AIRMILES TO BUY DISNEY PARK TICKETS

[DYLEMMA1986]

Forum members, I need your advice on the park passes. I am planning a trip in the next few years. I am thinking I should use my airmiles now to buy tickets because the price of the ai miles keeps going up every year. I believe as long as I don't use the tickets (even if they expire), I can exchange them for tickets at the door and they will give me face value of the tickets. Is that correct? I understand if I buy them under the Canadian Discount I will lose the discount if I don't exchange them when the Canadian Discount is offered. I think the price only goes up at the door by about $10 per year, but the price of air miles goes up more than that every year. So my theory is that if I trade them in in 4 years, and I do it when they are offering the Canadian Discount, I will have to pay about $40 more for the tickets but in 4 years the air miles will go up substantially........what are your thoughts.

 

[ottawamom]

Disney no longer gives you the face value of the tickets. If your tickets expire the value they "may" assign to them is the what Airmiles paid Disney for them when purchased. Yes you will be able to exchange them but what you will get is unknown and possibly not as much as you think.

Even if you were to exchange when a Canadian Discount is offered that discount is not offered at the gate (only online or by phone) therefore, yes, you will definitely lose the discount (unless a CM decides to sprinkle some pixie dust your way).

Gate prices increase every year at Disney and no one knows in advance by how much. What they do with expired tickets now and what they will do with expired tickets in 4 years could be two very different things. Personally I wouldn't risk the AM. A few years ago you could get tickets that didn't expire until 2030. Those were a great deal. Save your AM and purchase when you have a trip booked. So much can change between now and your next trip.

Hope that helps

 

[marcyleecorgan]

You should join us in the thread specifically for AirMiles in the Canadian Planning Section.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I get what you're saying but unfortunately your math is very wrong. Will tickets prices increase over the next few years? Of course they will and by a whole lot more than your expected $10. Here's a glance at the increases over the last couple of years to compare -- the numbers are for a 7 day base ticket all in USD funds
2016 - $394.05
2017 - $436.45
2018 -$441.98
2019 -$ 499.31 (hard to do because we now have date specific tickets to look at)

So there's close to a $100 increase in only 3 years and there's no reason to think the increases won't continue to be big.

NOW, to give my thoughts to redeeming Airmiles for tickets that you are planning on stashing away until you're ready to go (in 4 years?): Yes, those tickets won't lose the value they currently have (the same 7 day ticket is $398.71) but they will never be worth more than that AND once they expire you will be able to use that towards some other ticket BUT with expired tickets you can't book Fast Passes. I'm not sure if you'd even have the option to upgrade them to usable tickets before you need to use them for FP+ -- not even sure how to find that out since it is still fairly new. Based on that I don't think i would take the risk to redeem miles as a "hedge bet". Will you need to use more miles in the future to get the tickets? Of course, Airmiles gets them from Disney and they need to pass the price increase along to us.

It's worth noting that these CDN Resident tickets have created no end of frustration to Canucks who get them(however that might happen, redeeming miles, buying them from CAA or even Disney directly) and then try to do some type of upgrade .. most people report the cost is prohibitive. If it was me, I'd just be waiting until I was sure i had a trip planned that i could use the tickets (I'm still kicking myself for not getting the non-expiring tickets 3 years ago, but we had no plans to head to Disney and I saw that as a waste of miles)

 

[momof2gr8kids]

You can't make FP with expired tickets. For that reason alone I'd wait until your trip to order them.

Because AM is a third party vendor you have to upgrade the ticket at the gate. I have one expired AM ticket that I need to upgrade and I'm hoping a friend will be at DW before I go next to do it for me.

 

[mort1331]

You can't make FP with expired tickets. For that reason alone I'd wait until your trip to order them.

Because AM is a third party vendor you have to upgrade the ticket at the gate. I have one expired AM ticket that I need to upgrade and I'm hoping a friend will be at DW before I go next to do it for me.

when do you need by we are going in March

 

[Dylemma1]

Thanks for all of your information. Can someone tell me how much the air miles have gone up in the past 4 years?

 

[ottawamom]

I'm confused do we have two different Dylemma's here on this thread or is Dylemma1 and Dylemma1986 same person just forgot their screen name?

 

[ottawamom]

Last time I purchased AM Disney tickets was in 2017. Regular prices (no Canadian discount) they were 3775AM. Maybe others can report what they paid for tickets 2016-2019. That was for 7 day adult (no hopping) tickets.

I'm not certain why you are so interested in what past tickets cost. The formula going forward is changing all the time and past experience is no longer a good indicator of what we can expect in the future. Disney used to give Airmiles a good deal on the tickets (not so anymore). The ticket prices are what they are and in this wacky world all future predictions are not possible.

