Six Flags launches guest loyalty program

“We are thrilled to offer this exclusive new rewards program for our Gold Plus, Platinum, Diamond, and Diamond Elite Members.”

That sentence made me smile, it sounds more like they are talking about a casino then an amusement park.

Until they can show what any of this actually means, I don't know what any of it means. Surely they're not going to start giving stuff away just because people show up.

One million points gets you a ride on the Antique Cars.

They've been pushing this "membership" thing pretty hard this season. I don't get why the traditional season pass with monthly payment plan model needed improvement. Maybe they're counting on auto-renewal to net them some sales? Also, change is hard so get off my lawn.

People respond to rewards. Think Starbucks, airlines, hotels (with the exception of SFGrAdv) etc.

I will drive out of the way to a Speedway because points.
Here’s the thing, though. I don’t use em. I’m a point hoarder. I think in my subconscious I’m saving them for the day I become destitute.

I remember they tried something similar around 8 or 9 years ago. Funatics Rewards. After each visit to a park you got a reward. Free upgrade to preferred parking, free drinks, exit pass and some other things. I ended up using the exit pass at Nitro on a crowded day and still had to wait 20 minutes because there were so many people with them and they were only letting a few people from the exit on each train. They discontinued the program around a year after that. Hopefully this program works better for them.

This is nothing new. Kings Island did it one year, I still have my Phantom Phanatic cars from Kennywood, and apparently Six Flags had a program. But none has lasted. I wonder why that is.

My guess is that there aren’t enough people who are at the park frequently enough to make it worthwhile, and those who are there enough to collect rewards are the season pass weirdos* for whom there is very little you can do for a value-add...and you don’t need to buy their loyalty anyway.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.
*You know who I mean. Those people who buy the season pass with all the addons and go to the park twice every day for breakfast and dinner before and after work...

I think you are right on the money Dave. Amusement park trips are rarely impulse decisions, and very few Six Flags passholders are in a competitive market, making a decision about which amusement park they are going to go to today.

Passholders are going to go because it fits in their and their friend's schedules, not because they are trying to rack up points. Perhaps Six Flags thinks they can overcome this, but I am skeptical they are going to influence behaviors.

Well, we're talking about a chain who will give you a free season pass for next year if you use this years pass every day of the year.

Yeah, I'm not sure who they're trying to hit. I suspect the proportion of people who visit more than 3 times a year is minuscule and those people are already going 10+ times. Like, I don't think there are many people who go 5 times a year, but SF really wants them to go 8 times. Or is SF trying to take people who go 10 times (me) and get them to go 15 times? For us, the problem is way more about our time or desire to go than about incentives.

Seems like it would be a much better idea to hook up with Plenti or some other points scheme so you could give people the illusion of a discount when they are buying food and gifts (and presumably track them, get marketing info, etc), and the people could use their points from the gas station to purchase admission.

RCMAC said:

I will drive out of the way to a Speedway because points.
Here’s the thing, though. I don’t use em. I’m a point hoarder. I think in my subconscious I’m saving them for the day I become destitute.

I've saved up enough points from them, at times, to buy $100 gas cards. So, I will gladly allow you to feel very generous by your transferring those points to my account. Thanking you in advance.

RCMAC said:

I will drive out of the way to a Speedway because points.
Here’s the thing, though. I don’t use em. I’m a point hoarder. I think in my subconscious I’m saving them for the day I become destitute.

I think you've hit on part of what makes these programs even a little successful. They're generally low risk because the redemption rate on the rewards is relatively low.

RCMAC- I was gonna day the same thing as bigboy... Send those points my way!

I had ~29,000 points last Friday. I bought two 50¢/gallon discounts at 8,750 points per reward, and then I had 6,000 points. Now it has rebounded back up to just shy of 13,000 points. Gotta watch those sneaky bastards...

Nope. I’m savin’ em. I could be destitute any day, ya never know.
Remember when Speedway payed by the dollar rather than the gallon? I drove 8 hours a day back then in a work van. Now, there were some points! They figured it out, eventually.
I do use my Giant Eagle points though. Because they drop off. (Sshhhhh- don’t tell Speedway)

My take on the idea of the "monthly memberships" instead of the season passes is so that you don't discourage people from buying season passes towards the end of the season when they would be useless. The main difference between the membership idea and a season pass with a million perks is that you buy an annual membership (I'd imagine that even though its monthly there must be a 12 month minimum, initiation fee, or cancellation fee) in October, but can still get your money's worth next year.

One question I have is if anybody expects the deep discounts that SFMM is offering to go down, for the price to go up before October? I'm going to SFMM in the end of October, and I'd like to wait until later to buy a pass, so I'm not paying for two months that I'm not using it.

I think your point still stands, but they traditionally offered next year's passes starting in the late fall.

Six Flags has their annual flash sale going on right now through September 3rd. They have also released information on how to collect points (https://www.sixflags.com/greatamerica/membership-rewards). I have no idea what the redemption values are though. I currently have the Gold membership ($5.49/month) which is not eligible for rewards. I'm weighing whether it's worth the extra money to upgrade to platinum membership. I'm leaning towards no.