Premier vs. Preferred??

[Rip]

I've been a "preferred" passholder since before it was even called that, but my wife's has been off and on depending if she were going that particular year (she wasn't able to go to HHN with me during her preganacies, etc.). At any rate, I'm going to get an annual pass for her next week when we are down, and I'm wondering what the difference is between the two to justify the $60 difference in price? We'll get one ticket to HHN on Thursday out of it, which we were otherwise going to buy, but even then is it worth essentially $30 more for a non-local?

thanks

 

[lachica]

I don't know if its worth it or not for a non-local unless you want to take advantage of the $50.00/night suite upgrade per night, and the other hotel perks. Thats the only one I haven't taken advantage of maybe when I have family over since I live 35 mins from the parks.

Then you have:
free city walk party pass, and free party pass for guest sun-thurs.
free valet or preferred parking / instead of the reg lot
5% more discount on food and 10% more on uni owned merch
more breaks depending on the restaurant
and free express after 4pm

In my household i'm the only one with premier, hubby has preferred.

 

[Rip]

I don't know if its worth it or not for a non-local unless you want to take advantage of the $50.00/night suite upgrade per night, and the other hotel perks. Thats the only one I haven't taken advantage of maybe when I have family over since I live 35 mins from the parks.

Then you have:
free city walk party pass, and free party pass for guest sun-thurs.
free valet or preferred parking / instead of the reg lot
5% more discount on food and 10% more on uni owned merch
more breaks depending on the restaurant
and free express after 4pm

In my household i'm the only one with premier, hubby has preferred.

Thanks, I didn't realize there was a better discount on food and merch. That would probably make it worth it since we'll likely be down for at least 3 and maybe 4 trips.

 

[Rip]

BTW, is the $50 upgrade available at all 3 hotels? I didn't see anything about that on the list of bennies.

thanks again

 

[Rip]

Just got off the phone with UO guest services and they no longer offer either the free club level upgrade or the $50 suite upgrade on any of their passes.

 

[lachica]

they no longer offer either the free club level upgrade or the $50 suite upgrade on any of their passes.

And they also change the free kennel to 50% off... I'm comparing my booklet to what's online.

 

[inkkognito]

We're locals and LOVE the Premier mainly for the discounts, Express after 4 p.m., free valet parking, and free HHN tickets. I've never really understood the free water benefit, although we do use it.

 

[chataro]

I just upgrade the entire family to the premier passes and I really can't see NOT doing it. Even if you are only going to be down here 3-4 times there are so many perks that make up for the difference. As you pointed out yourself, it's down to a $30 difference due to the fact that you get the HHN ticket included. Well for that $30 dollars you are getting:

8 bottles of water which equals $22 in free water. It might like a weird perk, but we at least have two bottles of water each visit and money saved is money saved.

Free Valet Parking. This is wonderful and saves so much walking and time and it also gives you that wonderful, "I'm special" feeling even though you are getting it for free.

Bigger discounts on everything in the park and Citywalk which can add up real quick. I think Pat O Brians gave us 25% off our meal the first day we used the pass and that was like $7 off the bill.

And the biggest is the express pass after 4 every day. It really is nice to know that you don't have to bust your hump all day long to get to all the rides you want to. You don't have to get there right at opening and hurry hurry hurry all day, you can do things at your own pace because you know you have a trump card starting at 4. You can really get some things done in a few short hours with that perk.

I upgraded from my preferred pass because I just couldn't see any reason not to. HHN ticket $30, Water $22, food discounts $???, it broke even real quick but I also now have express after 4 every day. Best value for the money if you ask me.

There's my 2 cents.

 

[MrBryan]

the only thing is there isn't a great renewal rate.

The preferred folks get to renew for basically half price

 

[Rip]

I just upgrade the entire family to the premier passes and I really can't see NOT doing it. Even if you are only going to be down here 3-4 times there are so many perks that make up for the difference. As you pointed out yourself, it's down to a $30 difference due to the fact that you get the HHN ticket included. Well for that $30 dollars you are getting:

8 bottles of water which equals $22 in free water. It might like a weird perk, but we at least have two bottles of water each visit and money saved is money saved.

Free Valet Parking. This is wonderful and saves so much walking and time and it also gives you that wonderful, "I'm special" feeling even though you are getting it for free.

Bigger discounts on everything in the park and Citywalk which can add up real quick. I think Pat O Brians gave us 25% off our meal the first day we used the pass and that was like $7 off the bill.

And the biggest is the express pass after 4 every day. It really is nice to know that you don't have to bust your hump all day long to get to all the rides you want to. You don't have to get there right at opening and hurry hurry hurry all day, you can do things at your own pace because you know you have a trump card starting at 4. You can really get some things done in a few short hours with that perk.

