Don't buy attraction tickets in UK!!

[tonyfaestoney]

I have just arrived back and was staying at the Comfort Inn on I-Drive. In the corner at reception there was a booth where they were selling tickets to parks & dinner shows etc.

I got speaking to the guy and said I already had all my tickets but I enquired on the prices.

He quoted roughly what I paid which was £105 for Unversal 4 park flex and £165 for 14 week disney flex.

He then said if I buy 2 Universal tickets he can discount them both by $150 and $200 off the Disney ones!!

That is a huge saving & I know where I will get my tickets next year. He even showed me his paperwork showing how much he is allowed to discount.

Don't know if this size of discount is widely available in Orlando but it would be worhtwhile popping into Comfort Inn on I-Drive (beside TGI Fridays, Walgreens & Golden Corral) just to buy your tickets.

Hope this helps someone, I can't believe the prices he was offering.

[ScottishSweety]

They sound fantastic, I think you just ahve to watch who you buy from though. When we were getting our DD's hair done at Old town the lady doing it was talkign to her friend about the booth outside selling used tickets to ppl. We bought the 14 day ultimater tickets as we could only buy them over here and the 5 park flexi. I think I'd rather pay a wee bit more for them and know they were sound.

[Nikki'Andrew]

I have always bought them over here, when I book my flights!! I feel happier that way. Like I would never buy off ebay, even though a friend sold hers on there, I dont trust anyone!!

NIKKI

[highlander447]

I have just arrived back and was staying at the Comfort Inn on I-Drive. In the corner at reception there was a booth where they were selling tickets to parks & dinner shows etc.

I got speaking to the guy and said I already had all my tickets but I enquired on the prices.

He quoted roughly what I paid which was £105 for Unversal 4 park flex and £165 for 14 week disney flex.

He then said if I buy 2 Universal tickets he can discount them both by $150 and $200 off the Disney ones!!

That is a huge saving & I know where I will get my tickets next year. He even showed me his paperwork showing how much he is allowed to discount.

Don't know if this size of discount is widely available in Orlando but it would be worhtwhile popping into Comfort Inn on I-Drive (beside TGI Fridays, Walgreens & Golden Corral) just to buy your tickets.

Hope this helps someone, I can't believe the prices he was offering.
Only problem I see if u can call it that, is you never got that discount so would he have really given you it or was he just tempting u for next time

[tonyfaestoney]

Only problem I see if u can call it that, is you never got that discount so would he have really given you it or was he just tempting u for next time

Fair point & I can't answer that. He seemed genuine enough and if there was a problem with the tickets it would be 10 times easier to approach them & sort out as they are based in the hotel. A lot easier than phoning a call centre miles away!!

Also if it did become awkward then I am sure the hotel would have something to say about you being ripped off on their premises.

I hope somebody else pops into Comfort Inn and see how much they can get tickets for (don't have to buy them). Please let us all know if you do.

[highlander447]

Thats a good idea hope someone does pop in and see what quote they get, as for any problems these guys at the hotels as far as I'm aware are licensed so pretty trustworthy

[susan1]

hi
most of the hotel ticket agents are affiliated to timeshare sales:(

[nursie]

I think you would have had to go to a timeshare presentation for a couple of hours to get your tickets at the discounted prices.
I personally wouldnt take the risk or waste my time.
Nursie

[BevS97]

I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole - we had a hotel ticket tout offer to buy back our half used 14 day flex tickets as we were only going to be using them for 7 days - he always suggested we didn't sign them as that would make them easier for him to sell on.
Needlesstosay, we didnt' sell them back to him, nor did we buy any from him.
As far as I am aware, Disney set limits on the amount of discount a legitimate ticket seller can give, and it's not a lot. Anyone offering a massive discount is going to require some sort of timeshare tour.

[Vabeth]

Definately sounds like a timeshare scheme to me too!:(

[mickey house]

Ditto, I also very much believe you only get the cheap tickets if you sit though a dreaded 'timeshare presentation.'

[james weir]

Ticket touts are banned under Florida State Law,Disney resellers are only
allowed to sell Discounted Tickets up to a certain percentage of Discount,
step out of line and your supplies are cut off,as others have said I am quite
sure that it is part of a timeshare sales offer,which under Florida Law is
allowed,buy your tickets from a reliable source and then you will have no
worries.

