No More FUN Perks?

[homestar92]

I just got this in my email and I was wondering what you guys thought. It seems to me that this is the end for FUN Perks. How do you guys read into it? Quoted from the email:

Dear Valued Customer,

We hope you are looking forward to all of the fun and excitement that is
in store for the 2013 season at Kings Island. Opening day is just one
week away - Saturday, April 27!

As we prepare for the 2013 season, we are always looking for ways to
improve the experience for our guests and provide more value, especially
for our most loyal guests - our season passholders.

One such way was the FUN Perks program introduced last year. We were
pleased with the participation, but after a lengthy and thorough
evaluation of the program, we are working on other ways to provide more
value for our season passholders in the upcoming season.

As a thank you for your participation and support, please Click Here
for an exclusive coupon that allows you to bring a friend to Kings
Island during any public operating day thru May 27 for just $9.99 or
from May 28 through September 2 for just $19.99. You must present your
2013 season pass along with the coupon to receive this exclusive offer.

We look forward to seeing you at the park this summer!

Sincerely,

Greg Scheid

Vice President & General Manager

Kings Island

[BB1]

I thought this was a statement of a 100% full on FUN Perks, I guess that is what I get for early morning emails. This is a shame if this is true, I really did find more perks by this program than before, I saved a few shiny pennies as well. Although I could use the coupon, it may come in handy for a TR .

Please, try to reinstate a program for cheaper prices in the near future, that would be greatly appreciated by me and my wallet.

[The Interpreter]

You might want to delete your link. It links to your exclusive email offer, which can only be used once.

[faeriewench]

What Terpy said^ You can copy and paste the letter itself.

[homestar92]

Good calls terp and Faeriewench. Taken care of.

And additionally, I hope I'm wrong and FUN Perks is still happening. It was very helpful in helping me afford my annual Halloween Haunt Fast Lane last season.

[BB1]

Good calls terp and Faeriewench. Taken care of.

And additionally, I hope I'm wrong and FUN Perks is still happening. It was very helpful in helping me afford my annual Halloween Haunt Fast Lane last season.

You still get the link in your post, try to just blot it out.

[homestar92]

Good calls terp and Faeriewench. Taken care of.

And additionally, I hope I'm wrong and FUN Perks is still happening. It was very helpful in helping me afford my annual Halloween Haunt Fast Lane last season.

You still get the link in your post, try to just blot it out.

Thanks again. I just de-linked it.

[Snowman]

I read it as the end of FunPerks as well. If so Bad Idea!! I reached Level 4 last year and I assure you it wasn't because of my good looks! We spent many dollars at the park to get to that level. If anyone with KI reads this, please know if this program ends, a lot more of our money will go to the restaurants over in Mason.

[TheCrypt]

^I'm sure they know what they walked in to when they ended Fun Perks.

I'm sad it ended too, but at least we're given a good deal in return.

[Jr for Birdy]

If funperks is done,im going to be bummed.If they do cancel it,I think they picked the right season.Im definetly going to eat at the Reds Grille,Bier Garten,and Hanks (since I kept reading how amazing their burrito is) no matter what decision is made on funperks. I also feel the same as Snowman,Im sure I will go eat a bit more outside the park without funperks.

[malem]

I'd guess that choosing and printing rewards was too much of a hassle for many. Queueing up at the FunPerks booth wasn't a very rewarding way to get a reward. We've also seen Mr. Ouimet's attitude towards in-house software, so killing the experiment early isn't exactly a surprise.

Glitches and inconsistencies couldn't have helped anything, and then there's the issue that some abused the system - cheating, selling certificates, etc.

Assuming the visitkingsisland.com website copy is correct, there will be a flat discount this year for season passholders. I'd actually find this more valuable, as I prefer saving money upfront to banking points for rewards.

[jdawg1998]

I never used it anyway, as no staff members asked me if I had a Gold pass.

[faeriewench]

I never eat at the park enough to really bother with it, so guess I'm one of the ones who won't miss it... o_o

[BoddaH1994]

Malem -

The software was implemented in house. I don't think that had much to do with it.

I talked to Don a little while ago and he confirmed that Fun Perks has gone away, but also stated that they will have other options for a better value for season pass holders.

[Creed Bratton]

This makes me sad, but Ryan your post makes me a bit happier, hope we hear soon.

[benred23]

(My 1 Angry Blog Post..)

Ok, So expand the Fast Lane program, And take away the program that allows you to earn perks for freebies... Selfish..

[Jr for Birdy]

I wouldnt get to upset just yet,they might have some sweet deals planned that will have us forgetting funperks?

[markr]

I certainly am disappointed about the news as I loved Fun Perks. However, I'm willing to keep an open mind if we get some good discounts. I do like the discount for bringing a friend as I have several friends who like KI but only go once every few years.

