Best Deal for Discounted Tickets

[jeffg4]

I'm looking for a 2-day, one-park-per day ticket for 4 adults. Here's what I have researched so far:

Disney $185 each = $740 total (full price)
Tickets at Work $169 each + $59.44 fees = $734 total (0.9% discount)
Getawaytoday $183 each = $732 total (1.1% discount)
Parksavers $178.01 each = $712.04 total (3.8% discount)
Sam's Club gift card $142.98 for 3-pack of $50 cards (4.7% discount)
Way.com $175 each = $700 total (5.4% discount)

I know Target has gift cards at a 5% discount, but my wife does not want to use the Red Card to buy these unless absolutely necessary.

Does anyone know if Getawaytoday, Parksavers, or Way.com charges fees? Sometimes they don't display the fees until you check out and you must establish an account prior to checkout. Tickets at Work did a good job of hiding the extra fees, making it look like a great deal until you went to check out.

Some of these discounts are minimal and hardly worth the extra effort if you ask me. TIA.

 

[SMD]

If you go through the guest check out at way.com they don't add any fees up to the point where you enter your credit card.

 

[whitneyebz]

I've used way.com. No fees that I recall! It worked great and saved us at least $100 last time!

 

[tzeitel]

If you buy discounted Target gift cards (Raise, Cardpool, GiftcardZen) then use those to buy Disney cards online at Target you can get them even cheaper. I can usually find Target cards for 7-8% off (sometimes more) then I go to Target online and have my RedCard as the default payment. Before confirming the purchase I click on the "pay with a gift card" button. It still gives me the 5% RedCard discount but I pay with the discounted cards.

 

[GenGen22]

I just purchased my Go LA cards from Way.com & there were no fees. I have paid for hotel & packages deals from Getawaytday.com before but I always purchase the piece of mind insurance plan which is optional. I tried to purchase tickets right now to see if there was a fee & it shows a $15 fed ex shipping charge that doesn't give you an option to remove. The tickets I bought from way.com were etickets so no shipping charges. I plan to buy my Disney tickets from way.com in a few weeks.

 

[jeffg4]

Thanks for the feedback. So I understand that if I purchase from way.com I will get an email where I can print vouchers that I can take right to the gate. However, will I have any delays at the gate? I believe they'll need to exchange the vouchers for tickets and I want to be one of the first in the park at RD.

 

[lalasmama]

Thanks for the feedback. So I understand that if I purchase from way.com I will get an email where I can print vouchers that I can take right to the gate. However, will I have any delays at the gate? I believe they'll need to exchange the vouchers for tickets and I want to be one of the first in the park at RD.

I haven't done way.com. That being said, if it's a *voucher*, you go to the ticket window to exchange it. If it's an *eticket* (with a bar code, and says, "THIS IS YOUR TICKET"), you take it to the gate. It takes them less than 60 seconds to print the paper ticket, right there at the gate.

 

[GenGen22]

Thanks for the feedback. So I understand that if I purchase from way.com I will get an email where I can print vouchers that I can take right to the gate. However, will I have any delays at the gate? I believe they'll need to exchange the vouchers for tickets and I want to be one of the first in the park at RD.

I would call way.com & ask what you are to do if they don't include instructions. My LA Go cards came with instructions on how to redeem. I did have to call to get them emailed to me as I didn't get them in my email. They sent them right over after the call. No hassle at all. I did receive a confirmation that I paid just not the tickets.

 

[RainyDayPixie]

The way.com tickets are not vouchers. You just print at home and take straight to the turnstile.

No fees.

They are by far the best deal and a snap to use!

(And they are totally legit.)

 

[watel]

I've been researching, too, for a mid-August trip, and I looked at all of those sites. However, through my wife's company I discovered Last Minute Travel's membership site: www.lmtclub.com (We got a free membership which is normally $50...I understand, though, that it should be easy to get a promo code for free membership.)

Well, I plugged in your parameters (2-day 1 Park per day tickets for 4 adults) on lmtclub.com:

$170.59 each = $682.36 (7.8%!!!)

I don't personally know anything about the site outside of some exhaustive online research...and useful tidbits of info from the fine folks on these boards. When I would check out all the way through billing there were no extra fees attached. However, I have not purchased mine yet. For my family, I would save $70 with this deal, but as I stated earlier I don't know much about lmtclub. Maybe some wiser DL veterans can advise us.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Do you have an Amex? Check your offers. Right now there is a $30 cashback on $100 purchase at Target and Walmart that may be used 5 times.

Buy $500 in Disney gift cards in $100 transactions. Get $150 back. (It took 2 days for the cashback to show up for me.)

Pay $590 for $740 value = save 20% (plus 1% usual cashback = 21%).

If you have a grocery store that sells Disney gift cards, you can buy the remaining $240 there for 6% off ($14.40) with Amex Blue Cash Preferred.
Pay $568.20 for $740 value = save 23%.

And if you have fuel perks at the grocery store that sells Disney gift cards, say, at Kroger, where they are offering 4x points right now, you can save another $17-$35 (depending on the size of your gas tank.)
Pay $551.20 for $740 value = save at least 26%.