[Suzie&Stuart]

I remember when myself and Suzie went over for our honeymoon in 2001, there was a ticket counter in the hotel foyer. We had a few minutes to spare so decided to have a nosey. Suzie knew straight away that it was timeshare, so we let this woman have loads of personal details [mostly incorrect], this woman must have thought her luck was in, especially with the smile on her face and the "Sir" this and "Sir" that, then right at the end of the questioning came the crunch question..........." What credit card do you use?".
Whem I answered, "we dont" , her face dropped to the floor like her world had just fell apart. "Sorry Sir, but we cant carry on if you dont have a credit card" she said.
Now, why should anyone need us to own a credit card to go to a timeshare talk??

Stuart

[tonyfaestoney]

Ok as usual everyone looks at this with pessimism. You are all presuming this is in some way under-hand.

All I have done is advised you what I was told. I saw a couple buying dinner tickets there and there was no mention of timeshare.

I cannot guranatee that there is not some sort of catch but neither can you say for definite there is!!

What I last suggested was if somebody in the area could pop in to Comfort Inn for 5 minutes to see what the deal is then we would all be grateful. If it is timeshare etc then walk away, simple as that. Just want to see the price, and haggle as best you can.

There is no point in us all 2nd guessing if this is straight forward & genuine, I am sure you will agree.:nonono:

[dalymum]

I bought some Universal one day 2 park tickets last year from the booth outside the bar where TCD did business . They were $60 each and would have been $102 at the gate - only thing is we could have got a lot more out of the passes sold here. We got the morning in Universal but the afternoon at IOA was rained off!! It's a chance you take, but the tickets were fine.

[Anna]

Actually the tickets at the Comfort Inn are legitimate tickets and not timeshare. The tickets are sold by "All Guest Services" and they are reputable resellers. They had a special called BOGO where you could get practically free tickets to Universal when you purchased Disney tickets. They are at many hotels in the Orlando area. Here is the website: http://www.allguest.com/ and here is a partial list of the hotels: http://hotels.allguest.com/ They are NOT a timeshare company. They sell themepark tickets, Kennedy Space center, Dinners like Medievil Times, Arabian Nigthts, etc. and many other things such as rental cars and free coupons for discounts on meals around Orlando. They honestly have some great deals and are not a fly-by-night company.

[highlander447]

Thats the beauty of the dibb great source of info, so thanks to tonyfaestoney for bringing it up and I agree we are pessimitic bunch but then again we are british;)

[Andre]

Not just British pessimism, I'm afraid. Disney simply do not need to heavily discount their tickets to anyone - so they don't! Even their discounts to resellers are not good enough to allow for really major reductions in the retail price. So pretty much anyone selling really cheap tickets is either:

a) selling on second-hand tickets (which is not allowed by Disney under the terms of sale), or

b) making a loss on the sale of the tickets in order to gain elsewhere. It's known as a "loss leader". It may be perfectly valid (such as an airline offering free tickets when you buy your holiday; they still pay Disney for the tickets, but make up for that loss in the price of everything else) or sometimes it's more dubious such as selling you cheap tickets on the provisio that you spend several hours (and that's if you're lucky) of your precious holiday at a high-pressure timeshare sales meeting.

Personally I'd avoid these and get a 14-day Premium ticket before you go (which you can't buy in Florida anyway - not even from Disney)

Mind you, that's not to say that other parks don't need to sell more tickets, so you may get some great combo deals (such as the one in this thread maybe?) if you get other tix along with your Disney ones.

Andre

[tonyfaestoney]

Actually the tickets at the Comfort Inn are legitimate tickets and not timeshare. The tickets are sold by "All Guest Services" and they are reputable resellers. They had a special called BOGO where you could get practically free tickets to Universal when you purchased Disney tickets. They are at many hotels in the Orlando area. Here is the website: http://www.allguest.com/ and here is a partial list of the hotels: http://hotels.allguest.com/ They are NOT a timeshare company. They sell themepark tickets, Kennedy Space center, Dinners like Medievil Times, Arabian Nigthts, etc. and many other things such as rental cars and free coupons for discounts on meals around Orlando. They honestly have some great deals and are not a fly-by-night company.

Thanks Anna, was starting to feel a bit stupid cause it may have been timeshare or something.

Glad to hear they are legitimate.

[brody-maddison]

I've just looked at the site but it looks as though you have to buy a vacation package, I can't see where you buy tickets only. Is this just me?