[Aaron88stang]

I wish fun perks could stay, but the ticket offer is nice. I did not realize until I printed it out that it was good for up to 4 tickets. That is pretty sweet.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

I guess the expense to operate the Funperks program was greater than the revenue they hope it would generate. It sounds like the park believes there are other ways to generate extra revenue that is less costly like maybe offering discounts on food and or merchandise and other offers to entice increased spending among season pass holders.

[BoddaH1994]

I hope they have a perpetual discount at the Reds HOF Grille. I plan on eating there a lot. :-)

[TombRaiderFTW]

Bummed? Yeah. Definitely made use of Fun Perks a ton last year. I guarantee that I spent an order of magnitude more money in the park last year than in any other year. I'm sure the park has its reasons for ditching the program.

While I'm sad to see FP go, the reduced admission is a great gesture. I've already got plans to make use of it.

[RadioRiders]

I had fun perks last year, almost level 4 . never seen this email yet.... I hope they still have dollar days that was fun.

[Bennett]

Using your rewards was, at best, like pulling teeth. Employees not knowing how to apply the discounts properly being the main culprit that I witnessed.

We DO get a discount on food, if I read the website correctly before by using our gold passes. 10% I thought.

I certainly hope that they do come up with an alternative, and, do a better job of teaching employees that it exists, and, how to properly apply it.

[cholderfield]

FunPerks was a nice concept, but I didn't really go enough/buy enough to reap the full benefits- I think I was at level 2.

If they replaced it with a flat discount it would be easier for season pass holders and employees.

[medford]

I'm dissapointed that funperks is going away. I never made full use of it, and I realized there were kinks in the process and things that could have been improved, but as the test market for the idea, I accepted that as "part of the process" on something I expected to eventually be rolled out thru the entire chain. In the end, I found the tracking of visits and money spent to be, well "fun". Seeing myself creeping a bit closer to the next level, seeing what kind of perks were available at the next level, became part of my experience while visiting KI.

truth is, the cost of many of the rewards associated w/ the perks were minimal. the Free popcorn, popcorn is pretty darn cheap, sure they lost out on the revenue, but the costs associated w/ that popcorn is small. Same things w/ the free fountain pop. Bring a friend for $10?? They're probably going to make more than $10 off that friend once they're inside the park. the behind the scenes train tour, was I gathered a simple trip up to meet the conductor and see the engine up close. May have been a pain the butt to the engineer, but honestly you saw them doing this very politely for small kids all the time.

I'd be shocked if this doesn't come back at some point in the future, perhaps branded under a different name, and hopefully incorporated thruout the chain much better, but it seems like a no brainer to me if implemented properly.

[mullimann]

I hope they have something planned for this year. I liked the idea of fun perks. I deffinately spent more $ in the park with it. Yes there were hiccups with associates not knowing how to apply or use it, but for the most part I never had problems. The cost of a few free sodas and pretzels is minimum due to the cost of staffing/food cost is covered by the markup on regular priced items.

I imagine the cost of setting that up last year with the POS system, website, and signage cost them quite a bit, but to scrap it after 1 year seems like corporate wasn't happy with the ROI. I ate in the parks more last year than ever, bought souvineers that normally I would never because of the knowledge that I would get benefit from that. On the last confrence call they sounded like the program was doing well, but the bottom line must have been the deciding factor (which I am sure they wrote off).

I will be interisted in what they plan on to keep season pass holders $ in the park. Because if its just the 10-20% discount I will probably be back to eating in the parking lot.

[shark6495]

Just a comment on the observations from reading all of your comments (a comment-ception maybe?), this coming from a guy who did not have a pass last season.

People state they either didnt use it like they should have, never asked to use their cards to gain perks, stating the discounts didnt work, confusing, etc. And we are sad its going away?

Sounds like a much easier system to use would be to have a flat rate discount for season pass holders... sort of like what they are doing for this year...

Spending 30 dollars to get a free 3 dollar items is still a 10% discount....

[TTD-120-420]

I would have liked to see it work like it was intended to for a whole season. It never reached its potential.

[Creed Bratton]

Not sure if it's a Six trademark or whatnot, but I'd love to see a book of coupons from the pass issuing park like Six Flags does.

Edit: I will also say that some of the FUNPerks offers weren't well received. I did one last season, of using IR for a place to cool off with snacks and soda, a catered meal from like 3-5ish (whenever you wanted to show) and then a spot to view the fireworks that evening. I saw myself, the 2 others in my group and maybe 3 passholders take part of this deal. While it did have an overhead cost, wasn't free, it was still an amazing offer.

Edited April 22, 2013 by chugh43