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- SoulCycle has launched a new early-bird booking service where its customers can pay $15 extra per class to reserve their seat 24 hours earlier than normal.
- Known as "Soul Early," this new service launched at the beginning of this month.
- Customers who buy and take 15 rides a month are eligible for three free early bookings the next month. This is a good way to keep its most loyal customers coming back frequently.
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SoulCycle is now offering an early-bird booking service for customers who want to secure the best seat in advance.
Its so-called "Soul Early" service launched at the beginning of this month.
Rather than wait until noon on a Monday to book classes for the week, exercise junkies can pay an extra $15 to reserve the exact class and bike they want 24 hours earlier. While this is definitely a bonus, it works out to be a pretty hefty fee when classes cost as much as $36 in New York City.
A spokesperson for SoulCycle did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
There are ways around this fee, however. Customers who book and take 15 paid rides during one calendar month are eligible for three Soul Early bookings the next month — a strategy SoulCycle uses to ensure its most loyal customers keep coming back frequently.
In a post for New York magazine, writer Josh Barro compared it to fees that airlines might impose to reserve a seat, for example. Barro went on to talk about whether SoulCycle could go "full airline" and start charging different prices per seat in the class, depending on where they are and what the demand for them would be.
Indoor cycling has become one of the most competitive spaces in the fitness market. Until 2012, SoulCycle seemed to be invincible with its cult following of fans, but then Peloton came along. This high-tech fitness company enables users to stream live classes from anywhere, making it possible to get a SoulCycle-style experience without ever leaving your home.
Peloton has achieved rapid growth in recent years, and earlier this month it announced that it had confidentially filed for an IPO. It was previously reported that an IPO deal could value the company at more than $8 billion.
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Mary Hanbury)