Airmiles Disney tickets - Upgrade?

[Sprockie]

Has anyone every redeemed airmiles for their disney tickets and added more days when at the park? Has the upgrade been a reasonable amount? I am getting different answers from Disney staff.

 

[ABCanada]

DL or DW.

This is not gospel but is my understanding. I will also qualify that things can always change. The way it works at DW now you can receive double discount in some situations (purchase discounted PH and ungrade to DVC AP). I could see them eliminate this.

DW I have not personally upgraded airmiles tickets but have upgraded others without any problem. Cost to upgrade is Face Value (FV) of new ticket less FV of original ticket. It is generally recommended that you use one day before upgrading to ensure there is no issue with any discounted value on the original ticket.

DL Pay difference between FV of new ticket and discounted value of original ticket (what airmiles 'paid').

 

[CdnCarrie]

Yup all the time. Best to use them once first. Just go to Guest Services and add days on. We usually get the lowest # of days available from Airmiles to save on Airmiles and then upgrade as it's so cheap to do so.

 

[disneyfreak89]

Yep, we've done this several times for DW. As pp's mentioned, best to use it first before upgrading to get the full value (not the discounted value) of the ticket.
Our last trip we used our ticket to get into the MK then walked straight to Guest Services and upgraded to an AP.

 

[TagsMissy]

I've not tried at DL but at WDW we just did this at the end of May.

We ordered 5-day base tickets and entered the park once to lock in the tickets to current pricing and then upgraded our tickets by adding 4 days and hoppers. It was about $5 per day/ticket and about $55for the hopper/ticket. I can't remember the exact cost (Roughly $150 for our 2 tickets) but it was as I had done the math in my head more or less.

 

[Susan R]

That's a great idea! I do have a question...are the tickets you get from Airmiles no expiration (as in...if I get them and then don't activate them for a few years will they have expired?) I am not planning on going to Disney for a few years yet.

 

[Camilo]

That's a great idea! I do have a question...are the tickets you get from Airmiles no expiration (as in...if I get them and then don't activate them for a few years will they have expired?) I am not planning on going to Disney for a few years yet.

Yes Susan,
as with any Disney ticket, they don't expire until you start using them.
This is because you get the actual ticket, not a voucher to exchange afterwards.
I too have upgraded Airmiles Disney tickets. I did it last year while at animal Kingdom Guest services and it cost me 8 dollars to add an extra day.

Camilo

 

[ABCanada]

as with any Disney ticket, they don't expire until you start using them.
Camilo

WDW regular tickets do not expire until 14 days after first use but DL tickets have 'valid for' dates so do expire. The air miles page shows the dates for the current tickets on the drop down.

 

[melbrujack]

I thought I read before that you can order children's passes and upgrade for adults? I don;t have enough points for an adult, but do for a childrens? Does anyone recall something like this?

melissa

 

[seashoreCM]

I thought I read before that you can order children's passes and upgrade for adults? I don;t have enough points for an adult, but do for a childrens? Does anyone recall something like this?

The airmiles tickets have a secret wholesale value. You, as an adult, can't use the child ticket as-is so you have to do the "upgrade" prior to first usage in which case the starting value is the wholesale value, not the current selling price (FV) of that kind of ticket.

If the ticket has "comp" or "cp" or something similar preprinted or scrawled on the back then it can't be modified in any way before or after first usage except that a person using a ticket prior to his 10'th birthday can exchange the remains of that ticket free of charge for an adult ticket after turning 10.

 

[CanadianMinnie]

I have upgraded Airmiles tickets from the 5 day base ticket three times. Each time I entered a park to activate the ticket, and then went to guest services to do the upgrade. I always check what the difference would be to upgrade before I go, and each time they give me a price to upgrade that is higher than I calculated. I mention this, and the turn to the computer and then quote me a lower price. I figure this is because they forget to credit me for the difference between the wholesale price they charge airmiles, and the gate price. My problem is that if I didn't know the correct price or speak up, I would have paid a lot more. I am thinking many people pay more not knowing the difference.

 

[disneyfreak89]

I have upgraded Airmiles tickets from the 5 day base ticket three times. Each time I entered a park to activate the ticket, and then went to guest services to do the upgrade. I always check what the difference would be to upgrade before I go, and each time they give me a price to upgrade that is higher than I calculated. I mention this, and the turn to the computer and then quote me a lower price. I figure this is because they forget to credit me for the difference between the wholesale price they charge airmiles, and the gate price. My problem is that if I didn't know the correct price or speak up, I would have paid a lot more. I am thinking many people pay more not knowing the difference.

I thought the whole point of using the ticket first before upgrading, locked in the gate price. So if we don't do our homework and have an idea what it'll cost to upgrade, they could overcharge us? Great.

 

[AlohaDisney]

Does anyone have any tips on quickly accumulating airmiles? I have approximately 1000, but would love to get my points up to purchase tickets for my son for either this year or next!
TIA

 

[dancin Disney style]

I've redeemed AM for WDW tickets twice and upgraded both times. I just did it in March of this year. I got 2 adult 7 day premium tickets and upgraded to 10 days...I paid $183 or something. I was the exact amount I expected to pay based on prices from the WDW website.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Does anyone have any tips on quickly accumulating airmiles? I have approximately 1000, but would love to get my points up to purchase tickets for my son for either this year or next!
TIA

The easiest way is to get one of the AM credit cards and charge as much as you can per month to it. Also watch for places that you can double dip...gas and groceries.

Depending on where you live...westerners get better grocery deals....you can get a good amount of miles from gas and groceries. Also, watch the mail and website for bonus coupons.

You can also convert HBC points into AM. It's not he greatest but still something.....2000 HBC = 1 AM. There are often excellent bonus coupons for AM with the HBC stores.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Sale on for passes now. Sadly it ends tomorrow.

 

[Dan1]

Thanks to all on this thread. I had not even thought about using my air miles for the one WDW ticket I need for next year. I especially like the strategy of upgrading after entering one of the parks.

One question. Is it better value to buy a 5 day ticket or a 7 day and then upgrade to a 10 day ticket at the parks?

Thank you very much,
Dan

 

[Kat&Dom]

Thanks to all on this thread. I had not even thought about using my air miles for the one WDW ticket I need for next year. I especially like the strategy of upgrading after entering one of the parks.

One question. Is it better value to buy a 5 day ticket or a 7 day and then upgrade to a 10 day ticket at the parks?

Thank you very much,
Dan

I don't think that there is that much of a price variance - about $4 per day to add. I get which ever one is on sale on the AM website. I just recently got the 7 for 5 days ticket for 2,175 AM which was a 75 AM difference from regular so really it is whichever works best for you. Really having the ticket free from AM is worth $250 so that is the biggest chunk of change - I love that we can get tickets from AM - it is so awesome. We also got Universal tickets and they don't expire until you use them so they are also a great value. I think that SeaWorld tickets do expire though.

Have an awesome trip.