I upgraded from my preferred pass because I just couldn't see any reason not to. HHN ticket $30, Water $22, food discounts $???, it broke even real quick but I also now have express after 4 every day. Best value for the money if you ask me.

There's my 2 cents.

I guess I should have added that we always stay onsite, so the valet parking and express passes don't really matter much. I do agree that the additional percentage off of food will be worth buying one for my wife, though I will probably just preferred passes for the kids.

 

[Metro West]

the only thing is there isn't a great renewal rate.

The preferred folks get to renew for basically half price

That's the main reason I haven't upgraded. It's getting too expensive to have AP's from Universal and Disney expiring around the same time to keep doing it. Plus..the free Express after 4pm is only for the passholder...not the whole group so if you go with a friend who doesn't have it, they are out of luck.

 

[Purseval]

We've looked at the numbers and can't justify Premiere passes. Locals get the most benefit because they can pop in on a moment's notice and use the EP. Plus you have to upgrade everyone to get the benefits. 1 PAP will get you the discounts and the free parking no matter how many in your group but 1 person with a Premiere Pass can't bring his family through the express line. Plus there are water fountains throughout the parks, I don't need free water it's already free and I don't have to lug a bottle around..

 

[Rip]

We've looked at the numbers and can't justify Premiere passes. Locals get the most benefit because they can pop in on a moment's notice and use the EP. Plus you have to upgrade everyone to get the benefits. 1 PAP will get you the discounts and the free parking no matter how many in your group but 1 person with a Premiere Pass can't bring his family through the express line. Plus there are water fountains throughout the parks, I don't need free water it's already free and I don't have to lug a bottle around..

The only time I drink water is when it's mixed with yeast, barley, hops, and fermented for a bit anyway.

 

[syenisch]

I am currently a Preferred Pass holder, but I am local and go to the parks often with my girlfriend. I am thinking when it comes time to renew, I will bump us up to Premeir Passes so we can go after work and use the unlimited Express Passes. She only has the Power Pass. How much will it cost each of us to upgrade to Premeir when it comes time to renew?

 

[Metro West]

How much will it cost each of us to upgrade to Premeir when it comes time to renew?

Whatever the difference between the Power Pass renewal and the Premier Pass would be. The AP hotline should be able to tell you.

 

[inkkognito]

Plus there are water fountains throughout the parks, I don't need free water it's already free and I don't have to lug a bottle around..

That is the one Premier benefit I never understood. I have a very small bottle that I keep with me all the time and refill at the fountains as needed. We tend to use the Premier water coupons on the way out after a few hot hours of riding...at that point, the icy cold water tastes good as we're heading to the car. Personally I'd rather have a few free game coupons though.

 

[syenisch]

I called the annual pass hotline this morning. The girl quoted me $201 to upgrade from Preferred to Premeir and $259 (I think) to upgrade from Power to Premeir. About what I expected since Preferred is ~$110 to renew, and the Premeir Pass is about $90 more tp start off with.

 

[mvansear]

Is there a thread that goes through all of the annual pass FAQ. I am new to the whole annual pass thing. I live in Kansas City and while checking out tic prices we noted that AP was only 50 buks more than 7day so we thinking about upgrading. We are coming in January and staying 7 nights, so we need 8 days anyway or have one day without parks and for 50 more bucks we get 8 days and we can come back in october. Anyway I have lots of questions now and havent found the official AP thread yet.

 

[Rip]

Is there a thread that goes through all of the annual pass FAQ. I am new to the whole annual pass thing. I live in Kansas City and while checking out tic prices we noted that AP was only 50 buks more than 7day so we thinking about upgrading. We are coming in January and staying 7 nights, so we need 8 days anyway or have one day without parks and for 50 more bucks we get 8 days and we can come back in october. Anyway I have lots of questions now and havent found the official AP thread yet.

Not sure where you're getting those prices. Currently, a 7-day pass is basically $100, but the lower-level "preferred" AP is something like $230. The "premier" is around $290.

You may be thinking about the power pass, though I'm not sure what they call it now or what the price is. The biggest differences are blackout dates and no parking, merchandise, dining discounts for it compared with the other APs.

 

[Metro West]

Is there a thread that goes through all of the annual pass FAQ. I am new to the whole annual pass thing. I live in Kansas City and while checking out tic prices we noted that AP was only 50 buks more than 7day so we thinking about upgrading. We are coming in January and staying 7 nights, so we need 8 days anyway or have one day without parks and for 50 more bucks we get 8 days and we can come back in october. Anyway I have lots of questions now and havent found the official AP thread yet.

As Rip stated...you must have seen the Power Pass which would suit you fine except for the lack of discounts or parking. If you're staying offsite and have to either rent a car or take a cab everyday the parking fee will add up.

There are plenty of us on here who can answer just about any AP question you have so fire away!