[highlander447]

I believe thats true of their website, but the info was posted to assure that they are genuine ticket sellers and not timeshare, they sell discounted tickets at certain hotels and probably it depends on how many tickets u want and the combo as well

[LizzyBear]

I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole - we had a hotel ticket tout offer to buy back our half used 14 day flex tickets as we were only going to be using them for 7 days - he always suggested we didn't sign them as that would make them easier for him to sell on.
Needlesstosay, we didnt' sell them back to him, nor did we buy any from him.
As far as I am aware, Disney set limits on the amount of discount a legitimate ticket seller can give, and it's not a lot. Anyone offering a massive discount is going to require some sort of timeshare tour.

Yeah my mum sold our Disney tickets at the end of the holiday to some guy manning a booth in The Ramada in 2002 cos we had I think 1 or 2 days left on them. I wasn't there when she did it and didn't really know much about the politics of theme park tickets but he assured her that they could be resold. He actually asked how many days we'd used/how many were left.. Quite trusting I thought! :erm: Looking back it was probably dodgy, not something i'd do myself that's for sure.

Personally I feel much happier buying my tickets in the UK from a reputable agent (not necessarily a UK company) like Undercover Tourist rather than risking them not being valid for the sake of saving money which to me would not be worth it for the stress it could potentially cause.

[highlander447]

The only problem is this thread has digressed from the OP point and post, everyone has valid points, but not actually grasping the point the OP was posting, its not about timeshare, its not about dodgy salesman its about a ticket company selling in hotels

[BevS97]

Unfortunately, the point is that is very hard to know who you are dealing with when you buy tickets from a hotel lobby - maybe they are legit, maybe they aren't.

Personally, I'd rather buy my tickets in the UK before I travel. The 14 day ticket is an excellent price, and if you wait until you get to the States you can't buy it.

[highlander447]

Unfortunately, the point is that is very hard to know who you are dealing with when you buy tickets from a hotel lobby - maybe they are legit, maybe they aren't.

Personally, I'd rather buy my tickets in the UK before I travel. The 14 day ticket is an excellent price, and if you wait until you get to the States you can't buy it.
My point is on this thread, this company has been validated by an employee of Universal, and I was just trying to validate the OP post which has digressed

[gezza41]

We got a fantastic deal with TCD for our universal passes this year two weeks for the price of one, but its probably through booking early, the ticket we saw two years ago were definately timeshare and the deal going to be good as the company probably pay part of the cost to speculate on a possible timeshare sale, I alway believe if its too good to be true then there is a chance of the small print catch, but thanks for the forum post it gets people communicating.

Gezza

[ambersmom]

ok where do we start, some of these booths are rented by the individual and are used for timeshare promotions, now if the individual rents the booth they can send you to which ever company you qualify for regarding a timeshare presentation, if however the booth is rented by say westgate then you will be sent there, a lot of the touts will also sell tickets on the side, any thing heavily discounted is deffinatly for a timeshare tour, yes you can even get tickets for free but you will have to sit thru a presentation, 2 3 hours, they wont tell you its a tour your going on, especially us brits as the americans know how much of a bad reputation t/s has here, the op stated getting tickets for a very cheap price, you can bet your bottom $$ its for a timeshare, most hotels in orlando have a guest service booth, and of course they are very helpful hoping youll go to a presentation at the end of there very helpful speel

[uklad23]

I would always avoid booths wherever they are from hotels, restaurants or just on the streetside. I read an article earlier this year about a gang war between criminals that own many of them. The Orlando police has a special unit that just deals with ticket related crimes! A boss of one gang was murdered because of some dodgy ticket deals. It's big money and the themeparks are working with the policing unit to try and stop the crime as it costs them millions. Most send you to timeshares because they also get a fee for each person they send. Buy from a company with a good reputation. I notice the OP thinks the hotel would get involved and help out if they were scammed, sorry but they wouldn't care they would tell you that they dont operate the service.

[tonyfaestoney]

Oh dear, oh dear :nonono:

I see a lot of people are still making assumptions on whether or not this is genuine.

I am not claiming to know the answer to this myself and I was there :grin: How anyone else can claim that this is not genuine having not even approached the people at Comfort Inn is somewhat dissapointing.

Anna had previously pointed out the company that is based at the Comfort Inn as being reputable, but it seems people are unwilling to believe this (probably because they have paid the UK prices).

