So...how do you get this free lifetime membership for maintaining? Do you have to attend meetings? Or do they do it with online members as well?

It's only available to members who attend meetings at this point in time.

What happens is... Member attends meetings, they get to their goal weight. They must maintain within 2 pounds of that goal weight for about 6 weeks, at which point they become a lifetime member.

Lifetime members get free meetings as long as they weigh in at their goal weight once a month. They are also entitled to reduced membership fees should they ever need to lose weight, again.

I've known people to lose most of their weight online and join meetings to lose the last 10 or so to achieve lifetime status. Also my leader recommends you set your goal for the high end of your healthy weight range that way you become lifetime sooner (and pay less, overall) and of course you can continue to work the program and lose to get to your ultimate goal.
At my WW they require you be 5 lbs above your goal weight to join.

Thanks for clarifying, Lovely. And great suggestion, Spooky! I may have to look into that. I was already thinking about raising my goal to 150, and then staying between 148-152 for life. Maybe when I get into the 160's or so, I'll start doing the meetings. If you attend meetings, do you still get access to all of the online tools?

If you pay for them. I have the monthly pass which in my area is $40/month and with that I get etools and unlimited meetings. I don't know how much the tools are if you pay per meeting.
Unfortunately lifetime members don't get etools for free. I think this would be a fabulous incentive and really think WW should offer this.

I've got the monthly pass, too, which includes meetings and online, but I completely agree... the online section should definitely be free to lifetime members or offered at a severely reduced rate!

Etools should only be available free to members who continue to weigh in once a month and within 2 pounds + or -, of their goal weight. Those who gain shouldn't be rewarded and those who lose more but don't change their goal weight also shouldn't because they aren't maintaining.

QuilterinVA--What you're saying is confusing me. Is it not okay to set a goal weight, then aim a little lower? The people who weigh us in/etc. haven't even asked me for my goal weight...but I was planning on 128, but then going down to 125 and maintaining 125. But, if my body disagrees, I will get a note from the doctor for a higher weight.

They've gotten pretty strict about the goal weight issue, because what was happening was that people were picking a high number for a goal weight, and then continuing to lose a good 10-15 pounds more while still "maintaining at Lifetime status".

So when a goal weight is picked -- and it doesn't have to be picked right away as you've seen, it can wait a good long while -- when the goal weight is finally picked they are now very strict about having the member stay within 2 pounds up or 2 pounds down of that goal weight every time they weigh in.

Right now that's not even an option, though. I wish it were. It'd certainly be worth it to maintain and get the free eTools to HELP maintain.

For someone like me who tracks exclusively online and with my phone app, it would be a real boost to hear that I could use them for free (or even a reduced price!) once I hit goal weight and began maintaining.

My understanding is that this is only during maintenance. Once you complete to maintenance and are lifetime I thought it didn't matter if you were below your goal weight.

I'm lifetime not currently at goal. I think that when I get back to goal I will change from monthly pass to the weight watchers online which is much cheaper. I will continue to weigh in once a month.

I've been lifetime for almost six years and maintain at 6-8 lbs. under my goal. Nobody's ever said anything about being below goal, and I've never been asked to lower my goal weight.

It may very well be that it's most strict during the pure maintenance level. However, it was made abundantly clear when -I- was a member that they wanted maintenance to be actual maintenance.