Jump to content

premium membership - family option


Gyuri33

Recommended Posts

I have no problem paying 30 bucks a year for the premium membership, but I have 2 boys who feel somewhat strongly about having their own memberships so now it's 90. My wife is a muggle for now, but if she's ever converted we'll be at $120. Now I know we don't all have to be premium, but it's easier and more fun if everyone has the same access. I'm just wondering if there might be maybe a family plan and if not would someone maybe consider it. 

Link to comment
27 minutes ago, Gyuri33 said:

I have no problem paying 30 bucks a year for the premium membership, but I have 2 boys who feel somewhat strongly about having their own memberships so now it's 90. My wife is a muggle for now, but if she's ever converted we'll be at $120. Now I know we don't all have to be premium, but it's easier and more fun if everyone has the same access. I'm just wondering if there might be maybe a family plan and if not would someone maybe consider it. 

What benefits of PM do your kids need?

 

This question has been asked many times on the forums. There's really no need to spend $120 for each member of the family to have their own PM membership. Why?

Link to comment
2 hours ago, Gyuri33 said:

Now I know we don't all have to be premium, but it's easier and more fun if everyone has the same access.

 

Easier, yes, I'll grant you that.  BUT, your kids CAN enter the coordinates on their own devices (good skills to learn) and navigate to the caches just as if they COULD see them in the app.  If you are all using GPS devices other than the phone app, you can load the same GPX file to each device... and all can be logged on the website as long as you have the GC code.  You can share a list of caches for an outing and they can see all the caches on that list (I believe - correct me if I am wrong, please!)

 

I wasn't premium for the first 3 months after hubby and I began this hobby.  I just tagged along with him.  Eventually I upgraded my account to premium as I tended to explore a lot more options, and we did go caching in separate directions now and then.  Depending on the ages of your boys, tagging along is probably a good option until THEY can afford to pay for the premium on their own.  

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
23 minutes ago, CAVinoGal said:

I wasn't premium for the first 3 months after hubby and I began this hobby.

I found about 180 caches before I joined, because I didn't have a GPS device yet. I also didn't have data on my phone either, so I couldn't use the phone. Data was too expensive. Finally I bought a GPS, which was cheaper than data in the long run, and that's when I paid premium membership. A household only needs one membership when they use GPSs, because they can all load the same file. As for the children, they can tag along with you, or if they cache with their phones they can simply only find non-premium caches, or save up their pocket money and pay for their own membership.

  • Funny 1
Link to comment

If they really want their independence perhaps the kids can receive membership as presents from grandparents, or Santa Claus or as suggested save up pocket money?  Might it make them more appreciative if they have their own identity?  Do they each have their own gps or smartphone?  How much do they spend in a year on any other hobby?  Whilst it might seem quite a chunk to outlay for each family member to have their own individual account it is such a great value interest for anyone to have, with the added benefits of getting into the great outdoors & exploring.  After all I assume you all share the expense of travel when you go out on family caching expeditions, so apart from the minimal equipment required there is not much other outlay.  I just completed my first 2 years as a Premium Member - and realised that my so far modest total of caches has cost me the princely sum of 7pence per cache here in UK, not including any incidental travel cost & shoe leather!  Cheapest hobby I ever had!  Maybe you could pay the subs then give the kids a themed money box (like a cache container) & for each cache they find put in a few cents & gradually save towards future membership renewal?  

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
14 hours ago, Gyuri33 said:

I'm just wondering if there might be maybe a family plan and if not would someone maybe consider it. 


Yes, there are ways round it, but of course it would be useful if each member of the family could see the same thing on their app - the descriptions, the logs, the hints, etc. - without having to pay the full whack for PM.

 

(Remember, the apps aren’t just restricting access to PMO caches, but to pretty much everything that isn’t a simple Trad.)
 

And when they do find PMO caches, it would be great if they could log them in the same way as all of their other finds rather than having to switch to a ‘backdoor’ logging method.

 

I’d say there are more than enough good reasons to make family membership an option.  So why not offer it?  From HQ’s point of view I assume it all comes down to the bottom line.
 

Clearly, they don’t want people who would have been happy (enough) to pay full price, to now get PM ‘on the cheap’, but in some cases that would become inevitable.  So what pricing model would encourage enough new ‘additional family membership’ accounts, to cover the shortfall from the ‘downgrades’?

 

My other half has a Basic account.  She has no great desire to be a PM.  In fact I do most of her logging for her, and no real need for a change.  However, if I could add a family member to my PM account for, let’s say, a third of the full cost, I would.  Half the cost?  I’d think about it...

Link to comment
12 minutes ago, IceColdUK said:

My other half has a Basic account.  She has no great desire to be a PM.  In fact I do most of her logging for her, and no real need for a change.  However, if I could add a family member to my PM account for, let’s say, a third of the full cost, I would.  Half the cost?  I’d think about it...

 

My other 2/3rds has a basic account.  When she cached, she used our "shared" account (me), by simply adding her email to the account.

Maybe her phone too...

I'm not tech enough to know n remember the particulars, but she received notifications, high D/T hides, and all.    :)

Guess I thought we were given up to five emails on one account (in settings)   for families.

Link to comment
17 hours ago, Gyuri33 said:

I have no problem paying 30 bucks a year for the premium membership, but I have 2 boys who feel somewhat strongly about having their own memberships so now it's 90. My wife is a muggle for now, but if she's ever converted we'll be at $120. Now I know we don't all have to be premium, but it's easier and more fun if everyone has the same access. I'm just wondering if there might be maybe a family plan and if not would someone maybe consider it. 