Once again, the best solution to this is if a fellow Dibber could pop into Comfort Inn to investigate and haggle best price, then advise us all. If it is timeshare, no problem just walk away.

I did say I saw a couple buying dinner tickets without hassle, the guy also showed me the figures he could discount.

Instead of everyone 2nd guessing and generally rubbishing the idea of us Brits managing to get a good deal, we should be trying to find out exactly what the deal is and what is involved :zzz:

[Anna]

People can believe me or not but it is not a timeshare. Westgate is a timeshare and their booths are often in the hotels and some are even in the same hotel lobby as "All Guest Services" but they are separate companies and in no way related. Westgate also goes by the name of Central Florida Investments so be aware that is also Westgate. All Guest Services is often at the concierge desk at many of the hotels.

The website I posted earlier is the main website where they book vacation packages for groups. Universal itself does vacation packages as does Disney. Many companies do vacation packages but that doesn't mean they are timeshares. All Guest Services at the hotels such as Comfort Suites only sell themepark and other tickets not vacation packages. Here is the ticket site for All Guest Services at one of the other Comfort Suites in Orlando: http://comfortsuitesorlando.allguest.com/ Notice there are only tickets no timeshare. I didn't post this website the first time as I didn't want to advertise for another company when I work for Universal.

[florida2000]

People can believe me or not but it is not a timeshare. Westgate is a timeshare and their booths are often in the hotels and some are even in the same hotel lobby as "All Guest Services" but they are separate companies and in no way related. Westgate also goes by the name of Central Florida Investments so be aware that is also Westgate. All Guest Services is often at the concierge desk at many of the hotels.

The website I posted earlier is the main website where they book vacation packages for groups. Universal itself does vacation packages as does Disney. Many companies do vacation packages but that doesn't mean they are timeshares. All Guest Services at the hotels such as Comfort Suites only sell themepark and other tickets not vacation packages. Here is the ticket site for All Guest Services at one of the other Comfort Suites in Orlando: http://comfortsuitesorlando.allguest.com/ Notice there are only tickets no timeshare. I didn't post this website the first time as I didn't want to advertise for another company when I work for Universal.

So Anna, are you saying that the specific deal described by the OP exists and is above board or are you saying you are aware of a legit company working out of the hotel?

I couldn't work out if the OP meant that the Disney discount was $200 in total or per ticket but for buying two 4 park flex tickets and 2 Disney14 day flex tickets (whatever that is - the only 14 day disney tickets I am aware of ar the UK only ultimates that are not allowed to be sold in US) the saving was either $500 or $700. If buying 2 of each thats somewhere between 52% and 74% discount!!!!!

[Gill635]

I used the ticket booth in the Rosen Plaza and would not hesitate to use them again. There were no timeshares, just genuine bargain tickets that were much cheaper than gate price.

The timeshare companies always give themselves away with the big 2 Seaworld tickets for $20 signs (or similar offers).

Don't all beat the guy down, he simply posted some advice (which is what the site is for) on something to try. I will certainly be buying my tickets over there as personally i think the prices they charge in the U.K are a real rip-off !

[Anna]

So Anna, are you saying that the specific deal described by the OP exists and is above board or are you saying you are aware of a legit company working out of the hotel?



I can't say if the specific deal exists now or ever existed. Just like all the ticket resellers, they have special offers from time to time. I do know they had a BOGO (buy one Disney get one Universal free) offer this summer from All Guest Services. I saw some of those this summer and another offer they had where you got a free day or a two park for the price of a one park for Universal/IoA. Both of those deals are over now and I haven't heard of any other deals they are offering. I know their dinner show tickets are some of the cheapest I have seen. I've bought from them for both Arabian Nights and Pirates. I'm certainly not pushing anyone to buy from AGS as I think that the best deals for Universal have been online at the official Universal Studios site with the kids free tickets and the buy 2 days get 3 days free.

I just wanted everyone to know that AGS is not a timeshare.

[loadsapixiedust]

Many hotels have ticket and attraction sales desks in the lobby. There is nothing dodgy or underhand about them. These are not connected to the hotels in any way other than that they rent space, so the hotel would have no obligation to help you if a deal wasn't genuine or you had problems with tickets bought there.
I would be very wary of any individual or organisation who was offering to buy part-used theme park tickets as trading in these is not legal. Also be aware some of the best value tickets on offer to UK guests cannot be bought in the US, if you want them, get them here before you travel.
Each person must make up their own mind whether a deal they see offered is good for them or not.

