Universal tickets purchased from uk

[nutta]

we are looking for 2 day 2 park tickets with transfers from disney for universal

we have found a site that sells them "dreams unlimited" however it doesnt say if u can purchase these tickets in the uk as the prices are all in dollars
does this matter and can i still purchase them before i go?

does anyone know of anywhere else these tickets can be purchased in the uk?

thanks we go in 9 days cant wait!!!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Dreams Unlimited are a DIS sponsor and they are a great company. There would be no problem with you booking tickets through them, the only downside being that you would have to pay in $$$. The give a will-call option where you can pick the tickets up from the park so no reason why being from the UK is a problem.

As far as I am aware, you will not find a UK ticket broker who will sell Universal tickets which also include transportation to the parks.

The Dreams Unlimited tickets are $152.99 per adult for a 2-day ticket with transport provided both days (it should be noted there are processing charges of $26.26 which will be added to this bringing the toal for 2 adults to $332.24 approx £215). Since a 2 day park-to-park ticket alone would set you back around $140 each, you are essentially paying an extra $50 for transport. This will be ideal if you don't have transport and would need to be forking out for a cab and if you know that you will definitely only want to visit the Universal parks on two days.

Another option would be a 14-day unlimited ticket from a UK broker at around £97 each, however you would have to pay transport costs on top. A taxi from WDW to Universal could set you back somewhere in the region of $20-30 each way.

 

[nutta]

thanks so much

i have spoke to the bank and they say the card payment is fine even tho the payment is in dollars

so excited

 

[wilma-bride]

thanks so much

i have spoke to the bank and they say the card payment is fine even tho the payment is in dollars

so excited

No problem.

Just realised that the above was your first post too so to the DIS. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

 

[wayneg]

Welcome to DIS

You will be able to pay in $'s no problem but beware the fees, some charge quite a lot to convert.
Which bank/card is it, I will have a look and try find the cost for you.

 

[nutta]

The bank is Barclays and its a visa debit card. they dint mention anything on the phone about charges, but any info is always good.

 

[wilma-bride]

According to Barclays website, you'll incur a 2.99% foreign exchange charge.

Information about fees for using your card abroad

If you use your debit card abroad, you'll incur a 2.99% foreign exchange charge. If you're getting cash over the counter at a bank (including Barclays), or using an ATM other than a Barclays ATM or those within the Global Alliance, you'll also be charged 2% of the transaction (minimum charge £1.50, maximum £4.50) and there may be other charges. See which banks are in our Global Alliance . The 2.99% foreign exchange charge is included in the exchange rate used by the card scheme to convert the currency amount into sterling on the day it processes the transaction.

Essentially, they will factor the 2.99% into the exchange rate they use when they convert the transaction to £££ This means you will get a fairly low rate of exchange (the approximate amount I gave above in £££ was based on an exchange rate of 1.55 whereas I think you'll be lucky to get anywhere near that from Barclays)

 

[wayneg]

The current exchange rate is $1.5554, Barclays will then knock off 2.99% so the rate you will get is $1.509.
Go back to Joh's calculation of 2 tickets = $332.24 that will actually cost you £220.17 on todays rate.

Many of us who goto the US get ourselves a credit card which charges no fees for foreign purchases. These would be Halifax Clarity, Santander Zero, Saga(over 50's) and the one I use Post Office. More info on MSE site http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money
Using any of these cards for this transaction would convert to £213.60, Your bank is effectively charging you £6.57 to pay for the tickets.

For a one off transaction not so bad, but if you intend to pay for more things in $'s it might be worth getting a credit card with zero fees. Personally I don't take cash on holiday anymore, I use my fee free card for absolutely everything, saves me £100's every year.

 

[nutta]

Thanks alot for the above info, if we decide to go for this we will probably use our card as we don't intend to spend anything else in dollars on the card, and it would seem a waste to set up a new card just for a single purchase. But thanks to all who helped in this thread

 

[kitcat1]

Sorry to deviate from the original thread! My question is for Wayne in regards to holiday money. Although we have an English Mint Gold credit card we cannot apply for any others as we live abroad!! (we already had the mint one before we came to France) You have talked about a post office card, is this one that you can load up beforehand and then pay no fee's on or is it like a credit card? We obviously want to avoid paying any fee's. When I transfer from France to England I use a company called currencies direct and then get interbank rates so would like to do the same for our holiday money, the more money in our pocket the more meals out!!

Thanks ever so,

Cath

 

[wayneg]

The PO card is a credit card, I don't think there is a prepay card which gets interbank rates, FairFX is the best details here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money#prepaid
They say no conversion fees but you don't get full interbank, they use their own rate.

 

[UKDEB]

Dreams Unlimited is part of the Werner Technologies Group (the company which owns and operates the DIS) and is both reliable and reputable, so you won't go far wrong with them. However, from a value-for-money point of view, I'd be inclined to buy a 14-Day 2-Park pass from someone like Attraction Tickets Direct. That way, if you find you'd like to re-visit, you've got that flexibility. You'll have to make your own way to Universal, but Mears Transportation (the official WDW partner) offers round-trip shuttle services for $16 per person, or taxi services at $33 each way (per cab regardless of number of passengers), both before tip.

Welcome to the boards. If we can help with anything else before you go, ask away. Otherwise, enjoy your trip!