our contract with AKClub will be satisfied in March, so then we will see how much use we are getting from it and decide to keep it or not. But I LIKE the place and we enjoy using it as a family. The people are friendly and helpful, the equipment is plentiful and in good shape, the facilities are nice. My only purpose in mentioning our bad experience with the contract situation was to caution people that you HAVE to really read the thing and make sure you are good with it. Other people seem to have been able to work with them, but they held the line with us and I did not have the strength of spirit at that time to argue with them. I don't blame the company for their contract - I signed it of my own free will.

[richelles]

Originally Posted by LS57

We had the membership for literally a week before I got laid off. ... My only purpose in mentioning our bad experience with the contract situation was to caution people that you HAVE to really read the thing and make sure you are good with it. Other people seem to have been able to work with them, but they held the line with us and I did not have the strength of spirit at that time to argue with them. ... .

My mention of their business model previously would still mean I wouldn't give them a second chance and wouldn't hesitate to tell others about my bad experience. After all this forum is to give people GOOD advice and help them avoid problems like you had. Maybe they have an excuse, and just maybe you should show them these postings, so they will understand how much this type of mistake will cost them in reputation in the future. In reality if I was in their place and found out how far this has gone I'd refund the entire amount because I don't want to lose any more of that expensive good will TV advertising I saw from them last evening during the game. Perhaps they would do the right thing just because they got caught or maybe because it was not their business model. But then it's not the first time I've heard about such a business model in my time.

[rppearso]

Originally Posted by richelles

My mention of their business model previously would still mean I wouldn't give them a second chance and wouldn't hesitate to tell others about my bad experience. After all this forum is to give people GOOD advice and help them avoid problems like you had. Maybe they have an excuse, and just maybe you should show them these postings, so they will understand how much this type of mistake will cost them in reputation in the future. In reality if I was in their place and found out how far this has gone I'd refund the entire amount because I don't want to lose any more of that expensive good will TV advertising I saw from them last evening during the game. Perhaps they would do the right thing just because they got caught or maybe because it was not their business model. But then it's not the first time I've heard about such a business model in my time.

I agree it does not matter if someone read the fine print or not no one likes to be ripped off or have undesirable things done to them because of fine print. Personally I dont care what I signed, if things turn undesirable I will find a way out of it, although these days I am hyper paranoid because there are people and buisnesses out there that are just waiting to rip you off and find some legal trickery to do it, the military being the biggest playing in that game.

[Mulisha7]

Does anyone here actually know anyone that paid the sign up fee? I know it's supposed to be "$800" or whatever but they are constantly running deals giving a break on that. It's just an advertising ploy to make you think you are getting a good deal when you sign up. I personlly don't know anyone that paid a sign up fee.

I have been a member of the Alaska club and a couple of other gyms around town in addition to haveing weights at home. The Alaska Club is expensive but their facilities are very nice and the offer things you can't get at other clubs or at home. Whether the money is worth it depends on how often you are actually going to go and what amenities you will be taking advantage of.

[AKboredom]

Go to planet fitness. I have had an alaska club membership and it's nice but not much better. You can get a workout for $15 a month at planet fitness and even if you go once a month you're spending less than a day pass to the AK club

[FloridaKash]

AK Club is a great place but I do not like how they run their business. Not to mention their billing people are extremely rude, even if you are calling to pay your bill on time.