Guest passes: how clubs and gyms manage members' guests

A guest pass lets a member bring someone who isn't a member into a club or gym, within limits the venue sets. Managing guest passes well means deciding how many passes each membership includes, how guests are registered and how staff check the allowance at the door, then keeping a record of who came in with whom.

The record also shows which members bring guests, which guests keep coming back and which of them might join. In a licensed members' club it helps show that guests really are members' guests.

What should a guest policy include?

Put the guest rules in the membership terms so members know what their plan includes before they turn up with friends. The policy should cover:

• The guest pass allowance for each tier, per month or per year, and whether unused passes roll over
• How many guests a member can bring on a single visit
• Whether the member must stay with their guests, and that the member is responsible for their guests' behaviour and bill
• How often the same person can visit as a guest before they are expected to apply
• Any guest fee, and whether it is charged to the member or paid by the guest
• Areas, times or events that are closed to guests
• What guests must provide, such as their name, contact details, proof of age or a signed waiver

A repeat-guest limit stops a regular from using the club for free on someone else's membership, and it gives you a natural moment to invite that person to apply.

How many guest passes should each tier include?

Set allowances from what a guest costs and what a guest brings in. A guest who eats and drinks at the bar adds revenue and takes little from members. A guest who takes a class place, a sun lounger or a treatment slot uses capacity that members are paying for. So it can make sense to allow more guests at quiet times than at peaks, or to charge a guest fee in the areas that fill up.

Guest allowances also work as a tier benefit. Two passes a month on a middle tier and six on the top tier give members a concrete reason to upgrade, and our guide to pricing membership tiers covers how to cost them.

Guest rules for licensed members' clubs

In England and Wales, a qualifying members' club with a club premises certificate can sell alcohol to the guests of its members for consumption on the premises. The Licensing Act 2003 doesn't define a guest, and the Home Office's section 182 guidance says whether someone is a genuine guest is a question of fact. Guests can be admitted without prior notice, and the Act doesn't require them to be signed in.

The guidance also says a club providing commercial services to the general public is no longer conducted in good faith, at which point the licensing authority must give notice withdrawing the certificate. A guest record tied to the member who invited each guest is the simplest evidence of how guests come in. Proprietary clubs trading under a premises licence aren't tested this way, but the record still helps with security and service. This is general information, so check your own licence and your licensing authority's policy.

Guest passes in gyms and fitness clubs

For a gym, a guest pass doubles as a sales tool, because a friend who trains with a member is a warm prospect. If you ask guests to complete a health questionnaire or sign a waiver before using equipment, collect it before the visit where you can, so the session doesn't start with paperwork. Peak-time guest limits keep the gym floor usable for members.

Capture the guest's details on the first visit and ask for marketing consent at the same time, following the rules in our guide to UK GDPR and PECR. A follow-up a few days later, with a trial offer, is more useful than a generic newsletter.

Should guests register before the visit or at the door?

With pre-registration, the member sends an invitation, the guest fills in their details and accepts any terms before arriving, and reception only has to confirm who they are. It speeds up a busy entrance and gets waivers signed in advance. Registration on arrival covers the friend who turns up unplanned, and it is the fallback when a guest ignores the invitation.

Most venues need both, with the same allowance applied either way. If a member can invite three guests a month online and bring three more at the door, their real allowance is six.

How Tiquo manages guest passes

Tiquo's Guest Passes record every guest against the member who brought them and keep track of each member's allowance. A Guest Pass type has a name and an optional expiry, counted in days from when the pass is issued, and membership plans can include Guest Passes, so each membership can carry its own allowance.

Guests are registered at the front desk with the member. From the registration screen on the Customers page, staff scan the member's wallet card or search for them, choose the area of the venue they are entering and add their guests, either existing customer profiles or new ones created on the spot, then register the group in one step. With guest limits switched on, each guest uses one pass from the member's allowance, and the screen won't let staff add more guests than the member has passes left, so front of house doesn't need to keep count. Areas can also be closed to guests altogether.

The visit is recorded on the member's profile and on each guest's, so you can see who came in with whom and how often the same guest comes back. A guest who later applies already has a profile and a visit history.

If guests need to fill in a questionnaire or sign a waiver, Tiquo's forms and documents can collect it before the visit. Guest registration sits alongside memberships, check-in and bookings in Tiquo's software for gyms and fitness venues.