Entrance Price Increase.. AGAIN!!

[thefatone]

Extremely few people pay it. It's such a small increase (you see items on your supermarket raise higher than this). It really isn't interesting in any way.

The only spin you can really put on this, is that 2 day tickets now cost £50.60 whereas for the past year they've been at a nice set rate of £50 (£5 next day last year, lowering to £4.80 this year).

 

[Dave]

I said this yest in my trip report.

Using the adults go free with kids vouchers we paid almost £90 for a family of 4 plus parking. Thats alot of money. Theres no two ways about it, Alton Towers is a VERY expensive day out - and Im not sure its worth that much.

We certainly wont be back as a family this season, not because our day was bad, but handing over that amount of money hurts. If it keeps going up we'll just go less and less.

See I don't get the problem with it being £90 for a family of 4

Just had a look and if you went to the cinema you would have paid £28 for 1.5 hours worth of entertainment. Use that logic and your 8 hour day at Alton Towers should cost around £150

For chatsworth house if you include the play area and farm it would be £70 for a family of 4 (and you pay for parking on top)

Fancy an educational trip to the Tower of London then it's nearly £60!

Towers is a little over priced but not by a lot on its entry price, in my opinion it's well within the industry standard. It's the food and beverage charges and ride photos that I think are stupidly over priced!

 

[Hitch]

Ive seen families spend around £150 just on entrance tickets before now, its ridiculous, Merlin need to go. >

 

[Benzin]

Ive seen families spend around £150 just on entrance tickets before now, its ridiculous, Merlin need to go. >

I've seen families of 6 or more all have Ultimate Fastrack...

In such cases, the family clearly have more money than sense, and can clearly afford such a cost...

 

[Dave]

Ive seen families spend around £150 just on entrance tickets before now, its ridiculous, Merlin need to go. >

I don't really have a load of sympathy, the discounts are very very easy to find, it's not rocket science.

They have an inflated price to allow for the discounts which they like because it offers them free advertising. It worries me more that some national trust properties are not far off Towers full price without the option for discount.

If it was my park I would make it cheaper but it's not as inflated as some people make it out to be.

 

[Slugjc]

Ive seen families spend around £150 just on entrance tickets before now, its ridiculous, Merlin need to go. >

I don't really have a load of sympathy, the discounts are very very easy to find, it's not rocket science.

They have an inflated price to allow for the discounts which they like because it offers them free advertising. It worries me more that some national trust properties are not far off Towers full price without the option for discount.

If it was my park I would make it cheaper but it's not as inflated as some people make it out to be.

Hit the nail on the head.

For a good day out there is nothing wrong in researching in advance to get the best deal.

 

[Poisson]

If it was my park, the entrance would be a low price and offers less in number....

 

[thefatone]

And probably have way less guests as a result.

Entrance fee £23, or have £46 with BOGOF everywhere. Think we all know what's more appealing and makes it seem better 'value'.

 

[Dave]

It's the prices once your in the park that are the real scandal

 

[SuperMuscleMan]

Its getting to high, the vouchers are beyond a joke, and so is the parking. Merlin are just using there UK parks as cash cows.

 

[Croftybaby]

Grr, Spent the last 20 minutes reading this topic from the start not realising it was started in 2012. :/

Anyway, I'm not going to repeat myself about my opinions on Bogofs and the general state of the park. I'd just like to comment about the number of people here shrugging off the cost of entering the park for a family in general as well as the 60p rise which seems to be brushed off also.

I'm thinking the majority here have annual passes, of course you may brush the rises off and laugh at people who don't go scouting around for vouchers. I wonder if in the future everything we buy will be double priced misleadingly, forcing consumers to hunt around for a coupon to buy their loaf of bread at the normal price?

Merlin don't make the majority of it's money from pass holders, People who visit and probably spend the very minimum on park while not paying anything to get in or any money on parking. You are a drain on resources.
The casual day tripper is where the money is made, the once a year treats where people are prepared to spend a bit on merch and food and these are the very people that are being alienated by being forced to root out vouchers and planning ahead (probably only to find that their forward planning results in a day when the iconic ride is broked again )

Suppose I'm saying it's easy for the majority here to snort off price rises like this, but when it comes to the general public planning trips all these 'procedures' for getting the best price may just put people off or not be realised and cause people to make decision based solely on the gate price meaning they may choose a cheaper day out.

 

[Andrew]

I really don't see why Merlin don't reduce the price to £30 or something around that figure and then get rid of all 2 for 1 vouchers.

This would mean that they wouldn't lose money from the people that pay full price as they'd be getting it back as people would be paying more than if they had the current price and used 2 for 1 vouchers.

They could then offer a slightly cheaper price online around the £26 mark which is higher than the current price of using a 2 for 1 voucher but still looks like a good price in the eyes of the general public.

It's common sense really but, unfortunately, Merlin and the management seem to lack this.

 

[Tom]

The gate price is always relevant. It doesn't matter how many people pay the full price, it's still the price against which vouchers are used, so the argument that a ride to the gate price has no effect on anyone is flawed.

The 2 for 1 vouchers act as a HUGE outlet of promotion for the park and draw in many hundreds of thousands of people that think they are getting a good deal. They've been around for decades and are unlikely to disappear soon - they're a proven business model.

They WOULD love it if everyone booked online, but that is just not workable - at least not yet.

 

[Alastair]

I really don't see why Merlin don't reduce the price to £30 or something around that figure and then get rid of all 2 for 1 vouchers.

