GRRC new benefits

GRRC new benefits

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Discussion

SmartVenom

Original Poster:

462 posts

169 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
It looks like they have decided GRRC membership should actually have a few benefits (it doesn’t provide much at the moment), but the question is how much is it now going to cost? Information on that seems a lot less available! Do people think GRRC is actually worth it?

No ideas for a name

2,188 posts

86 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
For the benefit of people that haven't had the email...


TICKETS

Enhanced ticket privileges

Your discount will increase on tickets and grandstands for both Festival of Speed and Revival.

REVIVAL

New Revival enclosure

A new GRRC enclosure will provide another exclusive space for members to enjoy.

HEADLINE EVENTS

Improved enclosure

The Festival of Speed enclosed pavilion will return, allowing for plated breakfast, lunch and tea.

REVIVAL

Early event access

Enter Revival an hour before the public to take in the sights, have breakfast and pick the best spot to watch the racing.

EXCLUSIVE EVENTS

Pre-event testing

Previously open to the public, pre-event testing days ahead of Members' Meeting and Revival will now be GRRC-only.

HEADLINE EVENTS

New 'pit-stop' areas

At both the Festival of Speed and Revival, there will be additional exclusive areas for everyone in the GRRC.

CLUB EVENTS

More Club events

An expanded calendar of Club events, including factory tours, regional drives, track days, breakfast club and more.

We are sure you will agree this is the most comprehensive enhancement to membership benefits in recent memory and the latest newsletter will take you through these developments in more detail.

MikeGTi

2,505 posts

201 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
They've nicely hidden the 71% increase in waiting list (Fellowship) cost from £46 to £79 at the bottom of the email..

The cynic in me wonders if this is a way to thin out Fellowship numbers while maintaining income through monetising currently free things such as test days and acting as if it's a boon.

ch37

10,642 posts

221 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
I was literally only using my Fellowship to access MM tickets (what other benefits were there?!) so it's nice to see some genuinely useful stuff, substantial increase in price though, I guess offset a bit if you do buy FoS and Revival tickets.

Given how easy it is to buy weekend MM tickets on here I'm not completely sold on continuing. Revival paddock access, even if just on the Friday, would have kept me in for sure.

It seems a fairly large number of Fellows didn't even know they were not on the waiting list (you have to opt in, apparently), I've just realised I'm not!


ecsrobin

17,119 posts

165 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
ch37 said:
Revival paddock access, even if just on the Friday, would have kept me in for sure.
That would make the paddocks unbearable as even at £79 people would snap up membership. Paddock passes although not allowed to be sold often go for higher on eBay.

I’m a full member (despite the bull that a fellow is higher than a member in any walk of life) but have yet to see the renewal increase costs.

However all of the changes I see as a positive but only if the increase in cost is sensible.

I can see test says being a touchy subject for the photographers, I commented on one of the photography groups and instantly had comments turned off so I suspect they expect some unhappy people.

Goodwood also seem to be turning comments off on any topic regarding the changes despite an initial positive response.

mk1coopers

1,205 posts

152 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
Looking at the survey results it's what the Membership asked for, certainly there were posts on the GRRC FB page about the Members area at the FOS being downgraded, and there were recently posts about not being able to see the racing properly at the start line / chicane at the Revival, going in an hour before the public should help with that.

Costs, I've not seen them yet, I would suspect that seeing the Fellowship rises above we are now into the early £300's for Adult Membership, still less than a pound a day for UK members, most would spend more on a drink and a sandwich, as with anything you get out of it what you put in, so going to more events, either free or ticketed will give you a greater return for the Membership fee's.

Edited by mk1coopers on Tuesday 27th September 14:00

ch37

10,642 posts

221 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
ecsrobin said:
Goodwood also seem to be turning comments off on any topic regarding the changes despite an initial positive response.
Open and constructive discussions on the official Fellowship Facebook group, in fact even Admin are getting involved and accepting some of the more negative feedback.

ecsrobin said:
That would make the paddocks unbearable as even at £79 people would snap up membership. Paddock passes although not allowed to be sold often go for higher on eBay.
Every single person at the MM has full access to the paddock and it's never felt too bad, isn't that 25k ish? I'm sure there are ways around it, maybe open it up as a perk after 3 years of continuous Fellowship or something, and then only then on the Friday anyway.

