Skip to content

Annual membership or season pass design case studies

To showcase how meaningful design tips and tricks are when thinking about your annual membership or season pass product, pricing and promotion, we look at different elements from case studies across the visitor attractions sector.

Auckland Zoo, zoo, Auckland
Ease of navigation

Auckland Zoo has made sure its site links for sponsored search results include a clear call to action across tickets and memberships (then visit information, add ons and what’s on). It would be even better if organic results were also optimized for this. Curiously, although a member can login as an obvious call to action from the home page, a similar “join” button is missing and would be beneficial next to the “tickets” button (instead, it’s tucked into the “visit” menu).

MoMA, art museum, New York City
Pricing user experience design

MoMA is a masterclass in user experience design. The membership versus tickets call to action is stunningly clear from its website home page – helpfully, the membership menu drops down into ‘Become a member’ or ‘Login’, and you’re also offered another opportunity to login on the join page.

The pricing page itself is clearly structured with a clever nod to best practice user experience design for pricing, which suggests three options in increasing price band option, the middle being the preferred promotion (even if the lowest is most common). This could be further accentuated with emphasis like a ‘Popular’ badge or heavier border – an effect more subtly conveyed through color choices of the brighter middle pink block versus the paler lime and peach.

SeaLife (Merlin), aquarium, Sydney 
Use of multi site benefits and block out times

Merlin benefits from cluster power with multiple attractions in the same city in the case of Sydney and also uses block out pricing as a price structure to preserve capacity on busy days. Pricing is tricky to orient to as it starts high rather than low when reading left to right and is mixed with ‘pre-book’ under the ‘new passes’ section. It’s also not clear whether the Gold includes single or multiple site. 

Six Flags Over Texas, theme park, Texas
Subscription payments and block out times

Six Flags also use some blockout times in more cost effective membership options. An upfront $20 fee on the first month helps balance a lower monthly advertised price with revenue surety against new members using it to dip below the initial visit cost ($29) and then reneging on the payment. 

Six Flags offers a combination of monthly memberships and annual season passes, with easy navigation and comparison between the two in a pricing design which references best practices, although slightly dated in the credit card design styling. The user experience to unfurl or collapse an extended compare list of benefits (including clarifying exclusions) is helpful.

Natural History Museum, history museum, London
Membership under free general admission

Natural History Museum does a great job of clearly stating its membership proposition and benefits, which are common to all member types. It’s always challenging to formulate the value proposition of a membership in an otherwise free admission attraction, so this is especially important. 

The museum offers discounts depending on payment type, plus a gift option. 

SeaWorld Orlando, amusement park, Orlando
Estimated savings and value

Locals in Orlando are spoilt for choice for their season pass options and a never ending list of attractions to try. SeaWorld clearly articulates the savings and value of their passes by calculating this for the visitor, although prices are somewhat buried. They also use blackout dates, autorenewal, benefits like a member lounge and multiple attraction offers – a great example of many design practices. To make comparison simpler for the member, options are laid out in a pricing table. You can see at the time of capture there is a 20% off sale offer. 

National Parks, park, Canada 
Simplicity and clarity

Canada clearly separates those looking at a single park pass versus multiple parks in a way which is easy to understand, although promoting the option to buy a pass in person may dilute conversions of passes purchased online. Benefits are well articulated “pays for itself in as little as seven days”, although could be elevated on the page. Unusually, the Parks are still sticking to a posted membership card to then be presented onsite, which creates friction for those wanting to visit immediately. 

Get insights delivered right to your inbox

Want to learn more about Dexibit?

Talk to one of our expert team about your vision to discover your data strategy and see Dexibit in action.

Sign up to our mailing list

Get actionable content sent directly to you. Use these insights to reach visitor management excellence at your attraction.

As the global leader in big data analytics for visitor attractions, Dexibit takes privacy seriously. Read more about how we treat your privacy.

Download Visitor Excellence Kit

Download Visitor Excellence Kit

As the global leader in big data analytics for visitor attractions, Dexibit takes privacy seriously. Read more about how we treat your privacy.

Download Data Audit Workbook

Download Data Audit Workbook

As the global leader in big data analytics for visitor attractions, Dexibit takes privacy seriously. Read more about how we treat your privacy.