From The Straits Times    |

I first heard about the idea of multi-activity memberships from my friends in London, who were incredibly excited to try out their first free month of ClassPass, a membership which offers users the chance to try out a whole host of classes ranging from spinning, to yoga and barre method. 

 

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PassportAsia then popped up in Singapore back in 2015, offering everyone a free trial for a month (which resulted in it having to retract such a generous offer and eventually being absorbed into KFit) and debuting the multi-activity concept here. Now there are two main options for this “buffet-style” fitness subscription, GuavaPass and KFit. Having trialled both of them out, here’s the lowdown on their respective benefits and pitfalls to help you decide whether it’s worth taking up a subscription and saying bye-bye to that old gym-membership!

 

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GuavaPass

Available on both Android and Apple, this app is really nicely designed and generally has very few bugs. They are regularly updating it with new versions and bug fixes, so since I first started it, it’s definitely become more user-friendly.

Range: Its range of classes are extensive, and I’ve discovered some nice places through it, Physical Abuse’s dance classes in Dhoby Gaut being one of them. Overall, their focus appears to be skewed towards yoga studios, which is great if you are a yogi in the making but a tad bit limiting otherwise. Yoga aside, there are a few other personal favourites I’ve discovered through the app: WeBarre’s Signature Barre as well as Wings To Wings various dance classes! 

The best point of difference about GuavaPass has to be its cross-country concept. Essentially, this means that you have access to all the fitness partners where GuavaPass is available. Their current locations outside of Singapore are: Bangkok, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila, Phuket, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei. This is amazing if you’re often travelling to one of these places for business or leisure, as you can really maximise your monthly membership – though unfortunately you can’t “pause” your membership if you’re taking say a two-week trip, which would definitely be something to factor in considering the monthly fee. I’m hoping they enable pausing soon (which KFit has)!  

Price: S$149 monthly (occasionally there will be discount codes for a percentage off, and you can get prices docked through referring friends and colleagues). There is no commitment required and you can cancel your subscription at any time; you don’t have to worry about a non-response as the team is good at getting back to you. 

Class limit: It depends on the studio, as I’ve seen some places offer up to five classes a month, but the general limit tends to be three. This is a shame when you find somewhere you really like because you’ll have to wait a whole month to go again. 

Booking and cancellation policy: I love their booking policy as you can essentially book up until an hour before class starts. Motivation lacking the night before? If you decide come 5pm that you have the drive to head to that spin class after all, you can book yourself in as long there is still space! If you cancel within the late cancellation window (12 hours or less before the class) or don’t show up, you can be fined $15-20. 

Bonus:

GuavaPerks is an added bonus that comes with GuavaPass membership. It’s basically a discount scheme with various partners ranging from health food companies, beauty services (Calla Spa and Vaniday) to Uber to give you money and percentages off their products. A good way to embody their ethos of a healthy lifestyle!

 

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KFit:

When I trialled KFit, it was full of a LOT of bugs, to the point where I couldn’t book a class for a week – definitely an issue when you’re paying on a monthly basis. Having looked at the app recently, it seems to have improved and become more user-friendly, but I would say this bugginess is something to factor in when understanding the price difference between the two apps. Customer service was also slow and not helpful so the issue was unresolved for quite a while; they were also very slow to cancel my membership when I decided to give it up, and they have a policy where you have to write in seven days before your billing cycle ends (excluding weekends and public holidays, yep all a bit complicated) – otherwise you have to pay for an entire extra month! It is available on Android and Apple. 

Price: Their business model has now changed, so they no longer offer “unlimited classes” but instead 10 classes a month for $99. This is called a Fitness Pass. If you don’t want to subscribe or want to take more of a certain type of class (they all cap at three per month) you can then pay “a la carte” for extras. They have a similar pay-as-you-go service for spa and beauty treatments on the app, too. 

Range: They have an extensive range of partners on the app that cover quite a large swathe of Singapore, and currently boast the bigger offering in terms of sheer quantity of fitness partners. However, the range of classes offered by their partners is more limited, and since they have become more focused on offering discounted beauty and spa services (rivalling Vanitee and Vaniday) it seems they have shifted their gaze from gaining more quality fitness partners. Their evening classes tend to be limited also, which is not great if you are aiming to take a class after work, but good if you are freer during the day. 

 

Class Limit: The pass now limits you to 10 classes a month for the set fee, but you can pay more for a la carte classes. Each studio limits you to three classes per month. They have the app available in other cities (Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Sydney, Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne, Perth, Auckland and Taipei) but you cannot use your paid-for subscription in another city! Instead you can book “a la carte” classes there if you wish. I would suggest putting your current sub on pause if you’re going to be away for more than a few days though. 

Booking and cancellation policy: They have amended their booking policy from having to book at least a day in advance to being able to book up to an hour before for most classes, which is great! Cancelling classes or no shows will incur you a $15 charge.They also have a pause function for when you go abroad on holiday or on a business trip. The big downside is their overall cancellation policy, which involves you having to decide to cancel at least seven working days in advance of when you want to stop. 

Bonus: They now have beauty and spa appointments available to book (for a listed price) in the app. This is good if you want everything lifestyle- and wellness-related in one app, though there are other beauty apps that have more high-end offerings such as Vaniday and Vanitee. 

 

A photo posted by KFIT (@kfit_asia) on

 

Verdict: Multi-activity passes are amazing ways to discover new sports and classes that you might not have tried if you had to commit from the start. They’re also fun if you like variety and don’t want to just see the same view every time you’re running on the treadmill! The main catch is that once you find one place you like, you want to keep going back, but are then capped at three classes for both apps. I guess this is where the business model becomes problematic, as once you find somewhere you like, you will most likely be tempted to set up a separate sole membership there! 

All things considered, I would recommend GuavaPass if you’re looking to get fit, as their offering is more varied and the price is justified by the range and unlimited factor of the classes. On the other hand, KFit is cheaper if you don’t see yourself doing more than 10 classes a month (that’s 2 or 3 a week) but their range isn’t as high quality. I’d say have a look at the studios and types of classes on offer for the times when you’re free before signing up, because if there’s a specific studio that you’ve been wanting to try out that’s only available on one of them, then it’s worth putting your money there!

For the sleekest athleisure gear to sport to your next class, see here.