Premier Passport - Does it make sense? Can I lock in the price?

[AlexHockey]

At $2,099 plus tax, the Premier Passport is pretty pricey. I don’t know when the next price increase will be, but I know it could happen as early as this month. Is there any way to lock in a discount, like there is for the other forms of APs?

I’m really lucky because starting in May, my work will require me to go to Orlando for at least four months to work on a project, plus a couple of follow up visits through the rest of 2020. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with all my spare time, but I have a hunch I’m going to be spending a lot of it in the most magical place. Plus, I already have a family WDW vacation planned for April 2021... so this couldn’t have worked out any better!

Also, I live in Orange County California, and most of my friends are getting the Disneyland Flex Pass this year. I did the math and I think the Premier Passport makes the most sense financially, especially after you account for free parking, free DL Max Pass, more flexibility to visit DL, bigger discounts on both coasts, and that sweet, sweet gold card I get to hold in my hands.

I don’t think you can buy this pass in advance and wait to activate it. Normally I would buy a ticket from UT or one of those discount sites and then upgrade it in a way to keep the discount. Is there any trick I haven’t thought of for the Premier Pass? It’s already SO expensive and it will be sad if this year’s price increase pushes it up a lot like it did in the last few years. Thanks

 

[Robo]

At $2,099 plus tax, the Premier Passport is pretty pricey. I don’t know when the next price increase will be, but
1. I know it could happen as early as this month.
2. Is there any way to lock in a discount, like there is for the other forms of APs?
3. I don’t think you can buy this pass in advance and wait to activate it. Normally I would buy a ticket from UT or one of those discount sites and then upgrade it in a way to keep the discount. Is there any trick I haven’t thought of for the Premier Pass? It’s already SO expensive and it will be sad if this year’s price increase pushes it up a lot like it did in the last few years. Thanks

1. To be clear, it "could" happen as early as tomorrow.
(I doubt that, of course. I'm just saying that "past performance" does not indicate future performance.)
2. There is, if they will allow you to buy it as an "AP certificate" and activate it in the future.
3. If not... hope for no price increase before you're ready to buy.
Disney is completely unpredictable in their all-too-often price increases.

 

[starry_solo]

So, at least at DLR, you cannot purchase a Premier AP certificate. You can only purchase the pass, in person, at a ticket booth.

You should purchase it at least 45 days before you plan to go to WDW (if you don't first purchase a signature and then upgrade to a premier). You can do the monthly payments for the signature or signature plus and then pay the full upgrade fee to premier (but leave the monthly payments for the signature plus portion of it active). The reason I say purchase it at least 45 days in advance is because you need to then contact WDW IT to have them activate it in their system (something about WDW and DLR's ticketing systems being completely different) in order to make FPs at 30 days (unless you're staying on property, in which case you'll want to purchase it 75 days before the first trip).

 

[AngiTN]

So, at least at DLR, you cannot purchase a Premier AP certificate. You can only purchase the pass, in person, at a ticket booth.

You should purchase it at least 45 days before you plan to go to WDW (if you don't first purchase a signature and then upgrade to a premier). You can do the monthly payments for the signature or signature plus and then pay the full upgrade fee to premier (but leave the monthly payments for the signature plus portion of it active). The reason I say purchase it at least 45 days in advance is because you need to then contact WDW IT to have them activate it in their system (something about WDW and DLR's ticketing systems being completely different) in order to make FPs at 30 days (unless you're staying on property, in which case you'll want to purchase it 75 days before the first trip).

Sounds like the bold is the best trick.
It won't save you from a price increase between now and May BUT it would at least make the cost feel less painful.

 

[AlexHockey]

Thank you! Assuming I can’t buy the Premier Pass in advance, I think that at least being on a payment plan is probably the best alternative. It’s too bad that the price has gone up so much. Just five years ago, you could get a Premier Passport for less than the price of one passport to either WDW or DL!

I really hope that they’re close to the limit of how much they can keep increasing these prices, but I’m sure people have been wishing that each year for a couple of decades now. It does seem to be close to limit, though... but that’s probably wishful thinking.

 

[starry_solo]

Thank you! Assuming I can’t buy the Premier Pass in advance, I think that at least being on a payment plan is probably the best alternative. It’s too bad that the price has gone up so much. Just five years ago, you could get a Premier Passport for less than the price of one passport to either WDW or DL!

I really hope that they’re close to the limit of how much they can keep increasing these prices, but I’m sure people have been wishing that each year for a couple of decades now. It does seem to be close to limit, though... but that’s probably wishful thinking.

i remember when I got my first Premier Passport in 2012. $775-ish, including tax. We used gift cards we had saved up for a year....

 

[CastAStone]

The Premier Passport was still $1099 just three short years ago today. A week later they raised it almost $400, another $100 12 months later, $370 11 months after that, and $150 5 months after that.

I think they studied who buys them and realized they mostly had the means to pay much more.

Iger’s response when asked directly about price increases on the earnings call this week, paired with his comments on the last call, make me optimistic that they’ll take a bit of a breather from massive price increases on APs. But who knows.

