Six Flags nixes mobile payments

[jayducharme]

I was just at Six Flags New England today. Over the past few years, I was glad to see that the park supported mobile payments and I always used Apple Pay when I was in the park. This year Six Flags announced to the world that their parks were going cashless. So you can imagine my surprise this past weekend when I purchased a drink, pulled out my iPhone -- and nothing happened. The employee behind the counter said, "We don't accept Apple Pay."

I was stunned. The park decided to deactivate mobile payments at all their terminals and force guests to use cards only. So Six Flags went cashless and then banned all mobile payment options! It makes no sense, especially since in the past they used to accept them. That might explain why there was hardly anyone in the park on a summer weekend. It will be interesting to see how their decision affects their bottom line this season.

 

[jayducharme]

And just to be clear -- they've banned ALL mobile payment options.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Don't know what's wrong in the UK or USA, but here in Austria (and I'm sure, many many other countries to) if there is contactless payment option, it makes no difference if you use Apple Pay or your bank card or whatever.

 

[fwmireault]

Don't know what's wrong in the UK or USA, but here in Austria (and I'm sure, many many other countries to) if there is contactless payment option, it makes no difference if you use Apple Pay or your bank card or whatever.

Same in Canada, I never had to worry for Apple Pay support on any contactless payment terminal. I wonder why Apple Pay support in the US (of all places) is such a mess

 

[MajorFubar]

Maybe they just don't accept contactless at all. 100% speculation on my part but I can't think of another reason because surely the technology is pretty much the same as far as the contactless reading device is concerned. Heck even the food truck that delivers lunches to my workplace takes mobile payments.

 

[NoBoMac]

Saw a reddit where a person claiming to be an employee stated that they changed payment processors and the issue is on that end.

 

[jaytv111]

Don't know what's wrong in the UK or USA, but here in Austria (and I'm sure, many many other countries to) if there is contactless payment option, it makes no difference if you use Apple Pay or your bank card or whatever.

That’s the same case in the US, it’s just that many places don’t accept contactless at all, so no Apple Pay or cards. A lot of the times it’s intentional to get you to use their phone app, like Walmart who has their own Walmart Pay. They have their own app for data mining and to advertise to use their credit card which nets them money when you use it.

 

[jayducharme]

Saw a reddit where a person claiming to be an employee stated that they changed payment processors and the issue is on that end.

But if that's the case, Six Flags should have held off on their "cashless" announcement until they got everything straightened out.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

Wow - bad move on their part. I have my Apple Card for places that purposely don't accept apple pay like Home Depot. Still - for a theme park, being able to use your watch, or phone I guess, is beyond convenient.

 

[ZipZap]

Perhaps the fees are too high.

 

[jayducharme]

Perhaps the fees are too high.

Perhaps (but on ALL the services?). Even so, cutting off all mobile payments gets them nothing from people who prefer to pay that way. I certainly won't return to the park unless they reinstate it.

 

[jaytv111]

Perhaps the fees are too high.

There is no additional cost to accept Apple Pay for merchants. Apple’s fee is put on the card issuers, .15% of the purchase, something they readily accept due to the higher security of Apple Pay over a card (if someone stole a card they could still use it without problem, but Apple Pay is not accessible if you don’t know the device passcode).

How to Accept Apple Pay

Apple Pay is a convenient, secure and contactless mobile payment method. Learn how Apple Pay works and how to accept Apple Pay in your business.

www.businessnewsdaily.com

 

[seek3r]

Don't know what's wrong in the UK or USA, but here in Austria (and I'm sure, many many other countries to) if there is contactless payment option, it makes no difference if you use Apple Pay or your bank card or whatever.

When places do this they disable contactless, period. For example CVS (biggest pharmacy [ chemist ] chain in the US, plus now an insurance and light healthcare provider) for a long time was pushing their QR code payment system so they simply disabled *all* contactless payment. Eventually they realized that was a bad idea.

 

[compwiz1202]

Perhaps (but on ALL the services?). Even so, cutting off all mobile payments gets them nothing from people who prefer to pay that way. I certainly won't return to the park unless they reinstate it.

Exactly amusement parks are one of the hugest price gougers. I'm pretty sure the fees hurt them less than the customers they lose for going cashless but also nixing NFC

 

[The_Auryn]

This year Six Flags announced to the world that their parks were going cashless.

How can they do that when American printed cash is legal tender for all debts, public and private?

 

[jaytv111]

How can they do that when American printed cash is legal tender for all debts, public and private?

They direct you to put your cash into a prepaid debit card which you can use in the park.

https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/plan-your-visit/park-policies

 

[compwiz1202]

They direct you to put your cash into a prepaid debit card which you can use in the park.

https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/plan-your-visit/park-policies

If they are the same as Dorney, it seems cool because it's no fees and is a regular prepaid card you can use anywhere per the logo (Visa/MC) on it. But Dorney also takes NFC. Is SF still not taking it?

 

[jaytv111]

If they are the same as Dorney, it seems cool because it's no fees and is a regular prepaid card you can use anywhere per the logo (Visa/MC) on it. But Dorney also takes NFC. Is SF still not taking it?

They used to take contactless payment, now they no longer do so.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sixflags/comments/up0ihg