Online Dating Blog

This fact is actually the reason I’m writing this article now: eHarmony has recently changed the way that their free events work (some of the time). I want to discuss the different rules for the different types of events so that anyone signing up can know what they’re getting into. Please keep in mind eHarmony can change the rules anytime they choose! Still, this should give you a good idea of what to expect.

Traditional eHarmony Free Weekends
An eHarmony free weekend is the “traditional event”. These free weekends normally run for three days but can go on longer, such as five days. I refer to these as the traditional-type because for the last few years this was the only kind of free event that eHarmony had (to my knowledge).

The rules for this type of event are:

1. You can communicate with any and all of your matches. This communication process works from beginning to end. This includes the eHarmony Guided Communication portion as well as the email portion where you can write back and forth as you choose.
2. You cannot see your matches photos

As I mentioned, for the longest time this was the only type of event that existed. However, this year eHarmony has started introducing another type of event. They still continue to have the traditional eHarmony free weekends but now a new type is being mixed in as well.

New eHarmony 10-Day Free Events
So this year eHarmony started having events where users can communicate for a full 10-days. On the surface this sounds great (and it’s not bad) but eHarmony does have different rules for these events that you should be aware of:

1. You can only communicate through the guided communication steps. This means no open communication (the part where you email each other). On these events, when you have finished the guided communication and then try to communicate with the person, you are then presented with an opportunity to subscribe to the service. I’ve heard a lot of frustration with this because open communication is where you actually plan your date so you can meet each other.
2. You cannot see your matches photos.

Photo by yoshiffles

Seeing the Good in Each Free Event Type

One big motivation for me to write this article was the frustrated emails I was receiving from readers as they were trying the 10-day events. They were expecting to be able to fully communicate with their matches only to be shocked when they were asked to subscribe near the end of the process.

Were I in that situation, I would’ve been frustrated as well. Still, I feel that each free event does give you opportunities:

With the standard free weekends, you actually have the chance to fully communicate with someone and find yourself going on some first dates. This is pretty straightforward and was an obvious selling point for the free events but you do have to act quickly. Three days goes by quicker than you think it would.

With the new 10 day events, you are not given the same opportunity to end up on first dates. However, you can use the extended time to get numerous conversations with your matches through the entire guided communication process. For example, if you were able to get 8 of your matches through guided communication and knew that you would have those 8 people ready to communicate with you if you signed up, then subscribing becomes less of a risk.

I know many people will see this as more of a “silver lining” than an actual benefit, but I do think the value is there. Also, as you communicate you will be sharing details about yourself with one another: nothing says you may not be able to find each other on Facebook. Yeah, it is a long-shot but there’s some more “silver lining” for you.

Which Rules for Which Events
Again, the rule setting is entirely up to eHarmony. So far they’ve been using the traditional communication method with any events that last less than 10 days and are only using the “new” communication method with 10-day events. The last few months they’ve bounced back and forth between the two different types so if you hate the 10-day events be aware that eHarmony still offers the free weekends.