 

[AngiTN]

Yeah, I think they were undervalued for a while and then did those huge jumps. I would be surprised to see more huge jumps now. Though I'll never say never, LOL

 

[starry_solo]

The Premier Passport was still $1099 just three short years ago today. A week later they raised it almost $400, another $100 12 months later, $370 11 months after that, and $150 5 months after that.

I think they studied who buys them and realized they mostly had the means to pay much more.

Iger’s response when asked directly about price increases on the earnings call this week, paired with his comments on the last call, make me optimistic that they’ll take a bit of a breather from massive price increases on APs. But who knows.

I remember that too. If they sold premier AP certificates with long expiration dates, I would have bought a few....at least six. We do the DLR/WDW trips every few years.

Also, OP: if you do the payment plans as a California resident, you need to first purchase the signature plus. Then upgrade it to the premier.

 

[bryanb]

The Premier Passport was the most impressive value when I splurged on one. The cost was less than the price of one DL AP and a single trip to WDW. At $2,099, the breakeven is really hard to hit. Most of these passholders probably have to live in So Calif. or Florida, and then make trips to the other coast at least 3 times a year for multi-day stays. Even if the flights were cheap, I just don't get enough vacation time to do it without wiping out any other vacation option!

I wish they'd add some additional perks for this most premium of passes that would make the math easier.

 

[starry_solo]

The Premier Passport was the most impressive value when I splurged on one. The cost was less than the price of one DL AP and a single trip to WDW. At $2,099, the breakeven is really hard to hit. Most of these passholders probably have to live in So Calif. or Florida, and then make trips to the other coast at least 3 times a year for multi-day stays. Even if the flights were cheap, I just don't get enough vacation time to do it without wiping out any other vacation option!

I wish they'd add some additional perks for this most premium of passes that would make the math easier.

Well, maybe a 14-night stay at WDW and then live in So Cal. Or vice versa

 

[bumbershoot]

Just five years ago, you could get a Premier Passport for less than the price of one passport to either WDW or DL!

The cost was less than the price of one DL AP and a single trip to WDW.

I tried *hard* to get a premier to work for a few years, and never experienced the prices working out that way. So I’m confused.

 

[dina444444]

I’ve had the premier passport 3 of the last 4 years. For 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 the pass was $1579 plus tax. It went up to the cost it is now before I bought my current pass back in July. For me it’s made sense the years I’ve had it since I normally had a signature plus pass and I’ve done at least 3 trips to Florida during the pass year. On my current pass I’m on track to log somewhere between 35-40 days in WDW in addition to my weekly Disneyland visits when I’m home.
If you are able to I recommend doing the monthly payment route. You start making those payments when you purchase the pass but it’s not active till you actually use it the first time. You can then upgrade at any ticket window after that to the premier pass.

 

[bryanb]

I tried *hard* to get a premier to work for a few years, and never experienced the prices working out that way. So I’m confused.

It hasn’t worked as easily for a few years. In May 2012, a Disneyland Premium AP had gone up to a whopping $649.00. A Premier Passport was $849 plus tax. If you were going to Florida for a 4 day trip to WDW parks, it was cheaper just to add on the Premier and you’d more than break even that same trip. What a value!

In Feb 2015, the difference was $779 for the DL Premium and $1099 for the Premier. Felt so expensive! But if you were doing park hoppers on a longer WDW long trip, or two shorter trips, you easily broke even.

 

[CastAStone]

Iger’s response when asked directly about price increases on the earnings call this week, paired with his comments on the last call, make me optimistic that they’ll take a bit of a breather from massive price increases on APs. But who knows.

APs went up today at both parks. Still no word on the new Premier Passport pricing.

 

[starry_solo]

APs went up today at both parks. Still no word on the new Premier Passport pricing.

What?!

 

[dina444444]

APs went up today at both parks. Still no word on the new Premier Passport pricing.

It’s now $2199 plus tax

 

[AngiTN]

The Premier Passport was the most impressive value when I splurged on one. The cost was less than the price of one DL AP and a single trip to WDW. At $2,099, the breakeven is really hard to hit. Most of these passholders probably have to live in So Calif. or Florida, and then make trips to the other coast at least 3 times a year for multi-day stays. Even if the flights were cheap, I just don't get enough vacation time to do it without wiping out any other vacation option!

I wish they'd add some additional perks for this most premium of passes that would make the math easier.

I tried to make one work for us when DD and DGD moved to AZ. I figured, we'd go to CA some when we went to visit them. I simply couldn't ever come up with enough visits to DL to offset the cost of the Premier pass. I think it was well more than 3 since it wouldn't be multi day stays each time. We both get 4 weeks off for vacation but still wasn't enough time

 

[bryanb]

APs went up today at both parks. Still no word on the new Premier Passport pricing.

Dag nabit. I should've suspected that was happening when I tried to do some research for this thread, and the pages were under maintenance. I dismissed it as just ol' Disney IT pain.