It's only a handful of Revival paddock passes on eBay each year, not nearly as big an issue as some seem to think.

Edited by ch37 on Tuesday 27th September 15:00

No ideas for a name

2,188 posts

86 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
No idea what the price increase will be for membership... but I guess it will be substantial, otherwise Goodwood wouldn't have mentioned it.
All guessing at the moment but I am betting it will be in the £400 area.

Members' benefits have been eroded over the years, and a 'reset' was overdue.
I don't begrudge 'Fellows' anything - but I do think that the Fellowship was just a way to monetise the waiting list. I only learned today that 'Fellows' have to opt in in order to wait for Membership!

I gave both the FoS and Revival a miss this year - I am also not local to Goodwood so don't really get much for my membership fees. That isn't Goodwood's problem - but then I am paying in to Goodwood's kitty, when they don't actually have to give me anything in return every year. I am also GSA, so paid fees for the year that wasn't PLUS I chose to make a donation.

The 'Fellows' naming debacle has been comedy gold.

Making the Kinrara Enclosure open to Members on the Thursday - only if you get selected by a ballot (as was this year) - is a bit of a kick in teeth. It did actually mean I didn't bother to go. I didn't take part in the ballot as I didn't want to take anyone else place - I normally only call in for a relaxing drink - then off again for the rest of the day.

Increase in ticket discount - good - but I will bet with the increased membership fees, it won't be a discount on the overall cost.
Paddock access - retained, good.
New enclosure - depends where it is. Something around St Mary's would be good but I can't see there being much space, nor would it attract enough people around that side. So, I have never not been able to get in due to too many GRRC members in any of the enclosures.

Early event access - gates used to open at 07:30 and now they will open at 07:30. Yes, as I understand it, that is the same. The only change is non-members can't get in until 08:30. I can see much fun at the gate. The one think I would have liked, is the circuit being open on the Thursday evening for Revival - just like the Over The Road has been for the last few years. It would mean you could get in and checkout the theme, get your programme and see the layout in advance.

Testing access - not local so doesn't apply to me. I really wouldn't have thought it was the case where testing is so busy that members get crowded out by the public just turning up.

New pit-stop areas. Somewhere to sit, is probably good, but maybe covered by seating around the food areas already.

It must be disapointing if you run the GRRC or are the Duke, but I do think they are on a different wave length to the rest of us. What they consider as benefits of membership really are not.

Swapping from the GRRC forum to Facebook is also a bad idea - this excludes many people.

Of course, if I don't continue, there will be many to take my place.




SmartVenom

Original Poster:

462 posts

169 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
No ideas for a name said:
No idea what the price increase will be for membership... but I guess it will be substantial, otherwise Goodwood wouldn't have mentioned it.
All guessing at the moment but I am betting it will be in the £400 area.

Members' benefits have been eroded over the years, and a 'reset' was overdue.
I don't begrudge 'Fellows' anything - but I do think that the Fellowship was just a way to monetise the waiting list. I only learned today that 'Fellows' have to opt in in order to wait for Membership!

I gave both the FoS and Revival a miss this year - I am also not local to Goodwood so don't really get much for my membership fees. That isn't Goodwood's problem - but then I am paying in to Goodwood's kitty, when they don't actually have to give me anything in return every year. I am also GSA, so paid fees for the year that wasn't PLUS I chose to make a donation.

The 'Fellows' naming debacle has been comedy gold.

Making the Kinrara Enclosure open to Members on the Thursday - only if you get selected by a ballot (as was this year) - is a bit of a kick in teeth. It did actually mean I didn't bother to go. I didn't take part in the ballot as I didn't want to take anyone else place - I normally only call in for a relaxing drink - then off again for the rest of the day.

Increase in ticket discount - good - but I will bet with the increased membership fees, it won't be a discount on the overall cost.
Paddock access - retained, good.
New enclosure - depends where it is. Something around St Mary's would be good but I can't see there being much space, nor would it attract enough people around that side. So, I have never not been able to get in due to too many GRRC members in any of the enclosures.

