Insane savings on EP when staying at Royal Pacific (Math included!)

[JakeAZ]

Even if we didn't use the rooms, we'd save money by leaving them empty!

Here's our situation:

We are going Nov 19-21st. There are 10 of us. We will go the parks all 3 days.

Express passes on those dates for 10 people X 3 days would be....$4400!!! That doesn't include the tickets.

So, instead, we booked 2 rooms, for 2 nights each, at Royal Pacific. We even made them club rooms as the more people you have, the easier it is to offset the extra cost.

2 rooms x 2 nights each = $2,157 total.

And you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book these rooms, so we did that at a redemption value of 1.5 cents per point.

144,000 UR points for what would have cost, at least, $5500 if EP was purchased a la carte and a hotel that doesn't include EP was picked.

I am very happy with how this all worked out!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I had no idea you could use UR points for Loews Hotels. The math on WDW vs UO for our Xmas 2021 trip just swung wildly in UO's favor. Especially since WDW hasn't even brought back FP+ yet. I don't think we'll do club level since I really want to book the Jurassic Park room for our boys, but it's neat that you got that bonus.

 

[JakeAZ]

I had no idea you could use UR points for Loews Hotels. The math on WDW vs UO for our Xmas 2021 trip just swung wildly in UO's favor. Especially since WDW hasn't even brought back FP+ yet. I don't think we'll do club level since I really want to book the Jurassic Park room for our boys, but it's neat that you got that bonus.

Yep, it's crazy how well it works.

Just search hotels near Universal Orlando and then narrow down the results by typing the names in. I do not know if you can book the specialty rooms with points. I wanted to book a club 2 bedroom suite, but was unable to with UR points.

 

[yellowfish78]

Just to make sure, you have the correct number of people in each room? Universal charges extra for 3/4/5th in each room. If yes, then that is a GREAT price!!!

 

[JakeAZ]

Just to make sure, you have the correct number of people in each room? Universal charges extra for 3/4/5th in each room. If yes, then that is a GREAT price!!!

Yep that is true.

First room is 2 adults / 3 kids. Second room is 3 adults / 2 kids. I was charged a bit more on the second room. I'm assuming that's because of the 3rd adult. Still well worth it for him to get 3 days of EP for the small extra upcharge.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We have 2 adults 2 kids, might have 3 kids if we bring eldest son's best friend along. Did you use the UR portal to book or did you call?

 

[JakeAZ]

We have 2 adults 2 kids, might have 3 kids if we bring eldest son's best friend along. Did you use the UR portal to book or did you call?

It's all done through the UR portal. Just use the "search by name" function on the left to bring up the EP hotel you're interested in. After your initial search of hotels near UO.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

You're right, they don't seem to have the Jurassic Park rooms, but I know they're available on the regular UO page. I wonder if I could get those rooms if I called, though.

 

[JakeAZ]

You're right, they don't seem to have the Jurassic Park rooms, but I know they're available on the regular UO page. I wonder if I could get those rooms if I called, though.

Worth a try, right?

Let me know if it works. I might change mine to the 2 bedroom suite I wanted originally.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

The JP rooms are cheaper than club level so I don't see why they're not an option. Honestly, though, it's kind of blowing my mind that even paying cash these rooms are literally cheaper than Pop Century that same week at WDW. The rack rate prices at WDW have really spiraled out of control. Maybe they're listing high rack rates so the promotions they do in the Fall will look enticing, but I would rather just book a trip than play these games.

 

[JakeAZ]

The JP rooms are cheaper than club level so I don't see why they're not an option. Honestly, though, it's kind of blowing my mind that even paying cash these rooms are literally cheaper than Pop Century that same week at WDW. The rack rate prices at WDW have really spiraled out of control. Maybe they're listing high rack rates so the promotions they do in the Fall will look enticing, but I would rather just book a trip than play these games.

But just think of all the on-site benefits that come with those rates! There's um...buses...and um access to all your days for dining reservations....and oh ya, 30 whole minutes of early entry. Totally worth it!

