Michael Williams

Now that LA Fitness has purchased most of the Bally Total Fitness locations, many questions remain. Details are still sketchy at this point, but I figured I’d consolidate what I found through various sources. The first example applies to me and I personally inquired about it. Unless I was given false information, I’m taking it as being accurate. All other scenarios are just to be taken as what I’ve heard from others. I’ll update this as more solid facts come out.

What if I’m currently paying $24.99 for Bally national access?

From my understanding you will still be able to access your home Bally club unless it is closed, in which case you’ll be given a new home club and still have the ability to access other former Bally clubs.

What if I am paying for a single Bally club?

It is my understanding, as above you can still access that single club unless it closes. In that case you’d be given another single club you may access

What happens to my yearly (multi-year) contract I had with Bally?

This is where it starts to get tricky. It appears LA Fitness only acquired certain types of Bally contracts. From what I’ve read to this point it seems to vary. Many with yearly contracts are ok until their renew dates, at which point they’ll need to change plans. Some with yearly renew dates or longer renew dates have had issues where they were told as of January/February their accounts will no longer be valid.

What happens to my lifetime Bally membership?

What I’ve seen on this topic has been consistent other than one case. There was a single person (on yelp I believe) who said their lifetime membership was honored with the Bally to LA Fitness transition. In the other cases, it appears the memberships are not being honored at all.

In all cases excluding the lifetime members (it appears), for the month of December all former Bally members may visit any LA Fitness location. After December your normal plan terms return.

Will I get a new LA Fitness ID?

Yes, you will get a new ID now that LA Fitness has acquired Bally Total Fitness. There was a line of people waiting to get their ID updated when I entered the club this morning. I previously had the credit card sized Bally ID with my picture. I was given the small LA Fitness card that can fit on your keychain.

What will happen to the Bally staff?

I was glad to see the same staff when I went it their. Contrary to what I’ve heard about many Bally clubs, the staff at my club has always been great so I’d hate to see helpful people lose their jobs. Some sources said the personal trainers were fired. The same trainers were there so I’m not sure that is true, at least not through all clubs. I did see some trainers online saying that their benefits had been taken away after the ownership change. From the LA Fitness web site it appears the former Bally staff has to/had to apply for their same positions. The transition of ownership didn’t carry over employment. Don’t have much details their.

What will happen to my Bally club?

Short term plans should already been known. In some cases, clubs are being closed I’ve seen as early as 12/8. My particular club isn’t closing. Long term it’s been said many clubs will be upgraded, some relocated and others closed. We will see.

How do you feel about Bally being sold and what was your personal experience?

My only thing is the lack of communication from Bally. I didn’t receive any notice until an email I got around 3AM the day the deal was already done. A heads up would’ve been nice. Other than that. As a monthly paying member, I didn’t have a special deal to begin with so my transition seemed to go pretty painless.

Update

Good News! LA Fitness has made some changes to it’s policy. See the below:

UPDATE LA Fitness has decided to simplify the access rules and give all of the acquired Bally Total Fitness (“BTF”) members access to current LA Fitness clubs as described below:

BTF “Local” Members will have access to LA Fitness clubs and acquired BTF clubs in the state of enrollment*;

BTF “National” Members will have access to those clubs in all states*; and
Acquired BTF members who only have single club access will continue to have access to that single club (or, if that club has closed, to another BTF or LAF club nearby).

Members who purchased lifetime memberships at the acquired BTF clubs will continue to have access as described above.

As a side note, from December I’ve switched over and only go to LA Fitness. Although I liked my Bally club and the staff. As far as equipment, space, and availability. LA Fitness has been a better option.