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Six Flags Great America in Gurnee is selling Bring-A-Friend tickets for $35 each against a $90 reference price for current passholders and members. The park’s special offers board lists the guest product now, and the same operator pages still show a separate free Bring-A-Friend path tied to 2027 Gold Pass renewals and new memberships completed by September 7, 2026.
That is a near-term Chicago-area planning choice: buy discounted guest admission for a joint visit while the $35 card is live, or decide the September 7 Gold Pass deadline first if a free home-park guest ticket would save more. Keep the two products separate when you open the cart.
- Paid guest ticket: Bring-A-Friend at $35 each versus a $90 reference price.
- Who can buy: Current Six Flags Great America passholders and members.
- Must accompany: A valid Season Passholder has to enter with the guest.
- Free path deadline: Renew or enroll a 2027 Gold Pass by September 7, 2026, for one free Bring-A-Friend.
- Extra costs: Processing fees up to $9.99 plus taxes can apply online.
What the official special offers page is selling
The park’s Six Flags Great America special offers page currently leads with Bring-A-Friend Ticket for passholders and members. Product copy says guests can add a friend’s admission when they visit together, with the board showing Starting From $90, $35 each, and Save $55.
Disclosure on the same card states that processing fees of up to $9.99 and applicable taxes can apply. It also requires that a valid Season Passholder accompany the guest ticket at entry.
That accompaniment rule matters as much as the sticker price. A $35 guest ticket is not a transferable day ticket you can hand to someone who will arrive alone.
Treat the $90 figure as the park’s published reference comparison on the offer card, not as a promise that every gate window will quote that exact walk-up total on every date. Recheck the live card before you finish checkout if the cart UI changes the headline number.
How the September 7 free Bring-A-Friend path differs
A second traveler decision sits on the park’s 2027 season pass board. Gold Pass renewal and new-membership copy still lists a renewal bonus of one free Bring-A-Friend when the guest completes the step by September 7, 2026.
Official fine print on that board says renewals completed by 9/7/26 receive one free Bring-A-Friend at the home park, valid any public operating day through the 2026 season. New memberships enrolled by the same date receive the same free home-park guest ticket language.
That free ticket is not the same SKU as the paid $35 Bring-A-Friend offer. One is a dated Gold Pass bonus. The other is a standing special-offer guest price for people who already hold an eligible pass or membership.
If you were already planning to renew or enroll before early September, solve the Gold Pass decision first. Buying several $35 guest tickets now can still make sense for visits that cannot wait for the free bonus to post.
Do not confuse the paid offer with August Perks rewards
Great America’s Perks and Play board currently lists August rewards that include a 2 for $50 Bring-A-Friend Ticket alongside free Bring-A-Friend bonus lines. Those loyalty rewards load under the monthly Perks program and can rotate.
Attractions Magazine reported earlier in 2026 that Six Flags shifted almost all parks onto automatic Pass Perks rewards, with bring-a-friend tickets among the rotating benefit types. That independent account matches the separate Perks surface travelers still see beside paid special offers.
The $35 special-offer product is a different surface from those August reward tiles. A passholder can see both styles of guest savings in the same week without those offers being interchangeable in the app.
Before you pay, confirm which inventory the cart is actually selling: the special-offer $35 ticket, a Perks reward redemption, or the free Gold Pass renewal bonus. Mixing those labels is the fastest way to misread the true cost of a group day.
Deep Arrival already covered a related Magic Mountain Friend Duo product at $50 for two guests through early September. The Gurnee $35 single-guest card is a separate park stream with its own price and accompaniment rule, not a California reprint.
What a Gurnee passholder should check before buying
First, confirm your pass or membership is active for Six Flags Great America and that the guest will enter with you. Second, open the special offers card and verify the live $35 price, Save $55 comparison, and processing-fee line still match what you saw in this article.
Third, decide whether a September 7 Gold Pass renewal would create a free guest ticket that covers your next shared visit more cleanly than another paid $35 purchase.
Those three checks keep the decision concrete. They also prevent a cart mistake where someone buys guest tickets without confirming the passholder must be present.
Use Deep Arrival’s Six Flags Great America planning guide when you are pairing the ticket decision with ride strategy, park logistics, and same-day timing. For coaster fit, open the Great America height requirements page before promising a guest every marquee ride.
If the day also includes Hurricane Harbor Chicago, treat waterpark admission as a separate product check. The Bring-A-Friend language on the theme-park special offers card should not be assumed to cover every waterpark gate without reading the exact SKU.
Cost math against a normal day ticket
At $35 before fees and taxes, the guest ticket undercuts the $90 reference price by $55 on the operator card. Online processing fees of up to $9.99 can narrow that gap, so a realistic all-in guest cost can land closer to the mid-$40s before tax depending on the cart.
For a two-guest day, two paid Bring-A-Friend tickets land near $70 before fees. That is still usually cheaper than buying two full reference day tickets at the $90 comparison level, but it is not automatically cheaper than every limited-time public sale the park may run later.
Prestige Pass holders already receive different Bring-A-Friend language on the season-pass comparison table, including two free guest tickets annually on that higher tier. Do not buy paid $35 tickets if an unused Prestige free guest benefit already covers the visit.
Keep Fright Fest and other separately ticketed evenings out of the math unless the exact guest SKU says those events are included. Most Bring-A-Friend day products at Six Flags parks remain regular daytime admission tools, not haunted-event passes.
| If you are… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Already holding a Great America pass and visiting with one friend this week | Buy the live $35 Bring-A-Friend ticket and enter together after confirming the accompaniment rule. |
| Undecided on a 2027 Gold Pass and can wait on the next guest visit | Price the September 7 free Bring-A-Friend renewal bonus before stacking paid guest tickets. |
| Holding Prestige with unused free guest tickets | Redeem the Prestige benefit first instead of buying the $35 special offer. |
| Seeing both Perks 2-for-$50 and the $35 special offer | Open the cart label and redeem only the inventory that matches the cheaper verified path. |
- Buy path: Use the official special offers board for the paid $35 guest ticket while it remains listed.
- Renewal path: Treat September 7, 2026, as the free Bring-A-Friend Gold Pass deadline, not as the end of the paid $35 card.
- Entry rule: Plan arrival so the passholder and guest clear the gate together.
- Park fit: Pair the ticket with the Great America guide and height chart before promising specific rides.
Related reading for chronology only: Deep Arrival’s Magic Mountain Friend Duo stays at $50 post covers a different park’s two-guest pricing. It does not change Gurnee’s $35 single-guest card.
If you are building a broader Chicago trip around the park day, the Chicago things to do guide helps place Great America against downtown and neighborhood plans without treating the guest ticket as a citywide discount.
Recheck the special offers and season pass boards on the morning you buy. Six Flags can change passholder guest pricing without a long press cycle, and the September 7 free-ticket clock is independent of the paid $35 listing.
How much is the Great America Bring-A-Friend ticket right now?
The official special offers page lists Bring-A-Friend tickets at $35 each against a $90 reference price for passholders and members, before processing fees and taxes.
Does the passholder have to enter with the guest?
Yes. The offer disclosure says the guest must be accompanied by a valid Season Passholder.
What happens on September 7, 2026?
That is the stated deadline to renew or enroll a 2027 Gold Pass for one free Bring-A-Friend ticket valid through the 2026 season at the home park. It is separate from the paid $35 offer.
Is this the same as the August 2-for-$50 Perks reward?
No. Perks and Play can list rotating rewards such as 2 for $50, while the $35 Bring-A-Friend product appears on the special offers board as its own passholder guest ticket.