Early event access - gates used to open at 07:30 and now they will open at 07:30. Yes, as I understand it, that is the same. The only change is non-members can't get in until 08:30. I can see much fun at the gate. The one think I would have liked, is the circuit being open on the Thursday evening for Revival - just like the Over The Road has been for the last few years. It would mean you could get in and checkout the theme, get your programme and see the layout in advance.

Testing access - not local so doesn't apply to me. I really wouldn't have thought it was the case where testing is so busy that members get crowded out by the public just turning up.

New pit-stop areas. Somewhere to sit, is probably good, but maybe covered by seating around the food areas already.

It must be disapointing if you run the GRRC or are the Duke, but I do think they are on a different wave length to the rest of us. What they consider as benefits of membership really are not.

Swapping from the GRRC forum to Facebook is also a bad idea - this excludes many people.

Of course, if I don't continue, there will be many to take my place.
Well said, I broadly agree with everything you have said.

I think it was obvious from the survey that they were planning a price hike, they just had to work out what they should offer to justify it. But really what they are offering should all have been included in the first place.

ecsrobin

17,119 posts

165 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
Just seen elsewhere it’s just short of a 30% increase for a single membership.

2022 was £245 and will now be around £315 give or take a few quid. So an increase of £70.

We attend the revival on the Saturday, if no increase in tickets next year for 2 that’s a saving of £17.80 with the new membership we don’t attend FOS other than the free Thursday but even if we did attend on the Saturday the new discount is £15.60 so now just need to find where the other £34 of benefits are.

mk1coopers

1,205 posts

152 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
With the current increases in the costs of most things, including putting on the events next year, they could have just said this is the new price, at least this way thought has gone into asking the Membership what they would like and mitigating that increase by using the data in the survey.

visitinglondon

342 posts

189 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
ecsrobin said:
Just seen elsewhere it’s just short of a 30% increase for a single membership.

2022 was £245 and will now be around £315 give or take a few quid. So an increase of £70.

We attend the revival on the Saturday, if no increase in tickets next year for 2 that’s a saving of £17.80 with the new membership we don’t attend FOS other than the free Thursday but even if we did attend on the Saturday the new discount is £15.60 so now just need to find where the other £34 of benefits are.
I think you’ll find the other £34 is for the benefit of the Duke.

AMArchie

269 posts

170 months

Tuesday 27th September 2022
quotequote all
I’m a family member, and called GRRC this afternoon to get the 2023 subs number from the office.
£472 vs £360 for this year, so that’s +31%.
I think the additional benefits the club is proposing are good; I particularly like the improved discount for FoS and Revival tickets and grandstand costs to 25%. The exclusive members only early access to the circuit for Revival is also a nice touch.
Let’s see how the upgrade to the enclosures and additional members only areas will work out.

ecsrobin

17,119 posts

165 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
Fellowship changes listed here (getting close to the old GRRC benefits without kennels / paddock passes) https://www.goodwood.com/motorsport/grrc-membershi...

GRRC benefits here https://www.goodwood.com/motorsport/grrc-membershi...

andylaight

173 posts

126 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
Anyone know if fellowship members get early access for buying tickets like GRRC members?

ecsrobin

17,119 posts

165 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
andylaight said:
Anyone know if fellowship members get early access for buying tickets like GRRC members?
Is there any advantage to buying tickets early? I’ve never used that benefit.

SydneyBridge

8,609 posts

158 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
No Goodwood event sells out in half an hour, like Glastonbury etc, normally takes a few months.

The Fellowship benefits actually look pretty good, especially pre event testing and getting in to Revival early

andylaight

173 posts

126 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
only benefit is picking seats in members grandstand

ecsrobin

17,119 posts

165 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
andylaight said:
only benefit is picking seats in members grandstand
Can fellowship book members grandstands?

andylaight

173 posts

126 months

Wednesday 28th September 2022
quotequote all
the Chicane grandstand was GRRC only when booking opened, think there was a one week window before general public could book that grandstand.

My Dilemma is that I only go to the Revival, so if I downgrade to Fellowship other than booking Chicane seats and the extra 15% discount on two tickets I don't really get much for my GRRC membership