Anytime Fitness Key Fob Fee: What 16 San Antonio Clubs Charge to Let You In

There's no single Anytime Fitness key fob fee. Each club sets its own, and on the club's join page it shows up as a one-time line called Security Activation. In San Antonio, as of November 3, 2026, 10 of the 16 clubs list one between $10 and $99, four list it at $0, and two list none at all. It's charged once, when you sign up, on top of any enrollment fee. So a $1 enrollment isn't always $1 to start: at three clubs, every plan asks $1 plus a $19.99 or $49 activation before your first dues payment.

Losing the fob is a separate cost: your home club replaces it for a small fee, which also varies by club, so it's worth asking about before you sign.

How much is the key fob at Anytime Fitness?

Anytime Fitness doesn't put a price on the fob itself. The charge people mean by "key fob fee" is the Security Activation line, and every club picks its own number. Some put it on every plan. Others only put it on one plan, often the longest contract. These are the clubs' prices as of November 3, 2026.

Tezel Rd's 12-month plan lists a $40 Security Activation and no separate enrollment fee, while its month-to-month plan calls the same $40 an enrollment fee. And at Thousand Oaks Dr, the $49.99 activation sits on the pricier $24.99 plan, next to a $49.99 enrollment fee. The same club's $19.99 promo plan asks $1 to join and lists no activation.

Where a club lists $0, that's worth knowing too. Four clubs show the Security Activation line on their 24-month plan and charge nothing for it. That's the plan to ask about if you're already planning to stay two years.

Is "Join for $1" really $1?

On the plan that carries the offer, yes. Nine San Antonio clubs run "Join for $1" on a 12-month plan, and none of those plans lists a Security Activation. Where those clubs list one, it sits on the plan next to it instead, often a longer contract with lower dues:

• Culebra Rd: the $1 plan is $32 every two weeks. The 24-month plan is $26, with a $99 activation.
• Overlook Pkwy and Stone Oak Pkwy: the 18-month plan, with a $29 activation.
• Thousand Oaks Dr: the pricier $24.99 12-month plan, with $49.99 plus a $49.99 enrollment fee, so $99.98 up front.
• Huebner Rd (78240), McCullough Ave, N Loop 1604 W (78249) and UTSA Blvd: the 24-month plan, where the line reads $0.

Where $1 and an activation do land together is at clubs that don't run the offer. Alamo Pkwy and Interstate Hwy 10 W list a $1 enrollment plus $19.99 on all three plans, so $20.99 before any dues. N Loop 1604 W (78254) lists $1 plus $49, so $50. TPC Pkwy asks $25 plus $25, with no dues until January 1.

None of this is hidden. Both lines are right there on the join page. It's just easy to read the enrollment fee as the whole start-up cost, especially with the dues quoted every two weeks rather than by the month.

What the fee does to your first year

Your first year is 26 payments on a plan billed every two weeks, plus the enrollment fee, plus the Security Activation, plus any annual fee. No San Antonio club lists an annual fee, so ask about one: it would come on top.

Sometimes the activation flips which plan is cheaper. At Culebra Rd, the 24-month plan has the lower dues, $26 every two weeks against $28 on the 18-month plan. But it carries the $99 activation, so its first year is at least $775, while the 18-month plan's is at least $729. The $2 you save on each payment takes 49 payments, close to two years, to make up the $98 more you paid at sign-up.

Overlook Pkwy goes the other way. Its 18-month plan has a $29 activation, but the dues are $3 lower every two weeks, so year one still comes out $50 cheaper than the 12-month plan with $1 to join. The longer contract is the catch there, not the fee.

How the key fob gets you in

The fob is what opens the door when no one's at the desk, which is the whole point of a 24-hour club. It's assigned to you, and it works at every Anytime Fitness location, not just your home club, including clubs abroad.

Members can also get in with the Access Pass in the Anytime Fitness app instead of the fob. Either way, your home club controls the access. So if your fob suddenly stops working, call your home club first: the usual reasons are a billing problem, a lockout or a problem with the door itself.

If you lose your key fob

Call your home club as soon as you can. They'll update your fob's security access so the lost one can't be used, and get you a replacement. The replacement costs a small fee that varies by club, and it isn't on any San Antonio join page, so ask the price when you call.

For a sense of scale, Train Anytime, a separate 24-hour gym in San Antonio, charges $10 to replace a key fob, as of November 1, 2026. Your Anytime Fitness club's price may be different, so treat that as a ballpark, not a quote.

If you forget the fob at home, don't expect a member to let you in. Anytime Fitness doesn't allow tailgating, members opening the door for someone else, and some membership agreements set fines for it.

Borrowing a fob, or bringing a friend

Not someone else's. The fob is assigned to one member, and Anytime Fitness's no-tailgating rule means members don't let anyone else in. If a friend wants to try the gym, there's an easier way: 15 of the 16 San Antonio clubs offer a free one-day trial.

Your own fob gets you into other Anytime Fitness clubs, though, so if you travel or move across town, you don't need a second one.

Is the key fob fee refundable?

Assume it isn't. No San Antonio club promises the Security Activation back if you cancel or never use the gym. Treat it as gone once you sign, and if a refund matters to you, ask the club before you pay and get the answer in writing.

Ask about cancelling in the same breath: the fee, the notice and how to send it. TrueGymCost's guides to contract red flags and cancelling a gym membership list what to pin down.

What to ask before you sign

1. Ask what the Security Activation is on each plan. At several clubs it's on one plan and not the next.
2. Add it to the enrollment fee. That's what you'll pay at sign-up before any dues.
3. Turn the dues into a year. Multiply an every-two-weeks price by 26, not 24. TrueGymCost's post on why Anytime Fitness bills every two weeks shows the math.
4. Ask whether there's an annual fee. None of the 16 clubs publishes one, and an annual fee is the one people forget. Why gyms charge an annual fee covers how it works.
5. Ask what a replacement fob costs, and whether the activation or anything else comes back if you cancel.

Then compare first years, not ads. A $1 enrollment with a $49 activation and a $40 enrollment with none look far apart on paper, but they're $10 apart at the counter. TrueGymCost's true cost guide walks through every fee gyms add, and the San Antonio page puts every gym's first year side by side.