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Pre-use, bonus periods, and member-selected start dates

  • Updated

In this article you will learn how the two start dates of a membership work (membership start date vs. start of use), how to grant pre-use training before the contract starts, how bonus periods extend access for free, and where members can pick their own start date.

Contents

Fast lane

  1. Pre-use: open Settings / Membership management / Rates, select a rate and term, and set the Pre-use field to None, At no fee, or For a fee.
  2. Bonus period at sign-up: on the same rate term, configure a bonus period with the Membership start date term strategy and the period length (for example "First 2 weeks for free"). New members on this rate get it automatically.
  3. Bonus period for an individual member: open the member, go to Account / Contract, and use the Add bonus period action.
  4. Member-selected start date in the studio: staff enter the start date directly when concluding the contract in the Sales Tool.
  5. Member-selected start date online: configure the membership offer with the start-date option that fits your business (fixed date, next billing cycle, or system-suggested earliest date). Members cannot freely pick any date online; that flow is staff-only.

Prerequisites

  • Permission: Configure rates for pre-use and rate-level bonus periods; Manage members for member-level bonus periods. Assigned in Settings / Resources / Roles.
  • Rate already created: pre-use is set per term on a rate. Create the rate first under Settings / Membership management / Rates.
  • Recurring payment frequency: bonus periods can only be added to memberships with a recurring payment method. For one-time-payment contracts (upfront, paid-in-full) the bonus-period feature is not available.
  • Sales Tool active (only for in-studio member-selected start dates): the Sales Tool must be configured under Settings / Membership signing / Sales Tool configuration.

The two start dates: membership start vs. start of use

Every membership contract carries two dates that are often confused:

  • Membership start date: the legal start of the contract. The term, billing cycle, cancellation rules, and statistics all anchor to this date.
  • Start of use: the day the member is actually allowed to enter and train. By default this is the same day as the membership start date.

If the two are the same, the contract simply starts and the member trains from day one. They diverge in two scenarios:

  • Pre-use: the start of use is earlier than the membership start date. The member can already train, while the contract has not officially started yet (and billing has not begun). See the next section.
  • Delayed access: the start of use is later than the membership start date. The member is billed and registered but cannot enter the gym yet. Useful for pre-paid future memberships ("sign up in May, start training in July").

Both dates are visible on the member's contract overview and on the printed contract document under the labels Membership start date and Start date of use.

Pre-use: training before the contract starts

Pre-use lets a member train before their official membership starts. It is configured per term on a rate.

The Pre-use field has three values:

  • None: pre-use is not allowed. The start of use must be the same day as the membership start date or later. This is the default and the recommended choice for most setups.
  • At no fee: the member may train before the contract starts, free of charge. Useful for "join today, contract starts on the 1st" patterns where you want to convince the member to come in immediately without billing them for the partial month.
  • For a fee: the member may train before the contract starts and is charged a pro-rated fee for the pre-use days. Useful when you want to monetise the pre-use period without changing the contract term.

Limits to keep in mind:

  • The pre-use period cannot be longer than one full payment period of the rate. A monthly rate accepts at most one month of pre-use, a fortnightly rate at most two weeks.
  • The membership start date cannot be set before the start of use. The system rejects this with "The contract cannot begin before the start of use." Always set the start of use first, then the membership start date.
  • Pre-use only applies to the main contract. Additional modules respect the main contract's pre-use setting and start no earlier than the earliest pre-use date.

For a printed contract, the difference between the two dates is reflected automatically in the document placeholders.

Bonus periods: extra time, paid by the studio

A bonus period is a stretch of free time on a paid membership. The member keeps full access; the studio absorbs the cost. Bonus periods can be added in two places:

  • On the rate (via the payment frequency): every member on this rate automatically gets the bonus period when they sign up. Configure under Settings / Membership management / Rates, open the rate, open the term, and configure the bonus period on the Payment frequency attached to the term. Bonus periods are not configured directly on the term itself; they are attached to the payment frequency, which is why they only work with recurring payment methods.
  • On an individual member: a one-off bonus, for example to compensate a complaint or to reward a long-standing customer. Configure on the member profile under Account / Contract / Add bonus period.

