Freestyle Ice Costs

[Orianna2000]

Plus freestyle ice costs about three times more than public.

Is this the norm? Our Freestyle sessions are only $1.50 more than a public skate session ($8.50 for public, if I recall, and $10 for Freestyle). Of course, you only get an hour for that price, instead of several hours of a public session. So in that regard, I suppose it is three times as much money, but I never skate longer than an hour, anyway.

[Skittl1321]

Our freestyle sessions cost $9 for 1 hour, and public costs $6 for like 8 hours... except the Tuesday night public which is $5 including skate rental for 1 hour.

We don't have a "center circle", rink guards, or any sort of rules though- so crowded publics are a lost cause.  Luckily, crowded publics are rare in these parts, you just have to know when to go (i.e., cancel any lessons around Christmas!)

[VAsk8r]

Is this the norm? Our Freestyle sessions are only $1.50 more than a public skate session ($8.50 for public, if I recall, and $10 for Freestyle). Of course, you only get an hour for that price, instead of several hours of a public session. So in that regard, I suppose it is three times as much money, but I never skate longer than an hour, anyway.

Yeah, I was factoring in the time, too. Freestyle is $15 an hour at my rink, or $8 for a half hour. Public is $10 and most sessions are 1 hour 45 mins, but sometimes it's longer. Freestyle used to be $8, then it went up to $12, now $15. I usually stay for the entire public session since I lose some time just stroking around waiting to have space to do things anyway.

[treesprite]

One of the rinks where I skate has 3 rinks in it.  There are adult sessions 4 days a week during school hours, and other public sessions during school hours, so unless kids are on vacations or holidays, there is a lot of opportunity for adult skaters to take private lessons on public ice.  Most of the skaters in those sessions are regulars, and are quite respectful of one another when someone is in a private lesson.  What is annoying is when some younger skater who usually only skates in FS sessions, comes along, sees the nearly empty ice, and tries to take it over as if there are no other skaters on it.  Public sessions are 6.50 for 2 hours here, while freestyles are $12 for 50 minutes, which amounts to FS costing 4x more than public regardless that some FS are packed and some publics are empty.

[Adultsk8r509]

I'm skating public, but it's a morning session from 11:15 am to 12:45 pm.  Unless school is out, it's never crowded.  (less crowded than a club freestyle session)
This week it's spring break, so I don't expect to get too much done.

[VAsk8r]

It's spring break here too, so my rink decided it'd be a great idea to cancel most freestyles and schedule publics instead. I skated on public tonight with 5 other people. I had way fewer people getting in my way than the average evening freestyle, and it was cheaper! So far I'm liking spring break, but we'll see how my lesson on public tomorrow evening goes.

[isakswings]

I am pretty sure I was on public until I passed my prebronze free test. (edit...just checked and yep, I skated my first freestyle session after passing those two tests, so I prepped for them mostly on public, and a small amount on our 1 hr per week club ice) Freeskate was terrifying...they move so fast! I would not have stayed on that as a beginner.

Now, I am back to lessons on public due to schedule conflicts. I hate the crappy ice, but I have to deal with it. I just say no way to things like 8 step mohawk when the ice is terrible, and we cancel.lessons near Christmas when the crowds are the largest.

Almost all skaters start lessons on public here as there are only a few hours of freestyle ice each week, and TONS of public.  We are not limited to the center, but now if there are more than 30 people on the ice we cannot play a program on the loudspeakers.

Wow! How nice that they let you play music when there are a fair amount of skaters on the ice! At our rink, there have to be less then 5 skaters on the ice. Our rink started an adults only session on Tuesdays. It's a 45 minute session and we only have to pay 2.00 for the ice! It is scary to be out on the ice with the more advanced skaters. I won't skate on club ice. Too intimidating.

[isakswings]

Our freestyle sessions cost $9 for 1 hour, and public costs $6 for like 8 hours... except the Tuesday night public which is $5 including skate rental for 1 hour.

We don't have a "center circle", rink guards, or any sort of rules though- so crowded publics are a lost cause.  Luckily, crowded publics are rare in these parts, you just have to know when to go (i.e., cancel any lessons around Christmas!)

Wow. Our freestyle session are 5.00 for one hour! Unless it is the adult session and it is 2.00 for 45 minutes. I knew our ice was cheap. That'll likely go up once the second ice sheet is completed in the next year. I would guess it will go up to around 7.00. Still a bargain! Our club ice is 7.00 an hour. Public is 4.50 for an adult admission. If I continue to skate, I may start doing it on public ice since the ice is dead in the afternoons.

[VAsk8r]

OK, I really need to move to wherever you guys live...our freestyle sessions are $15 an hour! Our rink changed owners two years ago and the cost of freestyles has almost doubled since then. We are allowed to do pretty much anything we want on public, though.

[AgnesNitt]

$15 an hour? I'd love to have that!
At my home rink it's $9 a HALF hour.

North of me, the rink w/ a Sunday session it's only $10--a bargain--and mostly empty.

[sarahspins]

Our shorter freestyles are $14 (drop in) for 45 minutes!  That makes them cost more than yours do Agnes!