That being said, we are doing Disney after our UO stay, but we rented points and got the Grand Villa at BLT for the same price as 3 standard garden view rooms at Contemporary. So while I firmly believe the on-site benefits are worthless right now, at least our whole group will be together to celebrate grandma's 70th in style! Maybe some benefits will come back by the late Fall. Who knows.

 

[nkereina]

Even if we didn't use the rooms, we'd save money by leaving them empty!

Here's our situation:

We are going Nov 19-21st. There are 10 of us. We will go the parks all 3 days.

Express passes on those dates for 10 people X 3 days would be....$4400!!! That doesn't include the tickets.

So, instead, we booked 2 rooms, for 2 nights each, at Royal Pacific. We even made them club rooms as the more people you have, the easier it is to offset the extra cost.

2 rooms x 2 nights each = $2,157 total.

And you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book these rooms, so we did that at a redemption value of 1.5 cents per point.

144,000 UR points for what would have cost, at least, $5500 if EP was purchased a la carte and a hotel that doesn't include EP was picked.

I am very happy with how this all worked out!

Not surprised at all to see the price comparison. Lots of us here will recommend booking a "throwaway" room for people not needing/wanting Universal lodging, just because it makes more financial sense for obtaining EPs. I'm assuming the $4400 EPs you priced out were for purchasing the unlimited EPs? That's the true comparison, since that's what is included with the premier hotels. The one-time use EPs are slightly cheaper to purchase, but I think there would still be savings by staying at the resort. Certainly would be worth it for the unlimited EPs.

 

[cfoxga]

Even if we didn't use the rooms, we'd save money by leaving them empty!

Here's our situation:

We are going Nov 19-21st. There are 10 of us. We will go the parks all 3 days.

Express passes on those dates for 10 people X 3 days would be....$4400!!! That doesn't include the tickets.

So, instead, we booked 2 rooms, for 2 nights each, at Royal Pacific. We even made them club rooms as the more people you have, the easier it is to offset the extra cost.

2 rooms x 2 nights each = $2,157 total.

And you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book these rooms, so we did that at a redemption value of 1.5 cents per point.

144,000 UR points for what would have cost, at least, $5500 if EP was purchased a la carte and a hotel that doesn't include EP was picked.

I am very happy with how this all worked out!

You missed a step for lowering your costs. While the EPs at the deluxe hotels are the best way to save money for parties of 4-5 in a room, the Annual Pass is another area where people new to Universal miss saving money.

If you purchase one Annual Pass (I think you can book two rooms on one AP), then you can save 30% off of the rooms with an APH rate. Since you are planning now, you should have no problems getting the APH rate when they come out a couple months before your trip. That should knock around $500-600 off of your two room total, and the AP is not much more than a 2-day park-to-park ticket. So even if you cannot make it back to Universal on a second trip, it is worth getting. If you can make it back, upgrade all of your tickets to APs.

While sleeping 5 in a room at RPR is very tight, having a "home base" so close to the parks really changes the logistics for your trip. You can walk to IOA in 10-15 minutes, or take the ferry. No busses dropping off to a long and winding walk through CityWalk security. Want to take a mid-afternoon nap, but not miss out on too much park-time? No problem. It really is a fantastic way to do Universal...

 

[JakeAZ]

You missed a step for lowering your costs. While the EPs at the deluxe hotels are the best way to save money for parties of 4-5 in a room, the Annual Pass is another area where people new to Universal miss saving money.

If you purchase one Annual Pass (I think you can book two rooms on one AP), then you can save 30% off of the rooms with an APH rate. Since you are planning now, you should have no problems getting the APH rate when they come out a couple months before your trip. That should knock around $500-600 off of your two room total, and the AP is not much more than a 2-day park-to-park ticket. So even if you cannot make it back to Universal on a second trip, it is worth getting. If you can make it back, upgrade all of your tickets to APs.