Amex = 21%
Amex + Grocery store = 23%
Amex + Grocery store + fuel points = >26%

 

[soma151]

I wish i could understand all this? I guess we don't have Amex i have never heard of that? We do have a Kroger owned store called Fred Meyers? I think we have walmart but i have never been to one, so i go in and buy Disney gift cards? And then what? I know we have gas points? I think?

 

[GenGen22]

I wish i could understand all this? I guess we don't have Amex i have never heard of that? We do have a Kroger owned store called Fred Meyers? I think we have walmart but i have never been to one, so i go in and buy Disney gift cards? And then what? I know we have gas points? I think?

Amex stands for American Express Card. It's a credit card not a store ☺

 

[soma151]

Thanks i don't tweet so all this short hand goes over my head….lol…I think i see how this works, i go to Target use my Amex to buy Disney gift cards and use my Disney gift cards at Disney. You guys are all so smart, i don't even clip coupons and never use those gas points. My wife always tells me too but i forget. Heading to Feddies today will check it out.

 

[jeffg4]

Do you have an Amex? Check your offers. Right now there is a $30 cashback on $100 purchase at Target and Walmart that may be used 5 times.

Buy $500 in Disney gift cards in $100 transactions. Get $150 back. (It took 2 days for the cashback to show up for me.)

Pay $590 for $740 value = save 20% (plus 1% usual cashback = 21%).

If you have a grocery store that sells Disney gift cards, you can buy the remaining $240 there for 6% off ($14.40) with Amex Blue Cash Preferred.
Pay $568.20 for $740 value = save 23%.

And if you have fuel perks at the grocery store that sells Disney gift cards, say, at Kroger, where they are offering 4x points right now, you can save another $17-$35 (depending on the size of your gas tank.)
Pay $551.20 for $740 value = save at least 26%.

Amex = 21%
Amex + Grocery store = 23%
Amex + Grocery store + fuel points = >26%

I did some checking on this and it is a targeted offer, meaning it is not available to every cardholder or on every card. It applies to in-store purchases only and some comments have stated it does not apply for the purchase of gift cards. Do Target and Walmart even sell Disney gift cards in-store?

 

[soma151]

Ok i just got back from Kroger and got $500 Disney gift cards with my Amex, now what do i do>? Use those cards to pay for my park tickets?

 

[brenda1966]

Historically I always bought from Ares Travel, through the MouseSavers newsletter link. Looks like their pricing is on par with Way.com, but Ares does have a $2 per ticket fee. Maybe I'll try Way -- it would be nice to skip the ticket booth all together!

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Ok i just got back from Kroger and got $500 Disney gift cards with my Amex, now what do i do>? Use those cards to pay for my park tickets?

Use Disney gift cards to pay for tickets, food, merchandise -- you can use them nearly everywhere in both Parks.

I did some checking on this and it is a targeted offer, meaning it is not available to every cardholder or on every card. It applies to in-store purchases only and some comments have stated it does not apply for the purchase of gift cards. Do Target and Walmart even sell Disney gift cards in-store?

Correct; check your offers on all Amex cards. The offer does not state not valid on gift cards, but Disney gift cards are "entertainment cards" so it wouldn't matter anyway. I got my credits 2 days after purchase. Target sells Disney gcs; Walmart sells Sam's Club gcs, and Sam's sells Disney gcs at a slight discount.

 

[jeffg4]

OK - After reading the following warning from Touring Plans,

Where Not to Buy Disneyland Tickets
In addition to the many authorized sellers of Disney admissions, a number of bricks-and-mortar sellers exist. They buy unused days on legitimately purchased passes, then resell them as if they were newly issued.

These resellers are easy to identify: They insist that you specify exactly which dates you plan to use the ticket. They know, of course, how many days are left on the pass and when it expires. If you tell them you plan to use it tomorrow and the next two days, they'll sell you a ticket that has three days remaining and expires in three days.

Naturally, because they don't tell you this, you assume the usual 14-day expiration period from the date of first use. In the case of your tickets, however, the original purchaser triggered the 14-day expiration period. If you decide to skip a day instead of using the pass on the next three consecutive days, you'll discover to your chagrin that it has expired.

I did my due diligence with way.com. Way.com requires you to enter a "reservation date" for your tickets. Disney does not. I started an on-line chat at way.com by asking if the Disneyland tickets were brand new or partially used. They replied and stated they were brand new. I then asked why I needed to specify a reservation date for a new ticket. I received a reply stating that "you need to specify when you plan to use the tickets." When I replied that I understood that I need to specify when I plan to use the tickets, I repeated the question: "Why do I need to specify when I plan on using a brand new ticket?" After that I received no reply after multiple attempts at a response. Needless to say, I now have my doubts about Way.com. If I specify a reservation date for a 2-day ticket and decide to use the ticket at a later time, the ticket may be invalid if they're selling partially used tickets.

Wondering if anyone else has purchased from way.com with a similar experience.

 

[MinMou]

If you don't want to use your Red Card at Target, but are interested in getting DIsney gift cards, Raise.com is offering some right now at 6% off ($200 for $188). That won't last long, but you can keep checking back. I have not had much luck with Cardpool or giftcardzen, but you can check there too.