Turning Universal 4 day 3 park dated package tickets to AP

[sissy1223]

As the title says, I am looking for info into turning our 4 day, 3 park Universal tickets into an AP. Its the 30% off package now being offered and we booked for Dockside. I have never been to Universal, only Disney, and we upgraded those tickets years ago. I am just wondering if the package is purchased thru Universal, am I allowed to upgrade them into a seasonal and is there anyway to tell how much credit we would get for the package tickets. Ticket prices are not broken down in my receipt . Also, should we use them a day before we upgrade if possible or wait till later. Thanks so much!

 

[snoopboop]

*Generally* speaking, tickets purchased as part of a package are indeed able to be upgraded. There are a few exceptions, however, including tickets purchased as part of UO’s Black Friday promotion last winter - the fine print on that package explained that those tickets had no cash value and could not be upgraded - not only could they not be upgraded to APs, but you couldn’t even, say, add another day on to them. They were what they were and that was it.

So… I’d recommend looking at the fine print of your vacation package to see if there’s any wording in there about the tickets not being “upgradeable.” That’s not a word, but you know what I mean!

If they can be upgraded, you can do that at any time before you leave the parks on your last day… but be aware that the expiration date will be the same no matter which date of the trip you do the upgrade on. So, for example, if you use the tickets on September 1 and upgrade on September 3 hoping that the expiration date of the AP will be September 3, that won’t work - the expiration will be a year after the first use of the ticket. Hope that makes sense!

 

[deakam]

So I am interested in doing this same thing---how does that work. More specifically, what is the cost if we were to upgrade to the lowest annual pass. We also have a trip planned for this year and another one next year so it makes sense for me to upgrade at least one of us.

 

[Mamabun]

We have never upgraded packaged tickets, but have done other discounted tickets, bought through 3rd party, etc. We have usually been ‘credited’ the current online price (not gate price) for the type of ticket we have. It has never seemed to matter if we use the first day or not before upgrading (I know that used to make a difference when bridging Disney tickets). We recently were able to upgrade at our hotel (Hard Rock) and it was pretty easy.

One note, since I see you have 3 park tickets, if you use a day at Volcano Bay, you will usually have to upgrade to a 3 park AP. Just something to be aware of if you were thinking you might want the cheaper 2 park AP.

 

[tony67]

One thing to watch for is what they give you for the ticket - make sure you have an idea of what you paid for it.
Last time I did this my ticket cost more than the AP I was buying - but they did not credit the difference back.
It was a 3 park length of stay and I was getting an seasonal pass.
I ended up going to guest services in the park and they said that is how they do it - but they then gave me a $20 gift card
I know this is probably an unusual case - but be aware - had I known I would have just got the next pass up.

 

[jenhelgren]

We recently were able to upgrade at our hotel (Hard Rock) and it was pretty easy.

Is there a dedicated desk for upgrading tickets at Hard Rock and were they open most of the day?

I would like to upgrade discounted youth tickets but haven't been able to find anyone who has accomplished that recently. Some threads say they credit the value of the ticket and others say they credit the amount paid with discounted tickets. We are staying at Hard Rock but I wasn't sure if the parks would have someone more knowledgeable for our situation or not

 

[starry_solo]

@tony67 - at the hotels, apparently they cannot upgrade to a lower priced AP.

 

[Mamabun]

Is there a dedicated desk for upgrading tickets at Hard Rock and were they open most of the day?

I would like to upgrade discounted youth tickets but haven't been able to find anyone who has accomplished that recently. Some threads say they credit the value of the ticket and others say they credit the amount paid with discounted tickets. We are staying at Hard Rock but I wasn't sure if the parks would have someone more knowledgeable for our situation or not

There was a dedicated desk, it was open pretty early (before 8am) the day we used it, but not really sure how late it stayed open.

We were definitely credited more than we paid, very close if not exactly current ticket price, not including the promo bits. We bought a 3day/2park at a discount, but with the promotion we also got upgraded to 4day/3park free. However, we were credited for the ticket we bought (3d/2p) not the promo value.

 

[chefski]

So slightly different here we are hoping to visit from the UK.

We have 14 day 3 park tickets would we be able to upgrade to premier pass and what sort of cost should we expect?

 

[tony67]

@tony67 - at the hotels, apparently they cannot upgrade to a lower priced AP.

Yeah - I did that at the front gate and it was a real PITA I'd been in line far too long as I had to pick up HHN tickets as well and was rushing to get into that before closing for S&S- that's why I always recommend doing these things inside at customer service if at all possible