To cancel a Planet Fitness membership, you have two options: go to your home club in person and fill out a cancellation form, or send a written cancellation request by certified mail to that same club.1Planet Fitness. Planet Fitness Customer Service and FAQ Phone, email, chat, the app, and the website do not work for cancellation through the traditional process. Timing matters as much as method, because missing the billing cutoff costs you another month of dues or the full annual fee.
Your home club is the location where you originally enrolled, and it is the only branch that can process your cancellation. A PF Black Card that lets you work out at any location does not change this. If you’ve moved away from your home club, mail is your route.
Canceling in Person
If your home club is reachable, this is the faster path. Ask the front desk for the cancellation form, fill it out, and do not leave without a confirmation copy. That copy should show the date the form was processed and, ideally, the name of the staff member who handled it. It is your only proof the cancellation actually entered their system. Without it, you have nothing to show if charges keep hitting your account.
Canceling by Mail
Send your letter to the street address of your home club. Include your full name, your Member ID (in the Planet Fitness app or on your keytag), your current address, and a clear statement that you want to cancel your membership.
Send it USPS Certified Mail with a return receipt. The certified mail fee is $5.30, and a return receipt adds $4.40 for a physical card or $2.82 for an electronic one, so plan on roughly $8 to $10.2United States Postal Service. Shipping Insurance and Extra Services The return receipt proves the club received your letter on a specific date, which is what you need if they later claim it never arrived.
Deadlines That Decide Whether You Get Charged
Planet Fitness bills monthly dues on the 17th at most locations. For the club to stop that charge, they need to receive your cancellation by the 10th, because billing changes can take up to seven business days to process. A cancellation that arrives on the 11th still gets billed for a full additional month, and Planet Fitness does not pro-rate for the days you don’t use.
The annual fee runs on its own calendar. Most locations charge $49 a year (some charge $39), typically around two months after your original sign-up date.3Planet Fitness. Gym Memberships To avoid it, your cancellation must be received by the 25th of the month before the annual fee is due. Once that fee is billed, it is generally not refundable.
Fees You May Still Owe
If you signed up for a 12-month commitment plan and are canceling before the term ends, there is a $58 buyout fee on top of your final month’s dues, regardless of how many months are left. Month-to-month members do not pay this buyout.
Whether or not you owe a buyout, expect one more month of dues to go through if your cancellation processes after the monthly cutoff. Clear any outstanding balance when you cancel. Unpaid charges don’t vanish when the membership ends.
If You Have Military Orders
Active-duty servicemembers who receive orders for a permanent change of station, or for a deployment of 90 days or more to a location that doesn’t support the gym membership, can terminate the contract without any early termination fee under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 50 – 3956 Termination of Certain Consumer Contracts The contract has to have been entered into before the orders.
Submit a written cancellation request with a copy of your orders. The gym cannot charge a buyout, but dues already owed at the time of termination still stand. If you are the primary account holder on a family plan, the termination also covers family members relocating with you.
Medical Reasons, Death, Relocation, and Cooling-Off
State health club laws generally require gyms to allow cancellation without penalty in several situations: a medical condition that keeps you from using the gym for an extended period, the death of the member, and the club permanently closing or moving. Many state statutes trigger relocation rights when the facility moves more than five miles from its original location.
For a medical cancellation, you’ll typically need a signed note from your doctor stating you cannot participate in physical activity. Planet Fitness has historically handled these case by case at the club level. Most states also give you a short cooling-off window after signing, usually three to five business days, during which you can cancel for a full refund. The exact rules, refund calculations, and documentation vary by state, so check your state’s health club act for the version that applies to you.
What Happens If You Just Stop Paying
Walking away without canceling formally is the most expensive mistake you can make. Planet Fitness keeps billing the payment method on file, and taking the card off doesn’t cancel the agreement. After roughly 60 to 90 days of unpaid dues, the account typically goes to a third-party collection agency.
Once a collector has the account, they can report the debt to credit bureaus like Equifax and TransUnion, often within 30 to 90 days. A collection entry stays on your credit report for seven years from the date of the original delinquency, and the size of the debt doesn’t change that much. A couple hundred dollars in unpaid gym dues can do serious damage to your score. If you’re already in collections, you can contact the agency to negotiate a lower payoff or a “pay for delete” arrangement, but canceling properly in the first place is far cheaper.
The FTC Click-to-Cancel Rule
The Federal Trade Commission finalized its Click-to-Cancel rule in late 2024, with most provisions taking effect in mid-2025.5Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule Making It Easier for Consumers to End Recurring Subscriptions and Memberships It applies to gym memberships.
The core requirement: canceling must be at least as easy as signing up. If you enrolled on a website or in an app, the gym has to let you cancel through an equally simple online process. The rule prohibits requiring you to interact with a live or virtual representative to cancel if you didn’t interact with one to sign up.6Federal Register. Negative Option Rule For members who signed up in person, the gym also has to offer cancellation online or by phone.
Whether every Planet Fitness franchise has adjusted its procedures is a separate question, but the legal requirement is in place. If you signed up online and are being told you must appear in person or mail a letter, that is a potential FTC violation you can report at ftc.gov.
Protect the Cancellation After You Submit It
The single most useful habit is keeping a paper trail. If you canceled in person, hold onto the confirmation copy. If you canceled by mail, keep the certified mail receipt and the return receipt card together. Then check your bank statement after the next billing date to confirm no charge went through.
If Planet Fitness bills you after a confirmed cancellation, start with your bank. Most banks will reverse an unauthorized recurring charge when you can show documentation that you canceled. You can also file a complaint with the FTC or your state attorney general’s office. Planet Fitness operates through franchises, and individual club compliance varies, which is exactly why documentation is what turns a billing dispute into a reversal.