Six Flags offers new payment plans for season passes
Six Flags is offering a new payment plan for its season passes. But unlike many other parks' plans, this one could end up costing you far more than the list price of a pass.
The new payment plan is called Flex Pay and it is offered via Six Flags' partnership with finance company Upgrade. Flex Pay is now available for select online purchases of $49 or more, including season passes.
"Six Flags has long been committed to providing families with one of the best entertainment values available," Six Flags Chief Marketing Officer Amy Martin Ziegenfuss said. "Flex Pay gives guests another way to maximize that value by locking in current pricing, breaking payments into manageable installments and enjoying a season of world-class rides, seasonal events and experiences from day one."
Flex Pay is a distinct product from Six Flags' monthly payment membership plans. With Flex Pay, you are getting an installment loan on the price of a season pass, which has an expiration date, until memberships, which are on-going.
Rivals such as Disney and Universal have offered payment plans on their annual passes, which typically cost far more than Six Flags' season passes. But those rivals have offered zero-interest payment plans. Six Flags' Flex Pay may charge interest for its payment plans, depending upon your personal credit history. And those interest rates may range up to 36% annually, according to Six Flags' website.
I am not a financial advisor, but paying any amount of interest on a theme park ticket purchase seems insane to me. And charging 36% on any loan outta be illegal, IMHO. If you are a fan who wants to visit regularly and can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars up front for a season pass, just get a Six Flags membership and its relatively low monthly payments.
Locking in a season pass price with a loan is only worth it if you are getting a zero-interest loan. Otherwise, the accrued interest effectively raises the price of that season pass, perhaps by even more than a future price increase if you had waited to pay in full at a later date.
I can only imagine that this is an example of the decoy effect, to make Six Flags memberships look even more attractive when compared with the payment plans on season passes. But financial illiteracy is a thing, so... anyway, that's what Six Flags announced today.
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Replies (2)
Why would anyone do this when there are products like Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, and other buy now pay later (BNPL) apps? Six Flags has enough trouble maintaining its parks, and now it wants to enter the world of finance and banking?
I completely agree with Robert here. If you do not have enough disposable income to afford a Six Flags season pass (most parks are less than $100 for a single park pass), you probably should be buying one or purchasing one of the chain's Membership products if you need to spread those costs into monthly payments.
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Sadly I think this has just become the norm as a payment option for pretty much anything nowadays. Which really says something about society, obviously not a good thing, but something.