AP Help for a newbie

[Ghostface]

My wife and I are taking our very first Universal trip in September...9/10-9/16. We are beyond excited and have been trying to plan and budget everything accordingly. I have already booked a vacation package during the buy 3 get 2 days free promo and included a stay at RPR in the package. Now we are rethinking if an AP for both of us would make more sense or save us any money on the hotel or other things that we would purchase in the park. We also like the idea of being able to go back possibly at Christmas or spring of next year before the passes expire. With all this in mind, I decided to call Universal to see if they could help me with the AP and that's where I got confused. I have been checking at RPR for the AP rate during our stay and those rates are not available yet. My question to customer service was if I needed to purchase my AP ahead of time to get the AP rate on our room when it was released. He told me that because our stay was during HHN, the resort was almost full and therefore they probably wouldn't even release an AP rate for RPR during that time frame. He also said that I could just upgrade my current tickets to an AP at the park when we first got there, which is no problem, but I didn't understand about the room rate. Do they only release a certain number of rooms that can be reserved for the AP rate? If I understood him correctly, this is what happens. Would we not be able to get the rate on our room that we've already booked? If not, that's not a problem, I just didn't want to get the wrong information and potentially lose out on those savings. I really hope this made sense lol. Thank you all for any help you can give me! I have been having a blast reading all of your posts and trying to research as much as possible for our trip!

 

[AJA]

AP rates are not always available. And since this is such a busy year for travel, Universal has been very light on AP discounts. They are limited.

Also Some but not All your days may be available for the AP rate. So price out the Savvy Traveler rate depending on your length of stay.

Yes you can book the AP rate now and just upgrade while you are there.

We usually wait and purchase our APs in the Hotel lobby. We’ve been asked to just stop by the desk and show them our AP (this was at SF).

 

[macraven]

I booked in late January for my September stay
In February there were a few rooms that opened up but quickly booked and filled at RP


Until peeps cancel their September booking would there be availability for RP.

Since you are already booked, wait until you check in and talk to the help desk to adjust your tickets to the AP
If the help desk can not make the change, guest services in the park will be able to help you upgrade to the AP

 

[AJA]

If you are a Disney veteran, new to Universal keep in mind the onsite hotels are NOT run by Universal. They are Loews Hotels which usually means amazing hotel service (as opposed to Disney) but there is no way to link your tickets/room/etc.
You will need a whole new reservation to use the AP available rate (if available) You cannot apply the rate to an existing reservation.

 

[Ghostface]

Thank you both so very much! We are actually new to Universal and Disney, so this has been a lot to try to work through in regards to getting the best deal possible. I wrongly assumed, it seems, that we could apply the AP rate to any room as long as it was booked, so that's my mistake and I'll learn from it for next time lol. We will still upgrade to the AP passes, but will wait until we are onsite to do so. Trying to learn as much as possible for this and HHN has been an experience lol but an enjoyable one!

 

[macraven]

You will be a pro on the UO system once you are there in the parks

 

[AJA]

HHN is amazing! If this is your first visit it is so much fun planning (both HHN and Universal itself). September is also a great time to visit HHN for a first time, especially weekday nights if uou don’t have express (HHN express is different from regular park hotel provided express) if you are visiting on a weekday night in September then HHN is totally doable without express and not too much planning.

 

[Ghostface]

We are so beyond excited for HHN! We have tickets for that Sept 11th, which is on a Sunday. We may try to go on Thursday as well, but it is the night before we leave so we were worried about being up too late and having to drive back the next day. We also got the express passes for HHN, so we hope that allows us enough time to get through as many houses as we can! I wasn't sure how crowded it typically was on a Sunday night in September.

 

[AJA]

You should get to experience everything you want in HHN on a Sunday night in September with Express. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[nurseberta]

If you are a Disney veteran, new to Universal keep in mind the onsite hotels are NOT run by Universal. They are Loews Hotels which usually means amazing hotel service (as opposed to Disney) but there is no way to link your tickets/room/etc.
You will need a whole new reservation to use the AP available rate (if available) You cannot apply the rate to an existing reservation.

Do you know if booking a savvy traveler rate or an AP rate changes your ability to do online check-in?

 

[nurseberta]

You should get to experience everything you want in HHN on a Sunday night in September with Express. Hope you have a great trip!

What do you say about a Thursday night say the 15th? just doing a short weekend trip and hoping to get in HHN, VB, then 2 full park days.

We are so beyond excited for HHN! We have tickets for that Sept 11th, which is on a Sunday. We may try to go on Thursday as well, but it is the night before we leave so we were worried about being up too late and having to drive back the next day. We also got the express passes for HHN, so we hope that allows us enough time to get through as many houses as we can! I wasn't sure how crowded it typically was on a Sunday night in September.

Sorry to hijack your thread. we will be there Sept 15-19