Doesn’t Classpass sound amazing – unlimited classes at your favourite London studios for just £79 a month. But is it too good to be true?
Pros
Unlimited classes– this part is actually true. You could go to multiple classes a day if you want.
Studios across London– try out studios close to home, the office, friend’s houses- there’s a huge selection of studios across London, even in the burbs.
Price– it’s cheaper than most monthly studio fees.
It introduces you to new studios, that if you like, you could join to attend more regularly.
You can try out new classes, like kettlebells or barre, that you might not have considered trying before, or that we too expensive to try on a whim. Paola’s body barre for example is £22 a class, but free on Classpass! Well worth it.
Working out with friends– lots of my friends are on Classpass, so organising to take classes together is really easy.
No more excuses not to cross train!
Cons
Not all of the studios that were included in the promotional material are actually available yet, most notably Barry’s Bootcamp and Pscycle. Apparently these will be added but Classpass aren’t being very forward about when this might be!
A lot of the studios have only opened up their off peak classes to Classpass which means their pre-work and post-work classes aren’t on offer. This is a real problem for me as I like to work out first thing in the morning! Weekends don’t seem to be a problem though.
You can only book up to a week in advance– annoying if you like to plan ahead! And for those that leave it until the last minute, it doesn’t allow you to book classes too close to the start time, for example booking onto a 6pm class at 4pm even if there’s space!
Classes get full quickly!
You can only attend each studio 3 times a month, which means unless you go to different studios offering similar classes, you might not see the benefits of regular attendance that you would gain from weekly/twice weekly classes.
Cost – if you don’t attend more than 6 classes a month, the cost probably isn’t worth it. Definitely worth thinking about it you’re on holiday for 1-2 weeks in a month.
Cancellation is 12 hours before start of class, otherwise you get charged £12.
You can end up overcommitting and not taking adequate rest days due to the excitement to try ALL THE CLASSES! (A positive and negative in my opinion!!)
The Verdict
I was given a month’s free trial with Classpass, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ll be renewing my monthly membership for next month and seeing how it goes when the novelty dies down. It will be interesting to see whether more studios join and if more early morning classes are on offer! If you can attend classed during the day, and like to try out new classes and studios in your city, then Classpass is perfect, however if you are set in your ways and like to exercise before work, then your options may be limited. It would be great if they opened up Classpass to allow you to use it in other cities when you were travelling, like in NYC, Seattle etc- then I think it would really come into it’s own!
What are your thoughts on Classpass? Have you signed up? Are you tempted to try it?
I had the same experience with ClassPass in NYC. Unless you are really open to trying new things, ClassPass isn’t for you. If you just want to take your specific spin class, you are unlikely to get the time each week plus, you’re limited in how often you can frequent your favorite studio. I loved the idea of it, but with my schedule, it just wasn’t for me.
This is such an accurate summary! I live in NYC and find that it is now nearly impossible to get into any of the “popular” studios- peak times or not! It got so frustrating and stressful that I recently ended my membership after over a year. Oh, well! http://www.nyviewsnikeshoes.com
I love how we inadvertently colour coordinated our kettlebells with our tops! Haha.
I think I’ll be renewing my ClassPass too- even just doing 2 classes per week works out pretty good value, and it’s great to be able to mix it up. My only concern is that with the weather improving I’m less likely to want to workout inside a dark studio rather than outside in the sunshine! I think it would be much more valuable in the winter months.
I think Class pass is a brilliant idea and I’ve really been enjoying the classes. Another con I would add is that I’ve been stung twice now by late cancellation fees! The 12 hour window doesn’t give enough notice sometimes especially for busy people whose plans change at short notice. And £12 for each late class seems quite steep in my opinion!
That’s really true-I’ve had to cancel one (after our Adidas night run) and it was within 12 hours but was still the day before!
I agree- have just cancelled my first class and slightly peeved at the cost and the fact that it counts as one of your visits to that studio!
