Every birthday party you host brings a group of families through your door who didn't choose you and didn't pay. The birthday family picked your venue. The guest families came because their kid got an invitation, and for some of them it's the first time they've been inside. They're the new customers at that party.
Plenty of venues already try to turn birthday party guests into repeat customers. Sk8tona Fun Center's $169 party package gives "A FREE PASS for each guest to return," and Elevate Trampoline Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, gives each guest a 50% off coupon for their next visit. ROLLER, a venue software company, reports in its 2025 benchmark that 46.7% of party guests in the Americas come back to the venue, against 21.8% of other visitors. So party guests already come back at about twice the rate of everyone else.
This guide walks through how to get more of them back:
- which return offer to build into the party package
- what that offer really costs you
- why it needs a date on it
- how to get each guest family's contact at the party
- what to send in the days after, and when
How do you turn birthday party guests into regulars?
Give every guest family a return offer with a date on it, get a contact for each family before they leave, and send them the offer within two days.
Most venues that hand out a pass stop at the first step. The pass goes in the goody bag, and the venue never contacts that family again. Whether the family comes back is left to whoever finds the pass on the fridge. Dating the pass and emailing the family are how you get it used.
Which return offer should you put in the party package?
A free pass for each guest, with an end date, good on the days you're quiet. Here's what venues include today:
- A free pass for each guest. Sk8tona does this. So do Rolling Thunder Skating in Philadelphia and Hot Wheelz in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which both send every child home with a free pass to come back. Blue Lagoon Mini Golf in Rochester, Minnesota gives a "FREE ROUND Gift Coupon for each party attendee."
- Half off the next visit. Elevate gives each guest a 50% off coupon, and Drop Zone Family Fun Center in Sioux City, Iowa gives guests half off a 60-minute jump pass.
- A pass for the birthday child. Skate City in Bridgeton, Missouri gives the birthday child a free skating pass for a month. That one brings back a family who already knows you, so treat it as a thank-you to the host, on top of the guest offer.
Go with the free pass over the half-off coupon. With a coupon, the family still has to decide to pay for half a visit. With a free pass, they only have to pick a day. And a kid on a free pass rarely comes alone. A parent drives them, a sibling wants in, and somebody gets hungry.
What does a free return pass cost you?
Only the slot it takes up, and only if you'd have sold that slot. A free pass used on a busy Saturday takes a lane or a jump slot away from a paying guest. The same pass used on a quiet Monday evening fills a lane that would have sat empty.
So point the pass at the times you need filled. Classic Fun Center in Utah gives party families a free skating pass that's "valid on Monday evenings for up to 4 people." If your weekday afternoons are slow, make the pass good Monday to Thursday and say so on it.
Then put the cost in the package price. Sk8tona's $169 covers admission for eight, the birthday child included, and a return pass for each guest. The birthday family pays for the passes when they book, and you've priced them in before a single one comes back.
Why does the return offer need a date?
A pass with no date on it can always wait for another weekend. Families put it on the fridge and mean to use it.
Venues that date their offers:
- Drop Zone: the half-off guest coupons are "valid for 1 year" and only for the guest named on them.
- Skate City: the birthday child's pass is "valid for 1 month from the date of the party."
- Sky Zone: its 100-day pass for the birthday child "automatically activates the day after the corresponding birthday party occurs."
- Stone Creek Miniature Golf, Geneva, Illinois: the birthday child can "return this season for one free round of golf."
Compare that with Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida, whose party package includes a skate pass to "come back and visit us anytime." Nothing on that pass tells a family when to come.
Give guests about a month, and print the actual date. A month gives a family four weeks of Monday-to-Thursday afternoons to choose from, which is enough to fit one in and short enough that the pass hasn't been lost yet. Write "Good through November 12" instead of "valid 30 days," so nobody has to work it out.
How do you get each guest family's contact?
You need an email address for every guest family, and the party already gives you two chances to get one.
Invitations. Drop Zone provides e-invitations with every party, and Sky Zone offers party e-invitations. When the invitations go out through your own system, each family that RSVPs gives you their name, and the RSVP form can ask for an email too.
Waivers. Drop Zone requires a signed waiver from every guest, and Sky Zone requires one from every jumper. If your venue uses waivers, a parent of every guest is already filling in a form at your door. Ask for an email on it. Elevate Erie keeps waivers on file for a year, so a family who comes back on their pass doesn't sign again.
Ask for permission on the same form. Add a checkbox, for example "I agree to receive emails about offers and events," and only email the families who tick it.
If you have neither invitations nor waivers, a short card at the party table works. Classic Fun Center hands out its free pass on a comment card, so the family fills in the card to get the pass.
What should you send after the party, and when?
Within two days, send each guest family a short email with their return offer. Party Center Software, which makes party booking software, recommends a thank-you email within 24 to 48 hours. The kids are still talking about the party, and the pass hasn't left the kitchen counter yet.
Keep it to four things:
- a thank-you for coming to the birthday child's party
- the offer, with the date it runs out
- the days it's good for
- how to book, with one link or a phone number
Put the birthday child's name in the subject line. The guest family knows that name, and they don't know yours yet.
Send one reminder a week before the offer runs out, only to the families who haven't used it. After that, let it go.
Start with this weekend's parties
Put a free, dated return pass for each guest into your party package, aimed at your quiet days. Ask for each guest family's email on the invitation or the waiver, and send the offer within two days of the party. Then count how many of the passes you handed out come back before their date. That's the number to watch, party by party.
For more on building the package itself, see our guide to building the ultimate party package. To get more parties on the calendar in the first place, see how to increase party bookings, and for the follow-up emails, our guide to entertainment venue email marketing.
Rex runs online booking for entertainment venues: party packages guests book online, digital waivers, and a guest list you own that syncs to Mailchimp or Klaviyo for the follow-up email. Book a Rex demo to see how your parties would run on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should you send the birthday family after the party?
A thank-you and a request for a review. Then put a note on your calendar for a few weeks before the birthday child's next birthday, and invite them to book again then.
How long should a birthday party return pass be valid?
The dated party passes here run from a month to a year: Skate City's pass lasts a month, Sky Zone's 100 days and Drop Zone's guest coupons a year. About a month is long enough to fit a visit in and short enough that the pass isn't forgotten. Print the end date on the pass.
Is it OK to email party guests who didn't book the party?
Only with their permission. Ask for it on the invitation RSVP or the waiver with a checkbox, and only email the families who tick it.
