Upgrading to Annual Pass question

[deva]

Hello Everyone,

I can purchase 4-day passes at my local AAA office at a significant discount compared to purchasing them through Universal. I know that at WDW it is possible to buy tickets at a discount through 3rd-party providers and maintain the savings when upgrading to an Annual Pass. Is this the case at Universal? If I buy a 4-day pass at AAA, how much will I have to pay at Universal to upgrade it? Will I maintain the savings?

 

[Metro West]

Hello Everyone,

I can purchase 4-day passes at my local AAA office at a significant discount compared to purchasing them through Universal. I know that at WDW it is possible to buy tickets at a discount through 3rd-party providers and maintain the savings when upgrading to an Annual Pass. Is this the case at Universal? If I buy a 4-day pass at AAA, how much will I have to pay at Universal to upgrade it? Will I maintain the savings?

You should be given full credit for what you paid and then just pay the difference. Guest Services can upgrade the tickets for you. APs are already discounted so you won't receive any additional discount on the annual passes.

 

[aubriee]

At WDW you can buy tickets cheaper somewhere else, use them once to bridge them, then upgrade them to an AP and they will apply the current gate price to those tickets you bought elsewhere. Universal does not do that. They apply the price you originally paid toward the AP, not the current gate price.

For example I bought some of those 7 day two park tickets they offered several years ago for $99.00. When I took one down there, I used it that first day, then decided I wanted an AP. When I applied it toward the AP, all they applied toward the AP was the $99.00 I paid, not the well over $100.00 gate price that a 7 day two park ticket would cost. The gate price for a four day two park ticket is currently $159.99, but if I took my unused $99.00 7 day ticket down there and traded it in for an AP, all they would give me for it is the $99.00 I originally paid. Whatever you paid for your four day ticket is the amount they will apply toward an AP, not the current gate price of that ticket. It's in their system how much people paid for the different tickets and that amount is all they apply when you upgrade to another ticket.

 

[deva]

At WDW you can buy tickets cheaper somewhere else, use them once to bridge them, then upgrade them to an AP and they will apply the current gate price to those tickets you bought elsewhere. Universal does not do that. They apply the price you originally paid toward the AP, not the current gate price.

For example I bought some of those 7 day two park tickets they offered several years ago for $99.00. When I took one down there, I used it that first day, then decided I wanted an AP. When I applied it toward the AP, all they applied toward the AP was the $99.00 I paid, not the well over $100.00 gate price that a 7 day two park ticket would cost. The gate price for a four day two park ticket is currently $159.99, but if I took my unused $99.00 7 day ticket down there and traded it in for an AP, all they would give me for it is the $99.00 I originally paid. Whatever you paid for your four day ticket is the amount they will apply toward an AP, not the current gate price of that ticket. It's in their system how much people paid for the different tickets and that amount is all they apply when you upgrade to another ticket.

Thank you, this answered my question. I'll just buy the AP directly from Universal.