Pruhealth scrapping its free/discounted gym loophole in November. Discussion

timbotambo

Pound wrote: »

This change is actually brilliant for people who have already achieved platinum status, especially if they're in the second year and enjoying a 100% discount. They'll continue paying the discounted premium of a couple of quid a month for gym membership and health insurance combined.

As well as that it actually gets easier to keep within the requirements to get free gym membership. You now need to get 2,000 vitality points to reach platinum the next year and carry on with free gym membership. IMO it's not difficult to hit 1,500 points in a year from other easy, mostly online activities. This leaves 50 gym visits to make in a year, so only once per week.

People who are platinum may be getting a better deal than they were before.

Platinum is now 3000 points!

Bargain_Rzl

timbotambo wrote: »

Platinum is now 3000 points!

Could you please clarify? Your earlier post ("We go dilligently twice a week, are young, non smokers, would do all the tests and meal plans online etc and we discovered that we would still be 1160 points short of gaining platinum membership to get the gym to £8 a month (up from £5).") suggests that your membership is a joint one with your partner, in which case Platinum always was 3000 points

If they are raising the bar to 3000 points for individuals, then the worst-case scenario for anybody already on Platinum by the time of the change is that they might start getting a poor deal in a year's time - they'll be OK for now...

mark1024

Are you sure he wasn't referring to the couples rate ? That is 3000

The changes are actually much better for us. We sometimes had a problem achieving enough points in a three month period to get the regular user rate for the next quarter. For example if we caught the flu or went on holiday it really mucked things up. I remember once forcing myself to go swimming when sick to ensure I would not face a hike from £15 to whatever the next level was for virgin membership. Our regular fee also goes down to £8 from £15. My girlfriend was planning to quit before the announcement simply due to this ; it is much easier to factor in a holiday or time away from the gym now as things are spread over the year. Of course it does help is you already have platinum status. Fifteen visits a month, on average over a year, almost gets you to platinum level on its own.

siu99djd

I'm also in my 10th month of membership and am due to reach Platimum in 2-3 weeks and with averaging 2 visits a week it means I'll still be paying £0 for my Cannon's gym membership per month come November. :-)
However, I thought having to go twice a week was a bit unfair to prove you're staying fit and active especailly when you can cheat by just scanning in and sitting in the cafe or even worse, just scanning and leaving.
Or for active people like me who enjoy participating in may other physically demanding activities outside of the gym, such as gymnastics, tennis, running, Pilates, all of which I do regularly, none of which give me any vitality points it seems down right unfair, when let's face it, going to the gym can be very boring.
So despite me also believing Pru Health are making this change for their own money saving benefit, (is going to the gym once a week and doing some reading really better then going twice?) come November, not having to keep up 2 visits a week is going to free up some of my time to do these and other acitivities. Just wish they could be counted for all of us who do find the monotony of gym going to much to take at times.

Bargain_Rzl

Absolutely agree, siu99djd. And if I'm on holiday for a fortnight, nowhere near the gym but racking up 12.5k steps a day on my Fitbug while sightseeing (for example, exploring Versailles gardens last week gave me over 16k steps in a day), my gym discount won't be dependent on me then having to go to the gym every day whether I want to or not, just to make up for the time off...

mark1024

Well for me it can be bit of a chore, but I do find swimming very relaxing. I would always join a gym with a pool, and often do a couple of dozen lengths rather than face the ordeal of a room of pounding treadmills on full throttle.

I don't do any other sports, except hiking, so it works fine for me.

Another incentive is to sit in the cafe and eavesdrop on what the walk-in membership fees are for prospective members. At the end of the day I joined pru primarily for the cheap gym membership, and if I didn't go a couple of times a week, I wouldn't bother in the first place. It's still a great deal.

Bargain_Rzl

Just noticed this:

camaj wrote: »

The other change I notice is that only the first 15 gym visits in a month get counted towards your vitality points.

This isn't a change - it has always been the case. And the limit per annum is 1500 points, so if you've consistently been getting 150 a month from gym+Fitbug, you won't get any additional points in your 11th and 12th month. However, while at present you'd still need to keep up going to the gym regularly in order to keep the gym fees down (even if you'd already reached your limit of annual points) you could actually stop going to the gym for the final couple of months if you really wanted to... It's a useful change for somebody who, for example, is going travelling for a couple of months and won't be in a position to go to the gym regularly during that period.

sparkzilla

I am on 1140 points at the moment so want to get to platinum asap. Can you share ways of getting points through other means than visiting the gym (which i do at least twice a week).

Thanks

mark

Bargain_Rzl

6-monthly free fitness assessment: 300 points, plus - if you've already had one six month ago - extra points for having maintained or improved your weight and fitness stats
Click-throughs on the Pruhealth site to self-help articles (10 points a time, max 20 points a month)
Filling in your nutrition profile and personal health review online, if you haven't done so already.

the_Otter

Having received the letter from PruHealth regarding the changes in their gym membership scheme, i thoroughly read through the T's & C's of my policy and gym membership policy also.

It clearly states that I can cancel my membership of the gym, if PruHealth decide to change the fees etc - WITHIN 14 DAYS of receiving notification of fee change. Therefore i read it that i cannot carry on up until October 31 then cancel the membership, as by then i have agreed to carry on at the new rate.

I cancelled my membership immediately once i received the letter, after much persuasion otherwise from PruHealth staff, telling me that i could SAVE money should i reach Platinum status (out of the question to make 1300 points in 3 months.) I went to the gym easily twice a week, but unfortunately can't afford to bump up my vitality points by shelling out 200 odd sheets for a screening here and there.

Obviously PruHealth are now making a loss subsidising the gym memberships, hence the big changes. Based on my usage (and i am a healthy person who does do other active things that aren't linked to PruHealth - and why should i?), i would be paying £30 a month for policy, plus £58 a month for gym membership! No thanks.