[LargerBaloo]

CAll it pessimism all you want but the ONLY way too be able to offer that level of discount is if this was linked to a timeshare. The fact they never mentioned it is irrelevent.

When we went last Dec we had our tickets but DMIL/DFIL were buying out there.....we got chatting to a "lovely" guy in florida mall and he was giving them all these wonderful deals "no catches" was not until right at the end when you said yeah well take them he came out with the right you dont get the tickets here....you come for a free breakfast at this resort....bla bla bla....

We said a polite No thanks and walked......I mean if they were upfront about it we could of saved 15 mins of everyones time!!

I buy in the UK everytime and they have never been significantly cheaper in the US unless linked to timeshare!

[tonyfaestoney]

CAll it pessimism all you want but the ONLY way too be able to offer that level of discount is if this was linked to a timeshare. The fact they never mentioned it is irrelevent.

When we went last Dec we had our tickets but DMIL/DFIL were buying out there.....we got chatting to a "lovely" guy in florida mall and he was giving them all these wonderful deals "no catches" was not until right at the end when you said yeah well take them he came out with the right you dont get the tickets here....you come for a free breakfast at this resort....bla bla bla....

We said a polite No thanks and walked......I mean if they were upfront about it we could of saved 15 mins of everyones time!!

I buy in the UK everytime and they have never been significantly cheaper in the US unless linked to timeshare!

Oh well that's it settled then, it must be exactly the same people you are talking about and in no possible way it could be remotely genuine :mad2:

As I keep saying, none of us are in a position to say that deal I mentioned was on offer without catches or if it was a rip off.

Gonna leave all the pessimists to it, know where I will be trying to get my tickets next year and thought it worthy of pointing out to fellow Dibbers. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered. :d:

[melsybaxter]

Last time I was out there I stayed in homewood suites and we had the hilton garden inn opposite us which was like their sister hotel and it was a lot bigger. Iniside there they had someone selling tickets for the parks and dinner shows etc and they did look genuine.
The only reason I dont buy tickets out there is that I prefer to buy them over here as I like to have everything sorted before I go on holiday, jus so that when I get there I can enjoy my holiday.

[FT0006]

If it sounds too good to be true it invariably is! Be extremely careful with things like this. As has been said by someone else Disney and the others sell the tickets with very little room to maneuvre in there on pricing.
To get such a huge discount would indicate something dodgey is going on - or they are subsidising the tickets with another product (ie timeshare).

They are playing on the desire to "get something for nothing" which we all have.

[Anna]

Some ticket places rent spaces. Others are paid to be there. AGS is paid by the hotels to serve as not only ticket sales but also as information and guest services. The hotels pay AGS that is why they usually have the concierge desk. They arrange taxis, rental cars, and give directions to any place in the Orlando area. AGS is hired for Guest Services by the hotels. The timeshares rent places.

I've bought dinner tickets from AGS at the Comfort Suite on Turkey Lake twice and there was no catch. Just discounted tickets. They sell many 4 park and 5 park Flex tickets there but honestly I don't know if they are cheaper there or in the UK.

[Gill635]

I agree with Anna, i have bought park tickets, meal tickets and Universal horror night tickets from the one in the Rpsen, and i have never had to visit anywhere, just bought my tickets and went.

Some people prefer to buy them over here which is fine and their choice - i buy them when i get there from the Rosen or at the gate which is also fine and my choice.

I don't think it's fair though that a Dibb sponsor can come on here and put the idea down in the way that they have. We all know we can buy the tickets from you and will do so if that is our choice - there is no need to do down other companies.

[tonyfaestoney]

Ok it's getting interesting now :spin:

Now have loads of people saying it's definitely a rip off but not being able to substantiate these claims.

On the other hand there are people confirming it is legitimate and this is also confirmed by a competitor to the actual seller.

Still I am sure we can look forward to all the experts in pessimism ruling the fact that, there may be better deals than they are aware of out there :thumbs-up

As I am new I have no idea who the 'Dibb Sponsor' Gill refers to is, but I do find it very interesting that they too are rubbishing the information provided :d:

Thank you to everyone that has not ruled this offer out purely because 'it's too good to be true!'

Hopefully we will find out what is actually being offered by way of somebody popping into Comfort Inn.

[BevS97]

all sides have had an opportunity to express their opinions, and I think it is time to close this now