Membership FAQ

Membership to FitRec includes:

1. Access to the Fitness and Recreation Center (915 Commonwealth Ave.) and the ability to utilize all available spaces for open recreation when they are open and not otherwise scheduled for organized activity such as classes, club sport practice, etc. This includes but is not limited to the pools, fitness areas, rock wall, basketball courts, etc. Please familiarize yourself with our hours page which includes general building hour as well as specific hours for areas within the building.

2. Access to the Track and Tennis Center (TTC) and outdoor tennis courts during open hours. Members on recurring memberships have the ability to book tennis courts in the TTC when available during the fall and spring semesters. Please note that due to high demand and limited court availability, we do not recommend purchasing FitRec membership if your primary goal is to secure tennis court reservations. Please consult our Track and Tennis Center webpage for more information.

3. Enrollment in 6-Month Recurring and Annual Recurring plans grant complimentary access to FitRec’s Drop-In class program.

4. Discount on certain FitRec classes and program enrollments. Members receive special member pricing on nearly all of the classes and programs we offer. Please note that for kids class, camps, etc., the child must be a member for the duration of the class/program in order to receive and retain member pricing.

Generally yes. All memberships with the word “recurring” in the name are intended to automatically renew until you cancel. All locker and towel services will also automatically renew until cancelled. Weekly Summer/Winter Guest or Day Passes are intended to not automatically renew.

If a membership is designed to renew automatically it will state this in the description of that membership on our website.

The cost to sign up for a monthly membership is prorated based on the day of the month you purchase, so you won’t be paying for days that have already passed. If you sign up on the 15th (for example) that is approximately halfway through the month, so the system will only charge you half of the monthly fee, plus the initiation fee. On the first business day of each month moving forward you will be billed for the regular monthly fee.

No. Facility access is reserved for those who have purchased admission (such as via Day Pass) or a membership. If a member wishes to bring a guest, that guest would need to purchase access under their own name. Them knowing or being affiliated with an existing member does not confer on them any sort of discount or other privilege.

We offer specific open-recreation times in our gyms for certain sports such as badminton, volleyball, and indoor soccer. You can find what hours these are available by checking the 3-Court Gym and 4-Court Gym hours blocks on our hours page.

Some number of basketball courts are generally available for basketball at all times unless the courts are listed as unavailable on our hours page.

For general questions, this page is a great place to start. In addition to this webpage, please also be aware of our Membership Policies webpage for even more detail.

For questions about your account specifically, it’s fastest to call our front desk at 617-358-3740 as they can answer many questions and are available during all open building hours.

If the front desk can not answer your specific questions, please feel free to email our Manager of Membership, Allison Holloway.

Please consult our Cancellation webpage for policy and instruction.

Other than during certain promotional periods, all monthly primary memberships have a $20 initiation fee charged at purchase. You can request to have this fee refunded only under the following circumstance: You’ve paid an initiation fee on your current monthly membership and due to an affiliation change you need to transition membership type (not duration) with no lapse.

EXAMPLE: You hold a Young Alumni membership and the two-year window expires on May 31 so you wish to sign up for a standard Alumni membership plan on June 1.

EXAMPLE: You have a Faculty/Staff membership but are leaving the university and wish to purchase an Alumni membership plan. You cancel your faculty/staff membership and purchase the Alumni plan the following day.

EXAMPLE: You were a part-time student but will not be continuing next semester so you’d like to switch to a Friends of BU membership immediately once your Part-Time affiliation ends.

To ensure you qualify ahead of time for an exception, please reach out to the Manager of Membership via email with your specific details prior to making the membership transition.

If you have a lapse in membership (meaning you were at one time but are not currently an active member), a primary member would need to pay the initiation fee in all circumstances.

Faculty/Staff memberships remain active for the term they were purchased. For instance if you purchase a 6-Month Recurring plan in January but then leave the university in March, your membership will remain active until June 30 as this is what you’ve paid for. Even if you have left the university, you should still plan to cancel your membership near the end of your term to ensure it does not automatically renew.

Members can download a receipt for any transaction in their MyFitRec account.

1. Log in to your account
2. To access your account options, click your name in the top right hand corner of the screen (desktop) or within the menu (mobile)
3. Click “Reprint a Receipt” under the “Reprint” menu heading
4. Click “Reprint Receipt” for the transaction that aligns with the date you are looking for

Some membership types require an affiliation to purchase and some do not. You do not need an affiliation to purchase a Friends of BU membership, Day Pass, or Summer/Winter Weekly Guest. For membership types other than these the website requires your account to have an active affiliation to sign up.

If you’d like to check what active affiliations you have prior to making a purchase, or view what memberships or services you currently have, you can do so in your MyFitRec account.

1. Log in to your account
2. To access your account options, click your name in the top right hand corner of the screen (desktop) or within the menu (mobile)
3. Click “My Memberships” under the “Reprint” menu heading
4. Here you will see any Pass Codes that might be on your account and the date(s) they were/are valid.

FTPASS/MFTPASS = Full-Time Student
PTPASS/MPTPASS = Part-Time Student
FSPASS/MFSPASS = Faculty/Staff
ALPASS = Alumni
YAPASS = Young Alumni

There may be other Pass Codes listed for you in your My Membership section that are not affiliated with membership purchase.

So for instance if you currently have an active FTPASS, that means you can register for access as a full-time student via signing the waiver. If you have active PTPASS, you are eligible to purchase Part-Time student membership, etc.

To add someone to your account in order to enroll them in membership, class, camp, etc.,

1. Log in to your account
2. Access your account options by clicking your name in the top right hand corner of the screen (desktop) or within the menu (mobile)
3. Click “Household Account Management” under the “My Account” menu heading
4. Click “Household Member Update”, and then the “Add New Member” button and complete the required fields.

Once someone has been added to your account, you can then enroll them in membership, class, etc.

Though its possible your membership stopped because you left BU (fac/staff, student), if you signed up for locker and/or towel service, these services must be cancelled otherwise they will remain active regardless of your membership status. This is because having locker and towel service is not dependent on having an active membership as we have many building users who subscribe to these services without holding a direct-billed membership. Even if you are leaving BU, you should always cancel your membership and/or services.

No. All 6-Month Recurring plans renew on the same date regardless of which specific day during open enrollment you made your purchase. 6-Month Recurring plans renew on July 1 and January 1, and all Annual Recurring plans renew on July 1. Monthly Recurring plans renew on the first day of every month.

Please be sure to read the website description of any membership you purchase.