Six Flags Season Pass 3 Payment Plan

Paying for one $50 season pass is a bit silly, because it you need to do that, you probably can't afford to spend money in the park on a regular basis anyways. Spending money in the park is the whole reason season passes make money for the park anyways.

However, I can see Mom or Dad wanting to pay for four or five passes, at $200 or $300, in installments.

Jeff said:
I think check cashing and payday loans businesses are a dying breed. States are coming down too hard on them with regulations intended to curb predatory lending.

FL is not on board, LOL. "Payday advance" businesses here just KEEP cropping up (and flooding the airwaves with their ads). One other state that's heavily military (I want to say VA or maybe NC) is also quite regressive in allowing the Shylocks of the world to profit off of other's poverty.

On the flip side, it does seem WILDLY profitable...within the legal limits of course.. ;)

To a significant degree, our economy was/is based on consumer debt (both sensible and dumb consumer debt). We are still digging out from what happened when the flow of that consumer debt was slowed dramatically.

Payday lenders have historically been like whack-a-mole. Regulations meant to curtail them often times require additional steps because they don't work as intended. Ohio's law reduced max interest rates from about 400% to 28%. But payday lenders obtained licenses under another Ohio statute and were charging up to 600%. Not sure if Ohio plugged that hole.

I was opposed to the legislation. I would mandate economics education from first grade all through college and require disclosure by the lenders of the terms of the loans. If someone wants to get the loan, let them. We let folks make a whole host of dumb decisions every day, why should payday loans be any different? We act as nanny state in a lot of other instances and I disagree with pretty much all of those as well.

GoBucks89 said:
I was opposed to the legislation. I would mandate economics education from first grade all through college and require disclosure by the lenders of the terms of the loans. If someone wants to get the loan, let them. We let folks make a whole host of dumb decisions every day, why should payday loans be any different? We act as nanny state in a lot of other instances and I disagree with pretty much all of those as well.

Just want to add a "me too" to this. :)

But when you "mandate" something in this country you hate "teh freedomz."

I think the people who use these services understand they are being ripped off but have no other choice. They can't hold a bank account because there is a minimum balance requirement and over draft fees are more expensive than the check cashing places. The system is stacked against the poor and they are taken advantage of.

I agree with others though. If you have to layaway $50 for a Six Flags season pass perhaps it's not the best way to be spending your money. On the other hand, that's a lot of entertainment and fun for $50. Something nice to give your kids who might not get much else. I can see both sides.

I don't think this was a very good move for Six Flags. If people need a payment plan to buy their dirt cheap season passes how likely is it they're going to spend much money inside the park? From what I'm aware, many SF parks already have too many local pass holders who come in for a few hours every week or two and don't spend a dime inside the park. I know I've done that at SFStL multiple times.

Personally, I think seasonal parks should look into attaching more blackout dates to their cheapest pass options.

Blackout dates like "weekends?" ;)

Six Flags OT was advertising an early season pass that was good through memorial day. Don't remember the pricing or any other perks or restrictions.

Seriously though, the Six Flags season passes are woefully underpriced and always have been. I never understood their business model.

In terms of payday loans, ideally they fill a market that needs that particular service. People with steady income who just need a few bucks to pay a bill to tide them over until payday. It's an important service to those who use it the right way.

The issue is that some/many/most of the folks getting the loans are not using it the right way. Payday loan stores will say, "Are you sure you don't want $250 more? It will only cost you an extra <whatever>. And think about all you could do with an extra $250 this weekend." I can't fault the business for doing that and I totally fault the customer for not being able to do the math and figure out that they won't be able to pay or how much it will cost them long term. The only gripe I could conceivably have with the lender is if they are counting on some outside entity to cover the loan if the payer can't afford it. That's when I have real gripes.

ApolloAndy said:
Blackout dates like "weekends?" ;)

Funny you say that, Andy. When our Disney renewal brochure came, one of the options was a "weekdays only pass". That seems like a virtual no-brainer to pull in extra money and help keep the park fuller on the "less-busy" weekdays.

Of course, the really cool option (from Disney's perspective) was an EPCOT-only, after-4pm only option. Now THAT is specifically targeted marketing... :)

OH! That's the pass for me!

edit: Of course, if that means I couldn't go anywhere else with it at all, I'd probably not like that too much.

I've never used a payday service. If I ever need it, in an emergency, I'll take advantage of my banks overdraft protection. I can get a $500 advance for about $32. I know from experience that it can get very expensive if I depended on using it all the time, but now that I have figured that out, it's nice to know that if my car breaks down or I need to travel unexpectedly, it a great service to use if I don't have the extra money at the time.

Who needs payday loans? :)

Edited an extra "v" out of the post.

Six Flags business model is to market to teenagers and people with no money. No wonder they are in dire financial straights.

Seriously, when I was last at GAdv back in 2008 (after having not gone there in 20 years) I was shocked at how it's become "coasters and kiddie rides" with not much in between. All of the great flat rides they used to have are gone.

They wouldn't have such trouble with finances if they'd just open a few hotels.

Dire financial straits? That was before wiping out $1 billion in debt as part of their bankruptcy. Maybe they should have gotten a loan to put in some water and sewer lines before the bankruptcy and wiped that debt out too. :)

Coming from a high school student, the concept of the 3 day season pass is a really good offer and makes it that much more enticing to purchase. But you guys are probably right in that SixFlags should probably not be targeting students or people with little money as that does mean not spending much once in the park, either. It'll be interesting to see how long this payment plan lasts :)

billb7581 said:
Six Flags business model is to market to teenagers and people with no money. No wonder they are in dire financial straights.

Except that they recently emerged from bankruptcy, have a stock price that's on fire and it's more or less a completely different company than it was a year ago.

I'm particularly excited about the new installment plan for the burger meal...3 monthly payments of $4 each really fits my budgetary needs.