The morning ones are $23 for 4 hours, which may seem like a relative bargain, but it is really just a big bummer because if you wanted to come skate the last hour after all the kids have gone to school and the ice is almost empty, you still pay full price.  It's only $3 cheaper if you pay in advance, but it's not flexible like a punch card, you have to pick your days and sign a contract in advance and there are no refunds if you don't make a session you paid for.

Adult skate is $9 for 75 minutes... those are usually what I skate because the times work out better for me.

Public is $6 and most sessions are at least 3 hours.

[isakswings]

OK, I really need to move to wherever you guys live...our freestyle sessions are $15 an hour! Our rink changed owners two years ago and the cost of freestyles has almost doubled since then. We are allowed to do pretty much anything we want on public, though.

I live in Utah where most freestyle ice sessions are under 10.00 for one hour. Park City is more(I don't recall exactly... maybe 10?) and the rinks I know of in Salt Lake charge 6-7.00 for an hour. I think it is closer to 6.00. There is another rink within 20 minutes of me that also charges 5.00 per session and I love that the one day my daughter skates at that rink, the session she skates on is 5.00 for 1.5 hours! That is a bargain!! Public sessions around here run between 4.50 to 5.00 for 2 hour time slots for adults and kids 13 and older. Public is the better bargain, but only if the session is light. Most afternoon sessions are light and in the summer months, it stays that way because most people choose to be outside over being in an ice rink.

[jjane45]

Our hourly freestyle ice coupon is $1.50 more than 90 minutes public session, price drops by $1 if buying books of 10... Customer benefits from steep competition I guess. Still cannot compare to where isakswings lives!!

[isakswings]

Our shorter freestyles are $14 (drop in) for 45 minutes!  That makes them cost more than yours do Agnes!

The morning ones are $23 for 4 hours, which may seem like a relative bargain, but it is really just a big bummer because if you wanted to come skate the last hour after all the kids have gone to school and the ice is almost empty, you still pay full price.  It's only $3 cheaper if you pay in advance, but it's not flexible like a punch card, you have to pick your days and sign a contract in advance and there are no refunds if you don't make a session you paid for.

Adult skate is $9 for 75 minutes... those are usually what I skate because the times work out better for me.

Public is $6 and most sessions are at least 3 hours.

Wow! I can buy dd a punch pass good for 11 freestyle sessions for 50.00. Freestyle is always drop in and we have never had any problems with being turned away. They do keep a list of names to keep track of who is on the freestyle sessions. We also do not have a division between low test or high test. Anyone is allowed on the ice. I do wish they would say that you have to have passed up to say, basic 6 or be in a private lesson to be on freestyle sessions. There have been a few LTS who go on the ice when there are kids out there practicing programs and high level jumps(double axels and triple jumps). They just do not know how to stay out of the way. It is dangerous for everyone. Thankfully that doesn't happen too often.

[aussieskater]

Sooo jealous down here...our publics are $20 for 2 hours incl $3 skate hire.  Privates (what you call freestyles) are $16 (?) for 90 min.

$5 for a 90min public?  $2 for an adult session?  Less than $5 a session for drop-in freestyle?  Man you guys have it good!!

[isakswings]

Sooo jealous down here...our publics are $20 for 2 hours incl $3 skate hire.  Privates (what you call freestyles) are $16 (?) for 90 min.

$5 for a 90min public?  $2 for an adult session?  Less than $5 a session for drop-in freestyle?  Man you guys have it good!!

We are very lucky where I live. A lot of other places have much higher prices for ice. the 2.00 adult session surprised me(it is my rink that does that). I honestly figured we would pay 5.00 since it is 45 minutes of ice time! 5.00 is our normal freestyle rate. I am not sure why ice time is so inexpensive here(comparatively speaking). I am grateful because having to pay more would not be possible for us. I'm sure out coaching costs are lower as well. Coaches at dd's rink range from 17 to 38 for 1/2 hour. I know there are coaches in our area who charge more, but I think the highest I have heard is 40/ half hour. Amazing the price difference from region to region and country to country!

[fsk8r]

Monthly ice fees in the UK seem to about £50 ($75) for unlimited freestyle (although if you don't fit the limit restrictions it's not quite unlimited). I'm lucky as my rink includes public in the monthly fee so there's only a few club sessions which I would need to pay for all week. But public has so many restrictions on what is allowed (basically no freestyle) that you can't practice on it. Lessons on public are on a coned off section of ice and that is the only bit of the rink which allows you to do freestyle moves. So if you have a lesson on public you can't practice afterwards unless the coned off area is relatively quiet and the coaches working let you stay there.
It's quite scary to realise that for my monthly fee I could only be buying a few hours of freestyle ice at some other rinks.
However the down side of such cheap prices is that during school vacation the kids spend all day on the ice. They don't work any harder but end up chatting in little groups. I would actually like an hourly rate because I think it would incentivise them to work harder and go home.