Yes!! Very annoying- I don’t understand why it counts as one of your three visits if you cancel?!
Great post – I was considering joining ClassPass but the 3 classes per studio monthly limit really put me off. Although I love trying new classes, I find it useful to have some sort of routine alongside (even if it’s just one session a week at the same place!). I’d be interested to know how people have found trying out so many new studios – it seems to have the potential be a logistical headache (and fairly stressful!) at the beginning. I’d no doubt forget which studios have towels, which have toiletries, what I needed for the lockers, how quickly I could be out before work/end of lunch etc!
Tried ClassPass in Chicago. Loved the variety, there were TONS of studios and more added frequently, but only three classes per studio per month was tough. Sure there were tons of different Barre or Pilates studios so you could just try a new version of a favorite class, but for other things like Flywheel, you really can’t build up the consistency. We had plenty of “peak hours” classes available, but they filled up quickly. I definitely found some studio gems that I wouldn’t have otherwise tried, but once I stopped working downtown, it was too hard to get to the majority of studios (only a handful of studios in the ‘burbs participate). Great idea, but you really need to be willing to studio-hop – and you have to be able to take classes at any time – and you have to be able to GET to the studios… For me, too much hassle, for others, probably ideal!
It seems really good.
I agree- great summary! I signed up for three months as am hoping to get a bit stronger (I like to avoid any kind of strength training and only run!) and try out some places that I’ve always wanted to try but have been put off by the cost. So far I’ve found that whilst it’s fun to constantly go somewhere new, I do end up at the places that are near to my work- realistically I don’t want to travel out of my way after a long day. I have found that I’m exercising much more than normal to get value from signing up and have tried some great places (1Rebel, ProjectFit, Gymclass) that would normally be out of my price bracket. I have noticed the scheduling is a bit sporadic- this week there seemed to be no early morning BoomCycle classes but in the first week there was lots! Like you, I wonder when the novelty might wear off!
This is a really helpful review! My flatmate also told me that if you cancel your classpass… that you have to pay £69 (I think) to rejoin up or £20 if you want to put it on hold. Seems a bit expensive!
I had a very similar experience here in NYC too – and ended up ultimately not continuing my membership. I love the idea but there were too many complications that ultimately made working out way too stressful.
Another con is the cancellation fees. Classpass will charge you £16 if you miss a class. If you buy directly from the studio you’ll usually just lose the amount of the class, but this is like an extra fee on top of the monthly cost. I don’t usually miss classes but woke up one morning with the flu and too late for the 24 hour cancellation so had to bite the bullet. Just something to be aware of!
True- slightly annoying esp when something comes up (work or illness) that’s out of your control!
Now you’ve had chance to try out a few of the different classes available, which ones would you recommend? Any you wouldn’t recommend that you’ve tried? Im considering giving it a go but debating whether I will get value for my money or not.
This is good to know! I had and LOVED ClassPass in NYC, and for some reason I’m on the fence about it here. Still on the fence after the review…but am more informed! Thanks!
Wonder if anyone knows an alternative to classpass. I read about it but have forgotten the name! It began with “S” and was similarly around London with lots of Clapham yoga studios participating and even box ravercise in the grimy Dogstar pub in Brixton! That was priced at £69 per month and I think ClassPass is now £89 (yelp). If I remember I’ll message on here again but any clue? Thanks
It’s called SoMuchMore. I haven’t tried it yet, but they seem to have more yoga/pilates etc and less HIIT/cardio style classes!
Brilliant thank you. Also I found the one I was on about… https://www.striveclub.com/ Excited about the more active classes they do. I shall research which to test run and report back! M
Would love to know what you all thought about it now that ClassPass has been going a few months in London? Still feeling the same about the idea overall?
I’ve actually just renewed my pass- I’ve worked out the classes I love and ensure that I get those fitted in each month. I utilise those classes enough to make it worth it, plus love that I can do classes with friends that are on classpass!