• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Dynamic Pricing is coming to Towers

S

ScottishChris

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Legend
So, it seems as if Dynamic Pricing is coming to Towers. As much as the theory is that off-peak quiet days become cheaper and peak times become more expensive - I always worry that they will use things like this to implement price rises across the board.

www.bbc.co.uk

Legoland and Alton Towers owner to charge more at peak times

"Dynamic pricing" will see families pay more to enter a Merlin Entertainments venue at peak times.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
So far prices have actually gone down, many midweek dates are now only £29 and even some weekend dates are £34 (last year I believe they were at £36).
 
I think this could also see the end of the 2for1s when the existing vouchers expire in June. Given gate price is £68 that means 2for1 is £34 and that doesn’t lend itself to the days when they are looking to changed £40+ as it’s expected to be very busy.
 
The 2for1 vouchers do work as good advertising when you can't even pick up a box of cornflakes or hand soap without seeing Alton towers or thorpe park branding but yea unless they can make the gate price dynamic too then it makes those codes even more worthless.
 
Another reason along with the car park increase to encourage [semi-] regular visitors to get a MAP I guess
 
Won't this just discourage more people from visiting the parks? Can't exactly see most people paying a lot more for Towers than they already are doing
 
Change the adverts from 2 for 1 to just an AT advert or a discount on something in the park and the reach is still there.
 
George W said:
The 2for1 vouchers do work as good advertising when you can't even pick up a box of cornflakes or hand soap without seeing Alton towers or thorpe park branding but yea unless they can make the gate price dynamic too then it makes those codes even more worthless.
Click to expand...

I wonder if in the modern age of online advertising the 2-4-1 vouchers add much.

It appears that the prices are dropping off peak rather than going up at peak (based on historic online prices) but I suppose it’s something to watch.
 
metalhead98 said:
Won't this just discourage more people from visiting the parks? Can't exactly see most people paying a lot more for Towers than they already are doing
Click to expand...
I think they actually do want to discourage people from coming on the busiest Saturdays. There does seem to be a slight move towards making sure fewer people paying more have a great day out than lots of people on a low price having a miserable day with long waits.
 
It's already there in a way, opening Saturday rose to £59 (from £30-something) before it eventually went off-sale. Believe they are talking about automated systems based on cookies etc like flights and hotels seem to have perfected. Suspect at the moment it's manually increased.
 
Last edited:
ScottishChris said:
So, it seems as if Dynamic Pricing is coming to Towers. As much as the theory is that off-peak quiet days become cheaper and peak times become more expensive - I always worry that they will use things like this to implement price rises across the board.

www.bbc.co.uk

Legoland and Alton Towers owner to charge more at peak times

"Dynamic pricing" will see families pay more to enter a Merlin Entertainments venue at peak times.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...

Pretty simple

Improve the capacity and park infrastructure to accommodate more people

More rides, better food, better transport, better events.

More eating options, more indoor and filler rides, better transport options, better resort options, lighting/paths/monorail improvements etc
 
Mentioned this on the Merlin Topic but didn't know this thread had been created.

I mentioned that I'm on the old Membership £12.99 Premium. This has been held by merlin until April 2025. They also mentioned that Membership prices are changing in my email from 8th April.

(There is currently a sale on memberships with reduced joining fee until then.)

Nothing been.announced on the pricing point of memberships after the 8th April though.
 
Ash said:
Pretty simple

Improve the capacity and park infrastructure to accommodate more people

More rides, better food, better transport, better events.

More eating options, more indoor and filler rides, better transport options, better resort options, lighting/paths/monorail improvements etc
Click to expand...
This is a financial decision, and mimicking one which is used across the industry (and others) to maximise revenue, not to help operations.

You incentivise people to book on quieter days, with cheaper prices. The more people who book the day, the more expensive it gets. People who are looking for a cheap day out, and book early enough are rewarded. People who aren't price sensitive are happy when there's availability at short notice, and will pay whatever the price is.

Dynamic pricing already exists in transport, think "surge" and Uber. It exists in leisure at concerts. It exists in supermarkets, and is only going to get more noticeable with digital shelf e-tickets. It exists in online retail.

The more popular something gets, the more expensive it becomes. This will put off price sensitive people from booking on expensive days, who will then book on cheaper days, which will dynamically get more expensive the more people who book until that too becomes an expensive day.

You'll find that for Merlin this will average out to a higher revenue ticket across the season than the current system. People are, in effect, paying what they think the visit is worth in advance. When you give people a choice like this, you'll find that their average spend increases. You will always have some customers who will refuse to go on anything but the cheaper days, the same as Uber has customers who will walk rather than surge. After the introduction of surge pricing, the average spend for a journey increased for Uber, without customers really noticing.