 

[Dylemma1]

Yes sorry Ottawamom, I had some computer issues. and I couldn't figure out how to find my password.

 

[Dylemma1]

it just seems like it is costing more and more air miles to purchase Disney tickets and if the air miles increase by 1000 points that is a lot of air miles to collect. When I started saving 3 years ago it seemed like I should have enough air miles to get 10 tickets and now I don't.... I understand the price went up because of the new tiered pricing but it still seems like the air miles amounts are high......
if the price of the tickets is going up approx by $50 year, well I can't buy 1000 air miles for $50 nor can I purchase items that will get me 1000 miles for $50, does that make sense?
Anyhow you have all been very helpful, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer
I am saving to buy 10 5 day passes, so it all adds up......

 

[ottawamom]

Yes sorry Ottawamom, I had some computer issues. and I couldn't figure out how to find my password.

Welcome back Dylemma

 

[Pumpkin1172]

it just seems like it is costing more and more air miles to purchase Disney tickets and if the air miles increase by 1000 points that is a lot of air miles to collect. When I started saving 3 years ago it seemed like I should have enough air miles to get 10 tickets and now I don't.... I understand the price went up because of the new tiered pricing but it still seems like the air miles amounts are high......
if the price of the tickets is going up approx by $50 year, well I can't buy 1000 air miles for $50 nor can I purchase items that will get me 1000 miles for $50, does that make sense?
Anyhow you have all been very helpful, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer
I am saving to buy 10 5 day passes, so it all adds up......

I totally relate to what your thinking.

Here is my thinking on this.

I will try to get AM for items I am purchasing. I'm not going to but items we won't use just to get the AM. I don't have a Rexall close to me to get their awesome rewards. So I'm basically stuck with Safeway and Shell to get my AM.

With me being limited in where I can score good AM deals, I'll probably never be able to save enough AM for our park tickets. BUT...If i can collect enough to offset the cost of 2 or 3 out of the 4 I would need...then that is a bonus for me. Less money for me to try to have to save for that portion of our trip. I'm getting " rewarded " for items that we will use...so that is less money that I have to save for a trip. For me to piece a trip somewhere, I'll have to bundle all our rewards with the other reward programs and cc offerings. If I can bundle these all together to get a cheaper trip for us...then that's what I will do. I'm getting a free reward to use for something that my family can benefit from that is a FUN and AWESOME reward.

That's just my take on it. I'm not going to buy tickets now...with the hopes that I can use them in future...and be shortchanged on their actual worth. Disney will ALWAYS raise their prices...they are a business and that's what businesses do...raise their prices. But if I can offset the price of the tickets with a reward on items that our family uses...then that's a bonus for me!

 

[ottawamom]

That's going to be tough. 60,000 airmiles? Airmiles is also changing the amount of airmiles we can earn these days. We go from Feast to Famine each month. Blue Friday (feast) rest of month (famine). Gone are the days of being able to rake in the miles.

I have decided to cash out my AM Cash weekly and save those funds separately. (Every 95AM cash I use I put the equivalent amount into a savings account) At best these days Disney tickets on airmiles are not discounted any more than what you could get elsewhere. Gone are the days where after all conversions you were ahead of the game purchasing through Airmiles. With my AM in cash (in my bank or GC) I can choose where I will get the best deal on those tickets (Disney direct, Undercover Tourist etc)

I still find the airfare to be a better bet than booking through the airline directly but that may be because I get a discount with my CC

 

[Donald - my hero]

Slowly wading thru the Threads to see if i can find any concrete numbers - not an easy task
Sept 5th 2015 -- someone reported a 5 day base ticket = 3350 miles
OK, thread -- Oct 3rd, 2013 (yeah, I'm lost down the rabbit hole!)7 day base ticket = 2675 miles

There's no question that the *cost* of getting the tickets thru Airmiles is increasing but then so is everything! I still look at anything i redeem my miles for as free and that's an excellent price

As to can you get 1000 miles for $50? Not very often that's for sure! However, during Rexall's one-day Wednesday coupon offer i can turn $50 into 200 miles and that is a return that gets me excited.

Sorry the increases in prices & miles threw a wrench into your target, sucks when things don't go according to our plans. Oh, the password problems? Yeah, i joined the boards in the first year and about 5 years later I got a new computer and couldn't get signed on for love nor money and ended up needing to create this persona!