[spiralina]

Monthly ice fees in the UK seem to about £50 ($75) for unlimited freestyle (although if you don't fit the limit restrictions it's not quite unlimited). I'm lucky as my rink includes public in the monthly fee so there's only a few club sessions which I would need to pay for all week. But public has so many restrictions on what is allowed (basically no freestyle) that you can't practice on it.

That's even cheaper than my old membership, which was around £700 for all freestyles and publics, but on a half-sized rink. Too bad I can't get to, and don't like the ice, at your home rink, if it's where I am thinking

I currently pay £6 for a freestyle session, which is drop-in any time between ~6am and 10am - same price however long you stay. Publics are 11am-4pm (sometimes split during school vacations) and cost more, at £7.

[isakswings]

Monthly ice fees in the UK seem to about £50 ($75) for unlimited freestyle (although if you don't fit the limit restrictions it's not quite unlimited). I'm lucky as my rink includes public in the monthly fee so there's only a few club sessions which I would need to pay for all week. But public has so many restrictions on what is allowed (basically no freestyle) that you can't practice on it. Lessons on public are on a coned off section of ice and that is the only bit of the rink which allows you to do freestyle moves. So if you have a lesson on public you can't practice afterwards unless the coned off area is relatively quiet and the coaches working let you stay there.
It's quite scary to realise that for my monthly fee I could only be buying a few hours of freestyle ice at some other rinks.
However the down side of such cheap prices is that during school vacation the kids spend all day on the ice. They don't work any harder but end up chatting in little groups. I would actually like an hourly rate because I think it would incentivise them to work harder and go home.

I can buy a yearly pass at the ice rink for public sessions. I think the price is 175.00 for a year of unlimited public sessions. It might be worth the money if I start skating more. I can skate during the afternoons when kids are in school. It might be worth it for me. IF I get to the point of needing to play music, they will let me do it if no one else or very few people are on the ice. Mostly, I will be working on MIF. Hmmm...

[RinkGuard]

Splitting out a Thread Drift from "lesson on Public Ice"

[kiwiskater]

but if your freestyle lesson is during public the costs don't change? our public sessions tend to be very crowded - if you are lucky sessions between 9am-3pm are quiet but if you are unlucky they have booked a school or something in & the kids sure don't respect the boundary markers - even if the put up hockey netting they still come into our turf.

Sooo jealous down here...our publics are $20 for 2 hours incl $3 skate hire.  Privates (what you call freestyles) are $16 (?) for 90 min.

$5 for a 90min public?  $2 for an adult session?  Less than $5 a session for drop-in freestyle?  Man you guys have it good!!

I'm stunned - 2h public is $15 w skate hire at my rink, 1h private lesson is $14 casual entry or $300/2 months & includes access to practice sessions.

I too am jealous of $5 sessions though!

[fsk8r]

That's even cheaper than my old membership, which was around £700 for all freestyles and publics, but on a half-sized rink. Too bad I can't get to, and don't like the ice, at your home rink, if it's where I am thinking

I currently pay £6 for a freestyle session, which is drop-in any time between ~6am and 10am - same price however long you stay. Publics are 11am-4pm (sometimes split during school vacations) and cost more, at £7.

Actually my rink is under £50 a month. But most London/ home counties ones seem to be around that. Sheffield is £70 which seems the top end of the scale (yes, I've priced them up and I skate at the cheap rink in the posh neighbourhood). But if you're a member my rink's freestyle are roughly £7 for a session (all morning) and membership is about £40 for the year, non members pay a guest rate which is about double. But as I've been on the monthly system for so long now, I've forgotten what the pay as you go prices are.

[PinkLaces]

Freestyle sessions 3:30 and later plus Saturday are $16/hr drop-in.  They are $1-3/session cheaper if you contract depending on the amount of ice you contract.  There is a discount based on dollar amount. If you do "Pro's Ice"  - early morning/early afternoon ice - it's $5.00 per half hour and there is punch card which brings it down to $4.50/half hour.  There is a rink a 1/4 mile from my house that has publics on Friday noon hour - $5.00/2 hrs and is always nearly dead.  Usually me and one other group of people - usually mom/dad/grandparent with kids.  Sadly that rink has no freestyle ice.  They tried it one summer - it was poorly advertised and poorly attended.

[FigureSpins]

For adults, our 3-hour public sessions cost $6.  There's a 2-hour public once a week that's $5.

90-minute freestyle sessions cost $15 for a walk-on; a 20-punch pass brings that down to $7.50.

[Rachelsk8s]

OMG I don't know how I missed this post lol I have to say that I think Massachusetts has one of the more costly freestyle ice around I pay on average about $18 for 55 minutes of freestyle ice, and $20 for an hour at another rink that I skate at.  I luckily get to skate for free on public ice at the rink that I teach LTS at, but unfortunately its usually during the middle of the day and I'm at school teaching so I can't always make it unless its on the weekends after I teach my group lessons.  Fortunately with the milder weather finally here, the public skates have dwindled down to almost no one except for us "die hard" skaters lol So yes, the time I spend skating with my coach twice a week and paying for ice time really adds up, but its totally worth it for me Its my sanity!  You are so lucky with what your rink charges you