Have Mercy on Stupid Ticket Questions

[erinch]

hello good and gentlepeople!
I don't know why I find Universal tickets so confusing. But I do!
We will be at Universal June 18-21.
Me, my hubby, my newlywed daughter and her hubby.
We are at HRH, with that reservation secured.
Now I need to get the tickets. Usually I get one AP for discounts. At the moment no hotel AP discount, but we can hope. But it certainly pays for itself in discounts.
Usually what I do get the AP for my hubby, who doesn't do Volcano Bay. Meredith and Ricky (the newlyweds) will probably go a couple of times. or maybe not. But need to plan for it. I will go exactly once, to brave the rapids nonlazy river for a couple of hours.

What I cannot figure out is whether it is cheaper to get my hubby a 4 day park to park through UT and upgrade it, or just get the preferred annual pass for 2 parks at the get-go?
It looks to me like UT is a savings of hundreds over the universal ticket site. I haven't checked AAA or costco.

Any and all good advice or experience appreciated!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

There's no real downside to getting the UT tickets and then upgrading - assuming they don't raise the price of AP in the meantime. But otherwise, you aren't out anything other than a few minutes at guest services or the hotel ticket desk to do the upgrade. Sometimes they're funny about doing any kind of refund back if the AP is cheaper than the tickets, so I'd get whatever tickets through UT that are under the price of the AP & are the most discounted, but also not Universal promo tickets (while you can still upgrade if they are Universal promos, those don't have nearly as good of a margin on them because Universal credits them at their own promo price).

You will obviously want to do the upgrade on the first day, so you can be using the AP discounts for your whole trip.

 

[erinch]

thank you! do they take the UT price or their price for the original 4 day p2p ticket?

 

[greeneyedchick]

I would keep checking the AP hotel prices. I kept treating it like i was trying to get a fast pass. After a few days I lucked out. What I did was look for 1 night at a time and then booked those nights as they came along. Once I managed to score 3 separate reservations, I called and asked if they could be combined. When I got to the hotel, they were able to upgrade my room to the highest one I reserved for the whole stay but kept the other AP discount prices. Good luck!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

They take their official Universal price for whatever ticket you have. They don't know how much you paid, only what ticket you have.

That's why, if it's a Universal promo (ie, buy 3 days get 2 free), they credit you for their promo price (ie, for a 3 day ticket) because that's what they would have charged you for that ticket.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thank you all! This thread was helpful. We haven't been to USO in years and feeling rusty.
I was just about to ask if a 4-day p2p from UT could be upgraded for an AP. I'm buying the tickets (and trip) for my niece for the many things she does for our family, but it's only a little more to update to an AP. Can that be done at the hotels as well? or does it have to be done at GS within the parks?
TIA!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

it's only a little more to update to an AP. Can that be done at the hotels as well?

Yes, it's very convenient!

 

[keishashadow]

Yes, it's very convenient!

compared to lines at GS, much quicker!