 

[Dylemma1]

I am actually very close to having enough points. I have enough if I buy them now using the Canadian Discount but a bit short if using the regular price....
We were supposed to be going this October ( I booked our campsite 1.5 years ago)but my Mom got ill and my son/wife had a baby and my daughter went back to school so she couldn't take the time off...... I had been planning this for the past 3 years. It was supposed to be a vow renewal. Now we are planning on doing it in 4 years because my grandson will be 4 which I think is a great age to go......
I guess I was thinking cash them in now and have approx $300 bucks towards the passes when we exchange them when we do go
Maybe I should just use them for something else and forget this ticket idea.......

 

[ottawamom]

Or keep the AM you have and keep saving for the potential price increases. I have AM in my account for flights for 8 people YOW-MCO. I keep an eye on the current charges for flights. If needed I will switch back to Dream to add a few more AM to the Dream account if needed. We're not going to Disney again (well the whole family isn't) until 2020, so I'm keeping that little stash for use then.

Don't let the itch to spend those AM on a deal now sway your long term planning. Stick with your plans. There will always be another deal down the road. Disney isn't going anywhere and so much can happen with the world economy that affects when and where Disney makes offers. Save your miles for the tickets and keep saving....

 

[Dylemma1]

I just worry that the air miles needed will keep going up at a rate that I can’t keep up with……so I thought better to use them now towards tickets then to wait and not be able to order them because I don’t have enough miles ……
this is what I figured but I don’t know if it’s correct. I got this from the Disney website
A 5 day flex pass
I checked the calendar for the most expensive day (because the airmiles pass is a flex pass with no block out dates)
The highest price I found is $91 US (around Christmas time) for Canadian discount
so the calendar gave me a total of $453.85 US for a 5 day Canadian Discount Price. The 5 day regular price without Canadian discount is $568.09 US ($114 day)

So if I cash in 4725 points will I get an airmiles voucher that is worth $453 US which I can trade in for a ticket now or use towards tickets for a future date?

Or I could cash in 5900 points for a 5 day non Canadian Discounted price which would be equal to $568 US (but here’s where it gets tricky the difference between 5900 and 4725 is 1175 points and the difference between 568 and 453 is $114 converted to CAD is $150 so, 1175 points would cost $150 CAD…..which isn’t a bad deal and then I wouldn’t have to be worried about the Canadian discount, just the price increase for the tickets in the future….

BTW it is because of this forum that I have been able to collect the air miles I have, so I sincerely appreciate all your advice.

 

[ottawamom]

Dylemma1, you will be able to keep up with the increases. They aren't huge when compared with your earning power, if you follow along with the Airmiles thread. With tips and tricks most of our followers manage to collect 6000+ AM per year.

Math aside, Disney is always changing the way they do things these days. While I do believe they will assign some value to tickets you purchase today there is no guarantee of what that value will be. In four years time they may decide that the current expiry system is really working for them and they may pull a Universal Studios # and put a firm expiry on them (ie not allow you to exchange an expired ticket). 4 years is a long way out in Theme park planning to take a chance.

It's your miles and you can do what you want with them. I wouldn't purchase these tickets unless I was going to be able to use them before they expire. You won't be saving much if you lose all or some of the value you're expecting.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Dylemma1, you will be able to keep up with the increases. They aren't huge when compared with your earning power, if you follow along with the Airmiles thread. With tips and tricks most of our followers manage to collect 6000+ AM per year.

Math aside, Disney is always changing the way they do things these days. While I do believe they will assign some value to tickets you purchase today there is no guarantee of what that value will be. In four years time they may decide that the current expiry system is really working for them and they may pull a Universal Studios # and put a firm expiry on them (ie not allow you to exchange an expired ticket). 4 years is a long way out in Theme park planning to take a chance.

It's your miles and you can do what you want with them. I wouldn't purchase these tickets unless I was going to be able to use them before they expire. You won't be saving much if you lose all or some of the value you're expecting.

YES! This is a great point to make!!! Until just this past winter you could do almost anything with a ticket to Universal -- upgrade to an annual pass, downgrade to something cheaper and get the difference on a gift card or hang onto that sucker for years (we redeemed for some in 2013 and didn't actually use them till 2017 and then we turned them into 1 day tickets and a $200 gift card!) Now? Yeah not so much - they come with a firm expiry date and when that passes you're SOL

Disney is making all kinds of policy changes lately with little or no warning and even CM are being caught off guard. The ticketing is getting more and more complicated every year and will soon require an advanced degree in mathematics and business studies to even enter the danged parks! They just announced a complete change to the way they handle 3rd party wheelchair/scooter and stroller rentals -- they no longer accept deliveries to bell services, customers have to meet for both delivery & pick-up. They did this with less than a week's notice and the thoughts are that was only because Kingdom Strollers made a Facebook post!

They are your miles to use as you wish but personally? I would just keep collecting and when it comes time to redeem, get as many as possible and still consider that a check in the win column.