AP Renewals

[AMouse&ADream]

We got our Premium APs in September 2009, so they're up for renewal this month. The cost at the time was $439, and the price has since increased to $459.

I received their notifications by mail that indicate that if we renew before the due date, we'll receive $20 off, which I had assumed meant that the price would then be $439 ($20 off the current price). But the price listed, which indicates that it reflects the $20 discount, is only $419.

I'm not complaining, but I'm curious. Since this will be our first time renewing APs, I'm not familiar with the renewal pricing. Are APs grandfathered in and renewed at the rate at which they were originally purchased? That's the only reason I can think of why the price would be what it is.

Since we're not going again until the end of next month, our plan was to let the APs expire, then sign up for new ones at our next trip. No point in paying for APs a month in advance and losing a month. Essentially, this would give us 13 months each time we paid instead of 12, thereby saving us the cost of the AP divided 12.

These savings are greater than the $20 discount they're promoting, so it seemed like a good plan. But if the prices are locked at the original purchase price, then I'd rather renew by the due date as the prices will only continue to increase in the future.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

 

[Brady's Mom]

Sorry, your price is not grandfathered in. You will have to pay the $459 for the AP for this year. So, if it would be worth it financially you could renew and get the $20 off - but you have to run the numbers for your situation.

Wait - I just re read the part about the listed price being $419 - if you could get that price, I'd say take it! But, the bummer would be if you had to pay the difference and didn't have the full 365 days.

 

[dleyel]

We just renewed our So Cal passes last month. We thought we'd have to pay the new price as it was just after the price increase had taken effect. However, we were able to renew at the old price. I was told this would be in effect until October 1st. Two of our 5 passes had already expired, so they had to be dated back to the expiration date to get the old price. It was worth it as it was only a difference of a week. So you'll need to renew before your pass expires in order to receive the old price. Have a great October visit!

 

[AMouse&ADream]

Wait - I just re read the part about the listed price being $419 - if you could get that price, I'd say take it! But, the bummer would be if you had to pay the difference and didn't have the full 365 days.

It expires on 9/27, and we're going again on 10/20. At $459/year, the daily price breaks down to about $1.26. So we'd save $37.80 if we let our passes cancel and got new ones, or we'd save $40 if we renewed our existing passes. That's a net savings of $2.20 (which obviously isn't much) if we renew our existing passes, plus bypassing the hassle of not having to buy a day-pass and sign up again for new passes.

So you'll need to renew before your pass expires in order to receive the old price.

According to the letter I received, even if we renew after the due date, we still get the deal, but the passes will expire on the anniversary date, not the date we renew.

The other benefit it stated of renewing our existing passes (even if we renew late) is that we'll receive 20% off a merchandise purchase of $50 or more. But it seems that every time we're there, they have a special where we're always getting 20% off our merchandise purchases, so that wasn't much of an incentive.

Have a great October visit!

Thanks! We're taking my sister-in-law and her boyfriend, who will be in town visiting us from Montreal, and they've never been.