A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Potomac Falls, VA
Programs: AA Plat 2MM, MR Gold, Avis Pref
Posts: 41,109
I belong to Golds and Ballys
My ballys goes back to the 80's so I have a lifetime membership where my renewal is $60 annually so I keep it and if I use it a half dozen times it pays for itself; there are not any near my house but I use them often in Southern California, NJ, Arizona and Fla.. the one caveat is that while its a high level membership, there are some exclusions but not enough to really bother me.
Golds is my preferred chain and what I use daily at home. GG is great for travel including Hawaii however the one drawback is the 14 day pass where you are "technically" allowed only 14 visits to a particular club per year. Some take that as calendar and others take it as a rolling 12 month window. However there are ways around it if you really hit a city over and over like I do in certain locations. I've never been denied access to a GG domestically or overseas. Its the best chain in my opinion.
Other deals are some extended stay properties and low end chains (FI, Hampton) will have deals with local health clubs in lieu of their own and I tend to know many of those as well to the locations I travel often. I pay attention to the master threads in the hotel forums for these too and often take note for future reference.
24 hour fitness turned me off with having too many levels of membership. LA Fitness to me is more of a social club so its ok, just not my style, and of course whatever poster above me stated that they are all d-bags as far as the high pressure sales couldn't be more accurate. It may be the cheesiest of all sales jobs that have ever existed. You just have to be a natural scumbag to do health club sales.