Premier Pass Benefit Cuts and Revenge

[inkkognito]

I'm waiting to see what benefits they will cut from Premier passes next. Last year they would not allow upgrade of the free HHN passes to Frequent Fear as they always had in the past. This year I've heard sporadic reports of both no and yes (mostly no), and we ourselves were told no because we bought FF Plus with Express.

Then they cut the Express benefit down from unlimited to one time ride.

Then they stopped letting us use it for HHN valet. Yes, I know the fine print always said "not good for special events," but for years now they allowed it if you got to the park before HHN (how do they know you're not at the park and then leave before HHN and eat at CityWalk?).

We're seriously considering not renewing ours because those were the three most beneficial benefits for us. I mean seriously, who needs 8 free bottles of water? Be warned if you're considering Premier

Meanwhile, I found a way to exact my own personal revenge. I use to always give a random person my valet while hubby used his Premier pass for ours anyway. Now, on our way into HHN, I go down to valet and use mine for whoever happens to be down there at the moment. Universal will give me free valet on HHN days one way or another!

 

[ducky_love]

Wow- it just shows that I haven't been a passholder there in a long time!

We've had Disney passes for the last 5 years and we kept seeing things close and benefits taken away while prices go up. We finally decided we might not renew. When I looked at the list of benefits from Universal the choice was made. I was blown away by everything they offer their Premier Passholders! Disney can't touch the benefits.

That said - I don't care a thing about HHN. Only thing I cared was that I could give my free ticket away.

I hope that in a few years we aren't sick of Universal stripping away our benefits one at a time while raising prices...

 

[Metro West]

I'm waiting to see what benefits they will cut from Premier passes next. Last year they would not allow upgrade of the free HHN passes to Frequent Fear as they always had in the past. This year I've heard sporadic reports of both no and yes (mostly no), and we ourselves were told no because we bought FF Plus with Express.

Then they cut the Express benefit down from unlimited to one time ride.

Then they stopped letting us use it for HHN. Yes, I know the fine print always said "not good for special events," but for years now they allowed it if you got to the park before HHN (how do they know you're not at the park and then leave before HHN and eat at CityWalk?).

We're seriously considering not renewing ours because those were the three most beneficial benefits for us. I mean seriously, who needs 8 free bottles of water? Be warned if you're considering Premier

Meanwhile, I found a way to exact my own personal revenge. I use to always give a random person my valet while hubby used his Premier pass for ours anyway. Now, on our way into HHN, I go down to valet and use mine for whoever happens to be down there at the moment. Universal will give me free valet on HHN days one way or another!

Barb...I'm shocked to hear you say these things! You were one of the most vocal supporters of the Premier Pass when they first came out. I wouldn't upgrade because the added perks aren't that important to me but you...you were so excited whenever someone asked a question on the board. I'm glad I didn't upgrade...I would be disappointed if I'd spent them money and had benefits cut back.

Are you going to downgrade to the Preferred next year and what do you mean when you say "they stopped letting you use it for HHN?"

 

[inkkognito]

Indeed I was a HUGE supporter. I was impressed that Uni's passes were so much better that WDW's in terms of benefits, but now that they're stripping the benefits away, it's not much better than Preferred.

What I mean by the not using it for HHN is that in all years past, you could come to the park early, stay for HHN, and get your free Valet when you picked up your car. I think there was always small print that it's not good for special events, and I have no idea if they always refused it to people who came late just for HHN. But we always do Stay and Scream and used free valet for years with no problem. Now, if you don't pick up your car after park closing, you get charged.

The after 4 thing especially ticks me off tho'...at least with HHN they can claim it was always in place technically speaking, but I bought my pass with the explicit agreement that I had unlimited express after 4. I'm not even sure what would motivate Uni to change that. I can't imagine that thousands of Premier holders flood the parks and express lines for the last hour or two anyway.

So to sum it up, they are pretty much removing everything that made the pass so valuable to locals.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I'm a sucker for the plastic card.

 

[inkkognito]

I'm a sucker for the plastic card.

It's not even a plastic card anymore. I lost mine and got a crummy paper replacement with the new express restrictions printed on it. Lucky DH still has his original, but I suspect they will be confiscating them at renewal time. Interestingly enough, they made me show my driver's license with my premier at the front gate for the first time ever recently. Just that one, out of the blue.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

It's not even a plastic card anymore. I lost mine and got a crummy paper replacement with the new express restrictions printed on it. Lucky DH still has his original, but I suspect they will be confiscating them at renewal time. Interestingly enough, they made me show my driver's license with my premier at the front gate for the first time ever recently. Just that one, out of the blue.

No plastic card, no sale for me..

 

[snchpnz]

That's partly why I didn't renew this year. After I saw that express after 4pm was downgraded to just once per ride I decided it wasn't worth it anymore. I think they believe their new Harry Potter land was enough to keep people coming back. I considered getting their pass again now for Halloween Horror Nights if they gave me the renewal rate (was feeling a bit nostalgic) but they said no so I just went over to Disney. It really isn't about the money, it's their lack of consideration to us loyal customers that bothers me. Oh well, they are the ones losing out anyway.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Then they cut the Express benefit down from unlimited to one time ride.

FWIW, I do not enforce this "restriction".

 

[knieriem]

We aren't renewing our passes when they expire on the 18th. I was bummed when they moved the unlimited after 4 express passes to just 1 time use per ride. That was the main reason we bought the passes!!!

I lost my pass a month ago and had to get a paper replacement. I hate it!

I am however keeping my disney passes. I now there isn't any really big perks but just wanting into the Magic Kingdom puts me into an instant good mood which is a big enough perk for me!!

 

[HelenParr]

I am bummed for you, but feel better I purchased Preferred. We're first time Universal passholders, but long time WDW annual passholders. Been to WDW over 40 times, but never once to Universal. Bought the 2/7 $99 tix online years ago, but never used them. When WWoHP came along, that lured us in. Old tix were good for credit to new tix and since we knew once we made the trip down I-4, we'd be interested in more than HP, so we decided on APs.

We do not live locally and will visit a half day here or there when at WDW. When we examined the choices, I couldn't figure out why Premiere made sense. And, sounds like it doesn't.

On a more general note: we're still getting used to navigating Universal (uhm, so far haven't been anywhere but the left side of IoA several times, LOL) but all the tips, stories and info here are really helpful! Thanks.

 

[WWEDUDE]

I totally agree about the express pass, however what really bugs me more than removing unlimited express pass is how they announced it. (by that I mean how they didn't announce it)

I decided to get on premier again, so I had to get the paper ticket. We got there, went to guest services, and got the passes. The man working at GS said "You will also have unlimited express pass after four pm". This was great, but on the back of the card it says "Limited one time per attraction". So I asked an employee working at ET, who was very nice when I asked what the deal was. She knew nothing about it, and thought it was unlimited. She tried to scan it twice, to find out and got an error. (I'm not sure if it was an error because we used it twice, because that week we were getting errors all day, even on the first time)

I then called Universal and they told me they recently changed it, and it was permanent. But nobody knew about it. (It seems like that is the common trend with premier pass, after a server at Louie's told me 50 times I was wrong, and that my pass was a preferred pass)

Here is hoping something changes quickly with premier pass, or I think quite a few people will be jumping ship.