ThrilKnowledge Base

Membership pauses

Choose the right pause type and understand how pauses affect membership benefits, recurring payments, contract length, and access control.

Membership pauses let you temporarily suspend an individual member's benefits without removing their membership. The member remains visible in your member lists and in their own wallet throughout the pause.

Thril offers two different pause types:

  • Date-based pause: suspends benefits for exact calendar dates. It works with recurring and one-time memberships, and can optionally pause recurring payments or extend the membership.
  • Period-based pause: skips one or more whole recurring billing periods. Benefits and recurring charges are always paused together.

These pause types solve different situations. Choose the type based on the agreement you have made with the member, not simply on how long the absence is expected to last.

To manage pauses, open the membership's Members list, select the member, and open Pauses. Choose Pause by dates or Pause upcoming periods. The same view shows the member's pause history.


Choose the right pause type

If you want to...UseWhy
Pause a membership for exact calendar datesDate-based pauseThe pause begins and ends on the selected dates, independently of the billing schedule
Pause a one-time or seasonal membershipDate-based pausePeriod-based pauses are only available for recurring memberships
Keep charging but temporarily suspend benefitsDate-based pausePayment pausing is a separate option
Skip charges whose due dates fall within an absenceDate-based pause with Pause recurring paymentsA due date inside the pause causes that full renewal charge to be skipped
Skip the next one or more complete billing periodsPeriod-based pauseThe pause follows the membership's existing billing boundaries
Give a fixed-term member extra contract periodsPeriod-based pause with Extend the contractSkipped periods are added back to the contract
Waive complete periods without lengthening a fixed contractPeriod-based pause with Count paused periods toward the contractThe periods are free but still count toward the contract

A date-based payment pause and a period-based pause can both result in a skipped charge, but they do not calculate the pause in the same way. A date-based pause follows calendar dates. A period-based pause follows whole billing periods.


What happens during every pause

While either pause type is active:

  • The member remains visible in Thril.
  • The membership remains visible in the member's wallet.
  • Membership benefits are unavailable.
  • Membership discounts and custom reservation pricing are unavailable.
  • Reservations that require an active membership cannot be made using the paused membership.
  • Benefits shared with other venues are also unavailable.
  • Membership-based access codes and remote door-opening actions are unavailable.
  • Thril requests that connected access-control systems suspend physical access. The external system may take additional time to update.

When the pause ends, Thril restores benefits automatically. Thril requests physical-access restoration only when the membership is otherwise eligible, and the connected system may take additional time to update. For example, restoration is not requested if the membership has expired or another pause is active.

Previously issued credits and session cards remain available during a pause. However, recurring credits or session cards are not issued when renewal processing completes during a date pause. A period pause also issues no recurring credits or session cards because no renewal payment is created. Skipped grants are not added afterward.

Pausing a membership does not hide it, delete it, or remove its history. The pause history remains available after the member resumes.


Which pauses are available for each membership

Membership situationDate-based pausePeriod-based pause
One-time membership with an end dateAvailable; the paused days can be added to the endNot available
One-time indefinite membershipAvailable for benefits; there is no end date to extendNot available
Recurring fixed-term membershipAvailable; payments and duration can be controlled separatelyAvailable; paused periods can count toward or extend the contract
Recurring open-ended membershipAvailable; paused days can be saved for a future termination tailAvailable; skipped periods do not need fixed-contract accounting
Recurring membership in its termination or notice periodA benefit-only date pause may be availableNot available
Expired membershipNo new pauseNo new pause
Fixed contract with no periods remainingA date pause is only meaningful while the membership is still activeNo new period pause

Why some options may not appear

Thril only shows options that are meaningful and permitted for the selected member.

  • Pause recurring payments is only available for a recurring membership that has not been terminated.
  • Extend the membership by the paused time is available when the membership has an end now or can have an end later.
  • Pause upcoming periods is only available for a recurring membership that has not expired or entered termination and has future periods to process.
  • Extend the contract is only available for a fixed-term recurring contract.
  • An expired, terminated, or exhausted membership may still show its pause history even when no new pause can be scheduled.

How pause dates are interpreted

Date-based pauses include both dates selected in the portal.

For example, a pause shown as 1-7 July suspends benefits for all seven calendar days. Benefits become available again on 8 July.

Period-based pauses use billing boundaries instead. If you choose a future date, Thril matches it to the first billing period beginning on or after that date. The portal shows the resolved period dates before the pause is scheduled.


Pause statuses and available actions

StatusMeaningAvailable action
ScheduledThe pause starts in the futureDelete it before it begins
ActiveThe current time is within the pauseResume a date-based pause early, or end a period-based pause before all periods are skipped
EndedThe pause reached its end or was resumed earlyNo further pause action; history remains visible
CancelledA scheduled date pause was deleted, or an active period pause ended earlyThe date pause remains in history; an ended active period pause also keeps its progress

Ending an active pause does not create retroactive charges. Any billing periods already skipped remain skipped.

A scheduled period pause is removed from pause history when it is deleted.


Overlapping pauses

A member cannot have overlapping date-based and period-based pauses. Thril also prevents two date-based pauses or two period-based pauses from covering the same time.

Back-to-back pauses are allowed. One pause can begin when the previous pause ends.

This keeps billing, benefit availability, contract length, and physical access unambiguous.


At-a-glance billing comparison

Pause choiceBenefitsChargesFixed contract periodsExtension
Date-based, payments continue, no extensionPaused for selected datesContinue normallyContinue normallyNone
Date-based, payments continue, extend durationPaused for selected datesContinue normallyContinue normallyExact paused calendar days
Date-based, payments paused, no extensionPaused for selected datesDue dates inside the pause are waivedEach waived renewal consumes one periodNone
Date-based, payments paused, extend durationPaused for selected datesDue dates inside the pause are waivedEach waived renewal consumes one periodExact paused calendar days
Period-based, count periods toward contractPaused for complete periodsComplete periods are waivedEach skipped period consumes one periodNone
Period-based, extend contractPaused for complete periodsComplete periods are waivedRemaining period count is preservedSkipped periods are added to the contract

For detailed examples and edge cases, continue to Date-based pauses or Period-based pauses. See Membership pricing and trials for the pricing stages referenced here.

The fixed-contract period effects in this table apply after a trial has moved into its paid contract. A period-based pause covering the first post-trial renewal delays paid contract counting until the next charged renewal. A payment-pausing date-based pause at the same boundary instead completes the trial and counts that waived fixed-contract period. See Membership trial periods.

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