This isn't about capacity, it isn't about infrastructure, it isn't about rides. It's about increasing the maximum potential for revenue growth across the season, and not just on holidays.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
This isn't about capacity, it isn't about infrastructure, it isn't about rides. It's about increasing the maximum potential for revenue growth across the season, and not just on holidays.
Click to expand...
But I don’t think it’s just about money, I think they might be thinking about growth by improving the guest experience by having fewer people in the park but the same revenue.
 
If anything, this is extremely late to be doing this. Planes, Trains, hotels, theatres, restaurants, taxis, home deliveries, Cinemas, and thousands more examples of other industries do this. The bad press is ridiculous. Supply and demand is as old as the hills.

It's a question of value and productivity, not price. If you're used to visiting on packed out Saturdays, they've fleeced you in other ways over the years. Bankrolling all their DFS style "deals" with extra Fast Track sales, poorer food for higher prices, slashing opening hours, upcharge attractions, and overall quality downgrades. No such thing as the free lunch they've been peddling.

I don't have as much faith as others that we're somehow on the eve of some new Golden era for the parks (although I would love to be proved wrong), but one thing's for sure, those shipping containers most of you seem to love looking at in Forbidden Valley (and I suppose the brand new B&M they built next to them as well) weren't installed for free. And a for-profit organisation certainly didn't do it to be charitable.

I did wonder as I walked around a deserted park on a 10-4 day a few years ago (when the park was properly dead off-peak days), how charging the same for what essentially is quite a different product as a packed out Saturday a few days before, was sustainable from a business point of view. No one there because the price remained the same as the far busier day, selling no fast tracks as everything was walk on, with a payroll and energy cost likely to be proportionately more per guest by a significant margin.

If this does lead to jacked up prices across the board, yet everything remains crap, I'll be the first to call them out. Indeed, that's been the strategy for many years and Merlin had less of my money last year than they've had for a long time as a result. But if they can spread crowds out, add value by having decent priced alternative off peak days for people to enjoy, and invest in better quality experiences across the board off the back of being more productive off-peak, charging more on-peak, then that's mostly a win win isn't it? Hypothetical as I never trust a business intentions.
 
Matt.GC said:
Supply and demand is as old as the hills.
Click to expand...
This, and purely this.
Rampant capitalism at its best...clear cut maximisation of profits.
Scalping by the operator, instead of the tout or middleman.
Now all they need to do is scrap ultracheap passes, or severely limit their use to absolute off peak weekdays only.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
This isn't about capacity, it isn't about infrastructure, it isn't about rides. It's about increasing the maximum potential for revenue growth across the season, and not just on holidays.
Click to expand...

Spot on. By altering prices does not change the demand for a place like Towers, all it does is create opportunities to maximise revenue. Those who are looking to visit on a sunny day in the summers holiday will not suddenly decide a wet mid-week visit for a few £ less is suddenly for them.

The CenterParks situation is a great example. The massively inflate prices during school holidays because they know they will still have high occupancy. Most holiday companies do the same. What you will find happen, is that Merlin will raise prices during school holidays (more so on days that are typically 'summery'). Yep, this is solely about profiteering.
 
ScottishChris said:
Spot on. By altering prices does not change the demand for a place like Towers, all it does is create opportunities to maximise revenue. Those who are looking to visit on a sunny day in the summers holiday will not suddenly decide a wet mid-week visit for a few £ less is suddenly for them.
Click to expand...
I think if prices go up to £50+ like they did for opening day it will make some people decide it’s not worth it and they’ll pick a £39 day instead. Yes choosing between £36 and £29 might make less difference as some people won’t want to take time off to do a weekend, but if they increase the price significantly on the days which are very busy then a lot either won’t go at all because it’s £50+ or will find a lower priced day.
 
jon81uk said:
I think if prices go up to £50+ like they did for opening day it will make some people decide it’s not worth it and they’ll pick a £39 day instead
Click to expand...
Whilst you are right in a sense, if peak summer holiday ticket prices to go to £50+ there will be a substantial amount of people who will be willing to pay as it is really their only opportunity to visit. At £50, Towers is massively over priced, however, people would pay it.

I feel that there is a bigger issue here, and that is generally with Towers [or Merlin's] raising of prices. Merch, parking, food and experiences are all up (and above inflation). It they raise tickets too - that is a massive overall rise. Seeing what is being reported online, it does seem as if Merlin are 'testing the water' at the moment to see what they can get away with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top