Fun Perks

If the Fun Perks for CP included dollars spent at CP Resorts, then I would have huge discounts (if not free) Platinum Passes for the several thousand a year I spend at their resorts.

Beats the hell out of discounted fries.

Ffej said:

the ffej man said:
How cool would it be if you collected points on your pass that you collect enough points based on your in park purchases so you can work toward a free pass or discounted pass for next year?

And I agree that it would be awesome and intelligent to have an ultimate reward of a free season pass the next year for the ultra-high spenders. It'd be catchy marketing too..."Earn a FREE season pass for next season!" They'd just have to be very careful in establishing rules to prevent abuse.

Maybe $1000 spent on food? Idk...

SSL488 said:
I would definitely buy more food from CP if there was a points system. Even if it was as little as $1 off something.

I belive that you earn points for every cent/dollar spent.

Ffej said:
And I agree that it would be awesome and intelligent to have an ultimate reward of a free season pass the next year for the ultra-high spenders.

I imagine a huge percentage of season pass holders repurchase every year, no incentive required. Seems like a bad business move to me.

A better plan would be to simply provide more ways for folks to spend their money. And that seems to be what they're doing - Dinosaurs Alive and Fast Lane are a start. Now they simply need to add some night time entertainment options.

I'm not sure if you're aware, but the way Fun Perks worked at Kings Island was that there were 4 different star levels to reach. When you reached a level, you got to choose from several different rewards. Free food and discounts were the early level rewards, with discounts on season passes and VIP tours / experiences on the highest level.

One of the complaints was that there needed to be higher reward levels. A couple people on forums reported blowing through Star Level 4 in June, and then feeling the program wasn't encouraging them to spend anymore. So, if they wanted to continue the program as is, I'd suggest maybe 10 levels with additional permanent benefits.

With that in mind, I'll explain why I feel a level 10 reward of a free season pass (or alternative highly-desired reward) is clever. It's a catchy incentive to get passholders interested in the program and excited to spend from the start. Say you have to spend $2500 or so in a season to reach that reward... Realistically, very few are going to get there (but they will get smaller rewards). I could see a large family that frequently visits CP, eats in the park, buys add-ons like Fast Lane, and stays at the resorts getting there.

These are the golden customers that CP wants to hang onto. If they earn a free season pass, it might be the perfect incentive to get the whole family to renew for the following season, and CP might get to hang onto this family longer than expected.

Sure adding ways for guests to spend more money in the park is intelligent, but supplementing that with a reward program that trains them to spend is even more beneficial for the park (and as mentioned, provides the park with great metrics).

There's no doubt that the existing Fun Perks program was flawed, but it was a nice start. If rolled out to all Cedar Fair parks, I'm thinking a simple point-based system might be more accurate for guests and more beneficial for business. That way, they can do lots of promos like, "Try Dinosaurs Alive, and get X bonus points." Then, the points could be used toward a wide selection of rewards of various value.

djDaemon said:

I imagine a huge percentage of season pass holders repurchase every year, no incentive required. Seems like a bad business move to me.

How many pass holders don't spend much money in the park? I would bet that quite a few eat in their car and bring their own drinks. If there is a real incentive to spend in the park, I would guess that those people would spend more in the park and mean that hey bring in more money for the park and do not have to increase attendance. Sounds like a pretty good business move to me. More money for the park with the same amount of work.

Ffej said:
A couple people on forums reported blowing through Star Level 4 in June, and then feeling the program wasn't encouraging them to spend anymore.

I suppose if there are people dumb enough to spend money they otherwise wouldn't have in order to get a discount on something as inexpensive as a season pass, CF should go ahead and take their money.

:)

All joking aside, I'm sure an incentive program has it's benefits. I'm just not convinced there's a scenario that makes sense for discounted/free season passes (based on the already dirt cheap passes and the average per cap).

I would love to get free pass(es). That is the ultimate award to me.

Why not have a "reward" that does not cost cedar point a thing and make sure that when they come to the park they will be spending money there?

Like a behind the scene tour or ERT?