While sleeping 5 in a room at RPR is very tight, having a "home base" so close to the parks really changes the logistics for your trip. You can walk to IOA in 10-15 minutes, or take the ferry. No busses dropping off to a long and winding walk through CityWalk security. Want to take a mid-afternoon nap, but not miss out on too much park-time? No problem. It really is a fantastic way to do Universal...

You make some good points and I did think about it, but when I found out you could use UR points, I wanted to go that route. You are not able to apply AP discounts when using points. However, by using UR points at 1:1.5 cents, I essentially got 33% off. $2157 rate for 144,000 points.

I do think we will go the AP route though, since you are right about it being not much more than a 2 day ticket and pretty much the same as a 3 day ticket. Who knows, maybe we'll be able to sneak away within the 12 months and come back!

I am a little concerned about the tight squeeze in the rooms, but hopefully having the club lounge as an option to hang out in while others are getting ready, things might be a little easier.

 

[JakeAZ]

Not surprised at all to see the price comparison. Lots of us here will recommend booking a "throwaway" room for people not needing/wanting Universal lodging, just because it makes more financial sense for obtaining EPs. I'm assuming the $4400 EPs you priced out were for purchasing the unlimited EPs? That's the true comparison, since that's what is included with the premier hotels. The one-time use EPs are slightly cheaper to purchase, but I think there would still be savings by staying at the resort. Certainly would be worth it for the unlimited EPs.

Yep, I used unlimited in the comparison. The prices for the a la carte passes ranged from $129 - $169 per day / per person.

 

[keishashadow]

If you purchase one Annual Pass (I think you can book two rooms on one AP), then you can save 30% off of the rooms with an APH rate. Since you are planning now, you should have no problems getting the APH rate when they come out a couple months before your trip

I’m not so sure the APH rates will necessarily hit 30% that often at the EP resorts this year. Hope I’m wrong, however, the rates i’m seeing are quite high out of the gate this year for dates we tend to visit.

Even in the past, often the APH discount didn’t quite hit 30% especially during the more popular times, especially for shorter stays (especailly HHN weekends).

Still, IMO, it’s a no-brainer to upgrade tickets to a seasonal pass for a few bucks more over a multi day P2P.

 

[cfoxga]

I’m not so sure the APH rates will necessarily hit 30% that often at the EP resorts this year. Hope I’m wrong, however, the rates i’m seeing are quite high out of the gate this year for dates we tend to visit.

Even in the past, often the APH discount didn’t quite hit 30% especially during the more popular times, especially for shorter stays (especailly HHN weekends).

Still, IMO, it’s a no-brainer to upgrade tickets to a seasonal pass for a few bucks more over a multi day P2P.

So far, all of our trips were at least 30% below the standard rate (1 Spring Break, 3 Thanksgiving, 3 cancelled trips during Covid in May/June/Oct, and one upcoming trip for mid-Feb). With school aged kids, we usually go during "peak" season, so I expected the discounts to be on the lower side. I did try a couple of dates and did see some cases where there were 40-45% discounts, but nothing below 30%...

 

[JakeAZ]

I did run a search on the AP site (I guess you can, even if you are not an AP holder) and it said the AP discount was not available for our dates.

I was just curious what those numbers would have looked like. I'm still comfortable with the deal I got using points though.

 

[cfoxga]

We have been at Universal for three Thanksgivings (2017, 2019, and 2020). This time we stayed at HRH this Thanksgiving in a poolside room with APH. Sat was $264 and Sun-Wed was $239 before taxes/parking. I wouldn't be surprised if rates are a little higher this year...

 

[JakeAZ]

We have been at Universal for three Thanksgivings (2017, 2019, and 2020). This time we stayed at HRH this Thanksgiving in a poolside room with APH. Sat was $264 and Sun-Wed was $239 before taxes/parking. I wouldn't be surprised if rates are a little higher this year...

Those are awesome rates! Have you check this year?

I would guess they are higher too. Especially based on flights that week. They are priced incredibly high.