 

Do you guys cache alone or as a family? If you always go out as a family, maybe you could create a "Team Smith" account, make it premium, and use that as a joint account of sorts.

 

My fiance and I generally cache together, but we do sometimes go out alone, so we will likely both end up going premium soon. (We want to switch before our honeymoon because I've seen a lot of premium caches along our route!)

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
16 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

Guess I thought we were given up to five emails on one account (in settings)   for families.


When I tried using additional email addresses, notifications were only coming through on the primary address.  (ETA: Though that may have just been for log notifications on my own caches.)

 

Regardless, it hardly helps a kid trying to use their App to help dad find a Multi, say.

 

Does anybody have any objections to a family membership in principle?  Or would it come down to the implementation?

 

Edited by IceColdUK
ETA...
Link to comment

As someone who provides a smartphone for both of my children, what's another $30/year for each of them as long as they are interested and enjoying the hobby?

 

I see no need for the Family Discount. It would discriminate against those without children. :ph34r:

  • Upvote 5
Link to comment
20 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

Does anybody have any objections to a family membership in principle?  Or would it come down to the implementation?

 

Sounds nice, and simple...    :)

 - Then you think about the kid who next year wants to have their own account and they're now 18.  Where's the cut ? 

I worked at a job at 15.  Worked with my father at 13.  You could do that then...

Do "mom and dad" still get that "family" account when all the kids are on their own ?

The divorced family who now need different addresses between mom n dad.  I'd think a "family" account would be the one location...

Then there's the ones who'd use it as a "team" account to shave costs.

 

 

Edited by cerberus1
  • Upvote 1
  • Funny 1
Link to comment
7 hours ago, TeamRabbitRun said:

"Hey, Joe - don't forget that the Tuesday Morning Geocaching Club's Family Membership is due next month, and it's your turn to pay for us."

 

I hate to be cynical and think the worst, but I am sure it will happen this way.  GS has no way of knowing if those 4 accounts are really all in the same household, and for that matter, who defines "household"?  There are bound to be folks trying to save a few pennies who will work any loophole to get a discount.  And where's cutoff?  4, 5, 6 accounts all linked?  There will always be someone needing just one more account added to the "family".

 

$30 a year is not much when it comes to hobbies and extracurricular activities; you'll pay that or more for clubs, online subscriptions, sports and entrance fees, etc, etc.  The only way to ensure there's no abuse is to have one price; each account, geoname, handle, whatever, pays $30 per year for the premium account.  Period.

 

There are already ways to geocache with only one premium account and several basic accounts / family.  All caches are able to be found, signed, and logged online regardless of account status; premium status is not required for that.

  • Upvote 6
Link to comment
46 minutes ago, CAVinoGal said:

 

I hate to be cynical and think the worst, but I am sure it will happen this way.  GS has no way of knowing if those 4 accounts are really all in the same household, and for that matter, who defines "household"?  There are bound to be folks trying to save a few pennies who will work any loophole to get a discount.  And where's cutoff?  4, 5, 6 accounts all linked?  There will always be someone needing just one more account added to the "family".

 

$30 a year is not much when it comes to hobbies and extracurricular activities; you'll pay that or more for clubs, online subscriptions, sports and entrance fees, etc, etc.  The only way to ensure there's no abuse is to have one price; each account, geoname, handle, whatever, pays $30 per year for the premium account.  Period.

 

There are already ways to geocache with only one premium account and several basic accounts / family.  All caches are able to be found, signed, and logged online regardless of account status; premium status is not required for that.

I also believe if people can afford a phone and then data on a phone, they can afford the membership. Until a couple of years ago I wouldn't justify data on my phone because of the expense. It was only when data became much cheaper did I finally have that turned on. I had gone the cheaper option and bought a GPS to use. It was cheaper over only a few years (even maybe only 2 or 3 years) to buy that than pay for data, at least in Australia, and now I own a GPS.

Edited by Goldenwattle
  • Funny 1
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment
On 2/3/2020 at 9:44 PM, Gyuri33 said:

I have no problem paying 30 bucks a year for the premium membership, but I have 2 boys who feel somewhat strongly about having their own memberships so now it's 90. My wife is a muggle for now, but if she's ever converted we'll be at $120. Now I know we don't all have to be premium, but it's easier and more fun if everyone has the same access. I'm just wondering if there might be maybe a family plan and if not would someone maybe consider it. 

 

So let everyone log in to your premium account in the field so you all see the same thing, then everyone logs the finds separately when you get home.

  • Upvote 2
  • Helpful 2
Link to comment
On 2/3/2020 at 9:44 PM, Gyuri33 said:

I have no problem paying 30 bucks a year for the premium membership, but I have 2 boys who feel somewhat strongly about having their own memberships so now it's 90. My wife is a muggle for now, but if she's ever converted we'll be at $120. Now I know we don't all have to be premium, but it's easier and more fun if everyone has the same access. I'm just wondering if there might be maybe a family plan and if not would someone maybe consider it. 

I would look at it the same way I look at visiting a Casino to play a bit. It is just a form of entertainment. Just compare it to what a trip to the movies would be, or a night out at a nice restaurant. From that perspective, it's still a bargain.

Seeker_Knight

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...