Import duty/tax on tickets from US?

[tartangirl]

Another ticket question I'm afraid.

Looks like I'm going to be cheaper ordering my tickets from US but, being unlucky, I'm concerned that I'll be hit for import duty or tax or VAT or something else.

I've heard of people buying items from the states because they're cheaper then being hit by some kind of import fees which makes the goods way more expensive.

Does anyone know if this applies for tickets or has anyone been hit for import fees?

 

[Frances999]

Tickets are usually sent Paper mail and so do not go through customs process. We bought some tickets from Unviersal and they were shipped by UPS and arrived within a week - no custom's fees werte charged. When buying from TicketMania we haven't had charges either. Or, for that matter, from Disney! So I think your safe!

 

[patdavies]

UPS is not 'paper mail', it is a shipping company and well able to deal with duty and VAT.

Tickets are not subject to either import duty or VAT as they are merely promissory notes that you 'spend' abroad. The only value you are importing is the value of the paper the ticket isi printed on. This would not apply if the ticket was for a UK attraction as you are 'spending' (ie purchasing the service with your pre-printed promissory note) inside the UK

 

[Frances999]

Yes, I know UPS is a shipping company (!) what I was saying is that there is no customs as the items are sent as paper goods - i.e do not have physical value. Sorry if I wasn't clear, but there is no need to be so rude!

 

[StephenKay]

Hi there,

Nice to see another Dis'er from Edinburgh (the town I was brought up in)

I was checking Tickets for friends and came across the following links.

BASICALLY, you can get a 14 day unlimited for as little as £154 adult and £132 child.

http://www.tickets4fun.com

http://www.365tickets.com

http://www.orlando-ticket-deals.co.uk

Here are a few sites, I have used third one last year, very good service.

 

[Goofyish]

We got our Annual Pass vouchers via DHL and the customs declaration just said "business papers" with a $0 value - so no inport duty or VAT was payable

 

[tartangirl]

Thanks for the replies - looks like I'm OK.

Hi Stephen, thanks for the links. I had originally intended going for the 14 day ticket but we're there 21 days and we'll also be getting the 4 park flexi-ticket so once I started writing down a rough plan I thought the 7 day ticket was more than enough (and £10 cheaper) - being a fellow Scot you'll understand that saving £10 is important

My latest thinking is to go for the 10 day base ticket (which I can only find on Ticketmania) as with 10 days access we wont need to park hop and we rarely go to the water parks so $35 each is an expensive couple of hours when we can just do wet'n'wild as part of the flexi-ticket. Hopefully I can get a decent exchange rate and get the 10 day ticket for about £110 now that I can rest easy about having to pay import duty..

 

[Looby Loo]

Not too sure whether this will help you or not but having recently seen the advert on TV for See America - I had a quick look around and came across the site below who say that they will beat any UK price on tickets and they get an excellent write up :jumping4:

http://www.seeamerica.org.uk/memberlink.jsp?gotoPage=www.attractionticketsdirect.com/

 

[tartangirl]

Hi Looby Loo,

Thanks for the reply - I think I recognise that web-site as one that is recommended by others in this forum, unfortunately they only sell the tickets available to the UK market so I cant get the Disney tickets I want but they have a good price for the flexi-ticket.

ps. Have you seen the price of Gatorland tickets on Ticketmania! Think we'll be paying a visit there this year.

 

[Flo_and_co]

hmmm - gutted now! I prebooked my 5 park flex ticket thingummy through Virgin along with my holiday - after the woman on the phone assured me they were at a cut down not to be beaten discount price. The fibber - that SeeAmerica site is selling them nearly £100 cheaper! (for the 5 of us combined)

I'm going to call Virgin's help desk as soon as they open at 10am and cancel the tickets (I think they've already charged me £5 per ticket deposit on them but worth losing £25 to save a further £75 I think)

That'll teach me to trust a saleswoman!!

On the subject of tickets - we are only going to be spending 3 days in Disney this year - I see the three ay ticket doesn't really offer much in the way of a financial saving over 3 single day entries. any other advntage to buying tickets in advance in October? In other words - are the queues at the gates likely to be long enough that it's worth having an advance ticket to avoid them?

Also is anyone actually selling 3 day tickets in advance in/to the UK? All the usual suspects seems to start at 5 days anyway.

Or would it be worth buying a longer ticket with the bolt on for no expiry do you think? Given that it's guranateed we'll be going back in 2 or 3 years time.

Decisions decisions...!

 

[tartangirl]

Hi Flo,

Before cancelling your tickets with Virgin I'd ask if they are prepared to match www.orlando-ticket-deals.co.uk which seem to be the cheapest. I remember reading somewhere that Virgin sometimes price-matched.

You'll not get a 3 day ticket in the UK and I dont think you'll get a non-expiry ticket either. We seem to have a very limited choice over here. You can get tickets at the gate and so long as you're early the queues aren't too bad.

Alternatively you could try the US sites (Ticketmania is where I'll be getting mine but there are others that people recommend). Disney seems to have priced the tickets to favour the people who buy more days. As you'll see from Ticketmania, the 3 day ticket is $181 and for $254 you can get the 7 day ticket with no expiry - a fair saving. You'll save even more if you're planning in adding park hopping or/and the water parks as by buying the 7 day you'll only pay the addition on one set of tickets.

I hope Virgin didn't talk you into taking the car with insurance.

If so checkout www.uscarhire.co.uk or www.airline-network.co.uk

 

[Flo_and_co]

hi Tartangirl - I rang Virgin before I saw your message, and they did, to my surprise, price match the SeeAmerica site, without me even asking them to

that saved me £94!

(the site you quoted was cheaper again, but only by about £1 per person so no great problem there)

 

[Cochise]

hi Tartangirl - I rang Virgin before I saw your message, and they did, to my surprise, price match the SeeAmerica site, without me even asking them to

that saved me £94!

(the site you quoted was cheaper again, but only by about £1 per person so no great problem there)

Fantastic!
Thy doesnt get nowt if thy doesnt ask.