What am I missing?

[Eureka]

Just booked a Universal/Disney trip for August. Need to buy four adult 2-day park to park tickets, so I looked at UO website to get prices. Looked at Undercover Tourist to compare. I would save a whopping $8 total on my order. Am I missing something? Is that the extent of the discount/benefit of buying from another vendor? If so, I would rather buy from the official website. I am new to Universal and have never used UT before, just curious about it. Thanks.

 

[Lynne G]

Make sure you are comparing final prices. UT prices include tax and free shipping. The price you see on USO website may not include tax nor free shipping.

Also, if you join mousesavers' mailing list, she sends a monthly newsletter, with an UT link, that will save you a few cents more on UT prices.

Sometimes, AAA also has good USO prices.

Have a great trip!

 

[Eureka]

Thanks for your response. I put tickets in the cart of each to see final prices and it's still $8. Maybe I should call my local AAA and ask them about prices, never thought of that. Thanks.

 

[damo]

There isn't much difference in the buy 2 days get one free offer between the uso website and undercover tourist but it adds up when you are buying more than 1 ticket.

Price for 4 adult tickets:

Undercover tourist: $579.60

Universalorlando.com: $604.96

 

[Metro West]

There isn't much difference in the buy 2 days get one free offer between the uso website and undercover tourist but it adds up when you are buying more than 1 ticket.

The OP is visiting in August so those tickets won't be valid. They are a little cheaper than the regular two day park to park though.

 

[damo]

The OP is visiting in August so those tickets won't be valid. They are a little cheaper than the regular two day park to park though.

oops, I'll recalculate:

undercovertourist: $596.36

UO website: $604.96

Not a big deal for sure. The higher day tickets get you a bigger difference.

If you can find the costco tickets, they'd be a better deal for you. They are $134 for 3 days and good until the end of 2013. That would be $536 and there is no tax.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is that the extent of the discount/benefit of buying from another vendor? If so, I would rather buy from the official website. I am new to Universal and have never used UT before, just curious about it.

With UCT you get the actual tickets in the mail.

Buying directly you get a voucher which is then exchanged.

We're now AP holders with plans to keep on renewing, but our first time we had tickets in hand (from maple leaf tickets that time) and it was just REALLY convenient. I mean, don't get me wrong, using the kiosk to get my own first AP (purchased online, entered my info to the kiosk, out popped my AP) was super-easy, but not quite as easy as having a ticket in hand to go directly to the gates.

 

[Nancy for Disney]

I read somewhere that they also come with a coupon book if you purchase from the official site. I don't know if this is true or not and was a little confused. Can somone verify this?

 

[damo]

I read somewhere that they also come with a coupon book if you purchase from the official site. I don't know if this is true or not and was a little confused. Can somone verify this?

The coupon book comes with a few things like buy one adult get one kid free. Get 10% off, etc. If you show your AAA card, you get 10% off anyways.

 

[Eureka]

The AAA website is showing the same prices as the UO website, so I am not sure where the discount is. Oh well. I belong to BJ's, not Costco, and my kids are Universal/Disney adults so the coupon book wouldn't help us.

So, a related question, kind of: there is no need to buy the tickets way ahead of time, is there? I mean, am I buying for certain days that will sell out or just a 2-day ticket? I would rather wait and save for them since we are not going for 6+ months than put on a credit card now.

 

[Metro West]

The AAA website is showing the same prices as the UO website, so I am not sure where the discount is. Oh well. So, a related question, kind of: there is no need to buy the tickets way ahead of time, is there? I mean, am I buying for certain days that will sell out or just a 2-day ticket? I would rather wait and save for them since we are not going for 6+ months than put on a credit card now.

The tickets won't sell out but the price could change between now and whenever you purchase.

 

[keishashadow]

The AAA website is showing the same prices as the UO website, so I am not sure where the discount is. Oh well. I belong to BJ's, not Costco, and my kids are Universal/Disney adults so the coupon book wouldn't help us.

So, a related question, kind of: there is no need to buy the tickets way ahead of time, is there? I mean, am I buying for certain days that will sell out or just a 2-day ticket? I would rather wait and save for them since we are not going for 6+ months than put on a credit card now.

ala WDW Universal raises ticket prices too. I bought a handful of AAA 7 day tix few years ago (pre HP) when they were less than $70, still kicking myself i didn't buy more.

 

[damo]

The AAA website is showing the same prices as the UO website, so I am not sure where the discount is. Oh well. I belong to BJ's, not Costco, and my kids are Universal/Disney adults so the coupon book wouldn't help us.

So, a related question, kind of: there is no need to buy the tickets way ahead of time, is there? I mean, am I buying for certain days that will sell out or just a 2-day ticket? I would rather wait and save for them since we are not going for 6+ months than put on a credit card now.

No need to get them early, however prices will rise at some point. They do every year. If you see the Costco tickets, though, I would grab them as they expire the end of this year. The Costco tickets would be your most cost efficient and they are actual tickets that you don't need to exchange at guest services.