This would mean that they wouldn't lose money from the people that pay full price as they'd be getting it back as people would be paying more than if they had the current price and used 2 for 1 vouchers.

They could then offer a slightly cheaper price online around the £26 mark which is higher than the current price of using a 2 for 1 voucher but still looks like a good price in the eyes of the general public.

It's common sense really but, unfortunately, Merlin and the management seem to lack this.

This is what they should do, but there are valid reasons why they won't do it. Number one, the 2 for 1 vouchers provide simultaneous promotion and advertising in the newspapers/cereal boxes etc that they're printed on. Number two, people are now programmed to believe that the vouchers are good deals, and if they were to be removed, I'm not sure that those people would go anymore.

 

[IanB]

Do Alton Towers need to use a BOGOF promotion, no, they have 1.3 million likes on Facebook, which is just under half the number of visitors they had last year (2.7 Million I believe).

Combine this with a sensible TV/Radio/Cinema campaign through out the year, I think you can reach just as many people as the BOGOF does.

As for vouchers been linked to customers getting a good deal, that's fair enough, but it is also linked to a cheaper product, something that is not a premium product, and I am a big believer that the experience at the park should be something that leaves customers wanting to come back year on year, and not needing a push from a advert campaign. If people want to come back, they will tell their friends and family.

As for the price of tickets, and how they are sold, I am not a fan of selling adult tickets to 13 and overs. Adults are 18 and over, and if you want to charge children tickets and adult tickets, you need to use the "Legal" age limits, otherwise it leaves a bitter taste in peoples mouths.

I think a fairer way of charging is under 0.9m is free, under 1.4m is £10 and 1.4m or over is £30. This way your only charging people for what they can ride on, and you don't get in to that silly age row. You also won't get people complaining that they are being charged full price, yet their child can not go on any of the bigger rides. (These prices are in the ideal world, where the park is well maintained, and a truly magical day, half these prices, and I feel that would be value for money with the current offering)

As for price rises, this has to happen, and can not be avoided due to inflation. Maybe I would try and limit the price rises to once every two years, so rather than 60p here and there, it was just £1 every 2 years, at the start of season. I think mid-season price rises just appear messy, and like the park is trying to maximise its revenue.

Crofty raised an interesting point about the BOGOF vouchers being a bit of a scam, and I have to agree. They are available all year round, so its not like its limited time, and its a cheap attempt to make a day at the park look more affordable.

Disney don't do BOGOF Vouchers, Europa don't do BOGOF vouchers, and they are the two best parks in Europe, so why Alton Towers (Merlin) feel the need to continue with them, I do not know.

 

[Dave]

Suppose I'm saying it's easy for the majority here to snort off price rises like this, but when it comes to the general public planning trips all these 'procedures' for getting the best price may just put people off or not be realised and cause people to make decision based solely on the gate price meaning they may choose a cheaper day out.

See the issue with that is to get a cheaper price its not a hard procedure, it's blooming easy to get in a lot cheaper that the ticket price. But that's also not the point the point is LOTS of attractions are at a similar scale of price, often without the available discounts. As already said a family ticket to Chatsworth is very close to Towers.

But even that's not defending the price, no-one has said that the price is good, I just think its symptomatic of a wider industry that has had a false preserve from the recession due to the reduction of foreign holidays which will soon no longer be the case. The only attractions offering a dramatically cheaper day are the ones that are on their knees.

But as I keep saying the true scandal in pricing is after you step through the park gates.

 

[thefatone]

When compared with the independent parks (and considering the availability of BOGOF) you do get good value at towers..

Oakwood - £19 online
Lightwater Valley - £19.50 online
Flamingoland - £27 online (for adults AND children, and bogof are next to nil)
Drayton Manor - £20 online.

Towers - £23.30 with a bogof, for a vastly superior day out. Not much to moan about there.

 

[Croftybaby]

for a vastly superior day out

Thats debatable.

Its also worth noting the above park prices, as they are the 'Actual' price then you benefit from any vouchers such as Clubcard. For example £5.50 in vouchers gets you an entrance to Oakwood. As Towers use the artificially inflated gate price it means the same day out here will cost you £12.50 in vouchers.

I don't have a problem with Bogofs in general in any form of retail but I do have an issue when they become permanent offers. A special offer should be just that, a limited offer for a limited time. Merlins bogofs continue throughout the year and even during closed seasons at the Mediocre-Way Attractions.

A Bogof should be used to attract customers who may not have visited, not be used as a necessity to be able to enter the park at the normal price.

 

[Natalie]

for a vastly superior day out

Thats debatable.

Its also worth noting the above park prices, as they are the 'Actual' price then you benefit from any vouchers such as Clubcard. For example £5.50 in vouchers gets you an entrance to Oakwood. As Towers use the artificially inflated gate price it means the same day out here will cost you £12.50 in vouchers.

I don't have a problem with Bogofs in general in any form of retail but I do have an issue when they become permanent offers. A special offer should be just that, a limited offer for a limited time. Merlins bogofs continue throughout the year and even during closed seasons at the Mediocre-Way Attractions.

A Bogof should be used to attract customers who may not have visited, not be used as a necessity to be able to enter the park at the normal price.

During quieter times of the year when guests are needed.

 

[EuroSatch]

Exactly. The average visitor should not have to rely on BOGOFs to allow a visit to be affordable, and likewise they should be an incentive to visit at specific perioss, not a rolling promotion all year round.

It's playing psychological games with guests. Whilst clever, it's bad form and debatable whether thr product is even worth the BOGOF price let alone gate price