Museum memberships - worth it or not?
The benefits are hard to calculate because you cannot really predict your usage
I just rejoined the V&A as a member. I also have memberships with the British Library and the British Museum. I do find myself asking, is it really worth it or is it just a scam that museums, in London especially, use to boost their revenues? In this little piece, I am going to review that.
The biggest single thing is that you cannot predict your usage of a museum membership. It depends on their calendar of events, your own time and availability and your desire to visit. Forget things like Members Rooms, they are mostly very average - with the exception of the V&A members restaurant - and while they give you a place to meet, the food and atmosphere is generally bored to death.
Usually, these memberships cost around £120 per head per year. You can usually bring a guest on a single user ticket but it sometimes pays to get another membership for a spouse or partner, guests or little kiddies.
For us, I think the British Museum membership at least has paid off. We saw at least four exhibitions in the past year. Entrance to each one averages about £20 a head and membership per person is roughly £100. So with some simple, maths you would need to see at least five exhibitions a year to make this work on that basis.
The other benefit of course is access - particularly to tourist hotspots like the British Museum, where weekend queues can be hundreds of metres long. A members’ pass fast-tracks you through all that. Also there is out of hours access to the galleries on guided tours. These cost money but are cheaper for members.
Bear in mind that not all members passes give you priority entrance - I had a falling out with the British Library security team a months ago on a bitterly cold winter’s morning. They had a queue a mile long of students going to find desks to work there all day. I just wanted to see the Renaissance Women exhibition. They were not having it and even with a follow up email to the marketing director, no dice.
There are some other benefits, for example use of members’ rooms and I guess the kudos of being a member. However, in my experience so far, members rooms are not great.
British Museum members room is dire. As is the British Library equivalent. If you want stale croissants and warm beer these are the places go to.
The best of them is probably the V&A where they have a members room and a restaurant. The restaurant is not cheap and not the sort of place where you can lounge around with a cappucino all day. It’s more designed for ladies who lunch - sorry for the casual sexism. Nor is it very well equipped for us digital nomads - no USB points or extra screens anywhere.
So, in summary, if you are eager to get a museum or art gallery pass in London, just think about how you are likely to use it. You need easy access via public transport to make most use of it and you need to have a keen interest in whatever is on display. I personally enjoy history and got a lot of pleasure from the Silk Roads and Legion exhibitions at the British Museum over the past 12 months. Also saw a couple of things at the V&A last year that I enjoyed.
To be honest, you could just forgo all this crap and buy tickets when you need them. Your choice. Just think before committing.