The Term strategy field decides when the bonus period starts:

  • Membership start date: the bonus period begins on the day the contract starts. Standard for "first X weeks free" sign-up campaigns.
  • Fixed date: the bonus period starts on a specific calendar date you enter. Useful for studio-wide gestures ("two free weeks for everyone in August").
  • End of the current membership period: the bonus period begins after the current billing period ends. This strategy extends the cancellation period by the bonus length, so the member effectively gets free time at the end of their commitment. Useful for retention offers ("stay another 3 months and get the 4th for free").
  • Start of next term: the bonus period begins at the start of the next renewal term. Useful for tiered onboarding ("after your initial 12 months, your first month of renewal is on us").

During a bonus period the member sees the period in their account; check-ins still count toward their attendance stats; the next billing run skips the period and resumes afterwards.

The Bonus period end notification rule (see Notification events reference) sends an automatic email on the last day so the member is not surprised when paid billing resumes.

For the full step-by-step configuration of rate-level bonus periods see the existing How to manage bonus periods and add them to rates and contracts article.

Member-selected start dates: where and how it works

The system supports member-selected start dates in two surfaces, with different freedom levels:

  • In the studio (Sales Tool): staff conclude the contract with the member sitting at the desk and can type any future start date directly into the date field. The only constraint is that the start date is not in the past and respects the pre-use rules above. This is the most flexible surface and the recommended path for members who want a specific personal date.
  • Online (public offer pages): the member's choice is constrained by the membership offer settings. The offer's Start of membership option can be set to Membership signing (start immediately), Start of next payment interval (align everyone to the same cycle), or Fixed date (campaign with one common start). There is no free-form "pick any date in the next 7 days" picker on public offer pages.

If a member writes in asking for a specific online start date that the offer does not allow, staff can finalise the contract for them in the Sales Tool, or, when the offer uses a fixed date, wait until the matching campaign opens. Personalised online contract offers (under Settings / Leads / Personalized offer templates) carry the same constraints as public offer pages, since they share the same online flow.

If you need a true date picker for members on the public site, this is currently a feature gap. Use a campaign with rolling weekly start dates as a workaround, or route the member to the Sales Tool through a contact form.

How pre-use and bonus periods interact

Pre-use and bonus periods are independent features but can be combined:

  • A member can have pre-use (start of use earlier than membership start date) and a bonus period at sign-up. The pre-use days are not part of the bonus period; they belong to the lead-in phase before the contract starts.
  • A bonus period and a trial period cannot be combined at the same point. The system rejects this with "A trial period and a bonus period at contract begin cannot be configured at the same time." Pick one or the other for the contract start.
  • If you use End of the current membership period as the bonus-period term strategy, the bonus period extends the cancellation notice window. Members who cancel see their contract end later than they would without the bonus.
  • Bonus periods without a contract extension must start on a fixed date. If the rate has the No membership extension extension type, the system rejects bonus periods that try to start at the end of the current term or start of next term.

Common pitfalls

  • "The contract cannot begin before the start of use." You set the membership start date earlier than the start of use. Set the start of use first; the membership start date must be on or after that day.
  • Pre-use period too long. Pre-use is capped at one payment period. A monthly rate cannot have two months of pre-use; the system rejects with "The pre-use period must not be longer than a payment period."
  • "Pre-use is not possible with this membership offer." The offer linked to this rate has pre-use disabled. Open the offer and check its settings, or pick a different offer that supports pre-use.
  • Bonus period rejected on a one-time payment. Bonus periods only work with recurring payment methods. If the rate is paid in full upfront, the system rejects the bonus period; use a discount voucher instead.
  • Bonus period starts before the membership. A bonus period anchored to a fixed date that lands before the membership start date is rejected. Move the fixed date to on or after the contract start.
  • Trial period and start-of-contract bonus period at the same time. The two are mutually exclusive at contract start. Configure one or the other.
  • Member expected to pick any date online but only got the fixed date. Public offer pages do not support a free-form date picker. Either give them a Sales Tool consultation or accept the offer's start-date option.
  • Bonus period end notification not delivered. The Bonus period end notification rule must be active in the configuration that is active for the studio. See Set up notification rule configurations.

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