Whether you’re a ski resort, waterpark or attraction-based business, having a well-thought-out season pass launch strategy can make a big difference in calling back your dedicated customers and attracting new ones. From pricing strategies to marketing, here are Catalate’s top four must-do tips for a successful season pass launch. 

1. Utilize a Quantity-Driven Promotional Sale Pricing

You’re probably most familiar with the age-old dated rate hike strategy (e.g. get a certain price until a certain date, and then the price goes up). Ever look at the analytics or even just revenue finally rolling in when those last few hours of your scheduled price hike sale is nearing? Sending out countless ‘sale extended’ emails to keep the momentum going? That may not provide enough incentive for your pass holders to purchase early this year even if they see the next date may cost them more. Try a quantity based tiers for your season pass sale to drive more urgency. The earliest bird gets the worm, or season pass best price in this scenario. Instead of telling your customers that “prices go up at midnight,” the message is “buy now to guarantee the lowest prices before inventory sells out”. There is so much more incentive for guests to buy right now rather than wait until 11:59pm the night your sale ends, since they don’t know when the last few passes at that price will get snatched up by someone else. You can always add more passes to each tier as time goes on when/if sales start to slow down or you want to hit a marketing push at a certain price point. You can also add incentives and pass perks later or create an upgrade product when you have more clarity on what pass holder perks you can issue – generating even more revenue as the new season nears.

2. Take Advantage of Payment Plans

Payment plans can make it easier for your customers to commit to a season pass. Payment plans through Catalate’s Cloud Store are easy for you and your guests; installments are charged automatically and our team handles product set-up. Imagine how much time you can get back if your payment plans, expired credit cards, declined installments, etc. were not something you had to manage. 

3. Utilize Passholder Photo Uploads and Pre-season Fulfillment

No guests enjoy crowded lines to get their pictures taken for their season passes. This is especially true if they purchased at the end of this season, or during a Black Friday promotional sale. Let them upload their photo through our cloud store, our team will approve it, and you can add to their pass right away. We can even collect mailing addresses and you can send out paid in full passes when your opening date nears. Not interested in direct mailing or going digital? You can always hold a special date for pre-fulfilled pick-ups only or add a photo to their digital pass. Long gone are the hour-long lines for your most important guests to enter on their first visit of the season. 

4. Offer Trip Insurance for Season Passes

Give your guests the peace of mind knowing if something changes next year outside of their control, they are covered. By allowing guests to add insurance coverage to their season pass while purchasing, similar to travel insurance on a big trip, they simply deal with the insurance company for refunds, rather than you losing out on their purchase. You keep the pass revenue, and get a percentage of the trip insurance revenue – that’s what we call a win-win! 

Want to learn more about how Catalate can help you have a successful season pass launch, from pricing strategies to modern hands-off e-commerce? Reach out to us at partners@catalate.com to learn more.