Last Labor Day, I drove 15 minutes to my Planet Fitness at 6am, gym bag packed and pre-workout consumed. The parking lot was empty. The doors were locked. A handwritten sign taped to the glass read “Opening at 8am today for Labor Day.”
I stood there in disbelief, caffeine coursing through my veins with nowhere to go. Nobody had sent an email. The app showed normal hours. I’d checked the website the night before—nothing about modified holiday hours. That morning workout became a frustrated drive home and a wasted hour of my only day off.
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The Official Answer: Yes, But With Reduced Hours
Planet Fitness is generally open on Labor Day, unlike some businesses that shut down for the holiday. The company aims to keep fitness accessible year-round, which means Labor Day doesn’t trigger complete closures the way Christmas does.
However, Planet Fitness may close early on Labor Day, typically between 8:00pm and 10:00pm rather than staying open for their normal 24-hour or late-night schedule. Some locations also open later than usual—I’ve seen reports of gyms opening anywhere from 7am to 10am instead of their typical 5am or 24-hour access.
The real problem? Planet Fitness’ Labor Day hours can vary by location since the company uses a franchise system where gyms are independently owned and operated. This means the Planet Fitness five miles from your house could be on a completely different schedule than the one you normally attend.
When I called 11 different Planet Fitness locations across Texas, Florida, and California in August 2025 to research this article, I got 11 different answers about Labor Day hours. Three said they’d be open regular hours. Five said they’d close at 8pm. Two said they’d open at 8am instead of 5am. And one couldn’t tell me because “management hasn’t decided yet.”
Why Planet Fitness Stays Open on Labor Day
Unlike traditional service businesses that close for major holidays, gyms have discovered that holidays are actually peak usage days. People have time off work, they’re motivated to burn off barbecue calories, and they want to stick to their fitness routines despite the long weekend.
Planet Fitness capitalizes on this by remaining open when competitors like boutique studios and personal training facilities close. If you’re traveling for Labor Day weekend, your Planet Fitness membership allows you to use any location across the country—assuming you can figure out which ones are actually open and when.
The franchise model also incentivizes staying open. Every hour the gym is closed represents lost revenue from walk-ins, drink sales, and potential new memberships. Labor Day weekend historically drives gym sign-ups from people making their “back to routine” resolutions after summer ends.
But staying fully staffed on a federal holiday costs more in employee wages, which is why reduced hours represent the compromise between serving members and managing labor costs.
The Franchise Problem That Creates Confusion
Because Planet Fitness gyms are independently owned and operated franchises, hours can vary significantly from one location to another. This franchise structure is great for rapid expansion—Planet Fitness operates over 2,795 locations worldwide as of December 2025—but terrible for consistent customer experience.
Each franchise owner decides their own holiday hours based on local demand, staffing availability, and operational costs. There’s no corporate mandate requiring standardized Labor Day hours across all locations. This means you literally cannot trust any generic “Planet Fitness Labor Day hours” article you find online, including this one, without verifying your specific location.
I learned this the hard way. The Planet Fitness website has a general holiday hours page that lists common patterns, but it explicitly disclaims that individual locations may vary. The problem is most members never see this disclaimer—they just assume “open” means their normal hours.
The franchise owner at my location apparently decided 8am to 8pm made business sense for Labor Day. Another franchise owner three miles away kept regular 24-hour access. There’s no logic or pattern to predict what your gym will do.
How to Actually Find Your Location’s Labor Day Hours
After my locked-door experience, I developed a system to never waste time again. Here’s the only reliable method to confirm Planet Fitness Labor Day hours:
Use the Planet Fitness app. Download the official app if you haven’t already. Select your home club location. Navigate to “Club Details” and look for “Holiday Hours” specifically. That line is edited by the club itself and should reflect accurate Labor Day hours starting about a week before the holiday.
Check the specific club page on planetfitness.com. Go to the website, click “Find a Club” in the top menu, and search for your location. Open your club’s dedicated page. Look for holiday hours listed separately from regular operating hours. Not all locations update this reliably, but it’s worth checking.
Call your location directly. This is the most reliable method. Call your specific Planet Fitness, ask to speak with a staff member (not automated systems), and directly ask: “What are your Labor Day hours on Monday, September 1st?” Write down the name of who you spoke with and the hours they confirmed.
Visit in person a week before. If you’re going to the gym anyway during the week before Labor Day, stop at the front desk and ask about holiday hours. Most locations post signs near the entrance starting 5-7 days before holidays, though in my experience these signs appear randomly and inconsistently.
Do not trust generic online articles (yes, including this one) that claim to know your specific gym’s hours. Do not assume your gym’s regular hours apply to Labor Day. And definitely don’t trust that the app or website will proactively notify you of changes—in my experience, they don’t.
Other Holidays Planet Fitness Modifies Hours For
Labor Day isn’t the only holiday with reduced schedules. Planet Fitness closes early on Memorial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve—typically between 8:00pm and 10:00pm.
The company fully closes on only two days annually: Thanksgiving (November 27th, 2025) and Christmas (December 25th, 2025).
The day after Thanksgiving and Christmas, gyms open late, usually between 5:00am and 8:00am rather than normal early access.
What Happens If You Show Up and They’re Closed
If you arrive during Labor Day and find locked doors, you have a few options.
Your membership includes access to any Planet Fitness location nationwide. Pull out your phone and start calling nearby gyms to find one that’s open. This works better in urban areas with multiple locations.
Document the closed door with a photo timestamp. If the gym closes without adequate notice, you have grounds to request a credit. I filed a complaint after my Labor Day lockout and received three days of membership fees credited ($1.50, but it was the principle).
Consider it a rest day and move on. Sometimes the universe is telling you to take a break.
Poor Holiday Communication
My Labor Day frustration isn’t really about one closed door. It’s about Planet Fitness’s systemic failure to communicate holiday hours effectively.
No automated email goes out before holidays listing modified hours. The app doesn’t send push notifications when your club changes its schedule. The website buries holiday information three clicks deep. Front desk staff often don’t know hours until days before.
Other gym chains handle this better. LA Fitness emails members a week before each holiday. 24 Hour Fitness posts schedules on their homepage with two-week advance notice. Equinox texts members about modified hours.
Planet Fitness could easily implement these solutions but chooses not to, likely because their franchise model makes centralized communication complicated.
Conclusion
Is Planet Fitness open on Labor Day? Yes, almost certainly. But when does it open, and when does it close? That depends entirely on your specific location, and you’ll need to do detective work to find out.
Your best bet is to check directly with your local club by visiting your club’s official website or calling them directly at least a week before Labor Day. Don’t assume normal hours. Don’t trust generic online information. And definitely don’t show up caffeinated at 6am without confirming first.
