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Merlin Annual Pass

Just a minor update to this but i checked my card and it actually expired on the 11th. Surprised there wasn't an automated email to notify me and encourage renewal.

Will leave it till the day before we go next to maximise value as i believe the renewal period is 30 days?
 
Their systems really are antiquated. Renewal window is a "month" post expiry date. Interested to know if it's a calendar month, or another definition of month you have to renew.
 
I'm looking at purchasing an annual pass for next year for the first time. It's never really worked out as worth it in the past when put up against the bogof vouchers but with multiple trips to my local park at Thorpe and perhaps a couple to Alton Towers it might just be worth it in the long run.

I wonder if Merlin do a January sale on season passes. Is this a good time to buy or did I miss it with the black Friday sales?

Also I'm intending to visit Heidi Park next year so which pass if any would I need to get access to their as well?
 
It’s unlikely there will be a Jan sale since the Black Friday one only finished on 10th December, but there could be one towards the start of the season in March, but nothing is guaranteed.

There is no pass that currently includes Heide Park, but you can get 50% off international Merlin attractions with Silver level passes and upwards.

Up to 50% Off at International Attractions | Passholder Perks

Enjoy exclusive discounts, special offers and more with a great value Merlin Annual Pass! Buy yours today.
www.merlinannualpass.co.uk www.merlinannualpass.co.uk
 
Wildboy1983 said:
I'm looking at purchasing an annual pass for next year for the first time. It's never really worked out as worth it in the past when put up against the bogof vouchers but with multiple trips to my local park at Thorpe and perhaps a couple to Alton Towers it might just be worth it in the long run.

I wonder if Merlin do a January sale on season passes. Is this a good time to buy or did I miss it with the black Friday sales?

Also I'm intending to visit Heidi Park next year so which pass if any would I need to get access to their as well?
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The January sale models seems to have died in the last couple of years, with them switching to pre-Christmas sales instead.

I think they still do a summer sale but not sure of anything else, unless anyone else can advise better.
 
Tom said:
The January sale models seems to have died in the last couple of years, with them switching to pre-Christmas sales instead.

I think they still do a summer sale but not sure of anything else, unless anyone else can advise better.
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I was watching this with keen interest this year / last year.

There was a January 2023 sale.

There was a start of season sale.

There wasn't a 2023 Summer Sale.

There wasn't an end of Summer 2023 sale.

I did, however, get an email offer through just after August bank holiday, for £60 off a new Gold Pass. This was personalised though, I believe because I was subscribed to their mailing list. They occasionally throw out discounted passes to people who are on the mailing list, but don't have a pass, so worth a sign up.

Previous patterns really aren't that predictable, however.

The consistent sales in 2021/2022 can be put down to COVID recovery, and a push to get people back into the parks.
 
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Can't recall - or find anything on a quick Google - for a January sale this year. The first Post-Black Friday seems to have been March?
 
OK thanks. What are the rules/laws on sales these days? Seems questionable to have a sale a month after one ended.
 
Tom said:
OK thanks. What are the rules/laws on sales these days?
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Confusing at best, but there's nothing legally preventing them from doing this.

Promotional savings claims

www.asa.org.uk www.asa.org.uk

As I said, there may not be a general campaign for a January / New Year sale. It could instead be targeted emails.

Tom said:
Seems questionable to have a sale a month after one ended.
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Black Friday was the 23rd of November. Cyber Monday 27th November. Boxing Day sales will start on 26th December (some even on Christmas). It's fairly standard practice to have a sale a month after one ended. We do it every year!
 
Wildboy1983 said:
I'm looking at purchasing an annual pass for next year for the first time. It's never really worked out as worth it in the past when put up against the bogof vouchers but with multiple trips to my local park at Thorpe and perhaps a couple to Alton Towers it might just be worth it in the long run.

I wonder if Merlin do a January sale on season passes. Is this a good time to buy or did I miss it with the black Friday sales?

Also I'm intending to visit Heidi Park next year so which pass if any would I need to get access to their as well?
Click to expand...

There was a sale the last 2 years in January so i'd imagine it's fairly likely there will be again.

Also once you buy one you get the renewal deal going forwards which is the equivalent of the sale so you don't need to worry about it again.

Only other thing i would consider for maximum value is the initial date of purchase as buying it several months before you're going to use it creates a period of dead time, although if you're planning on a long term cycle of renewals which give you a 1 month window then this eventually balances itself out.
 
Alix said:
I have a question about renewals - I will contact customer services but just wondering if anyone here knows the answer.

We have gold passes this year, and I’m pricing up whether a platinum would be better value next year due to meets sometimes happening on gold black out days.

Question is - as I’m renewing a pass, would I get the platinum renewal price, or would Merlin see it as a new purchase and make me fork out full platinum this year? It seems to be £80 difference so not to be sniffed at!
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Just to confirm, i've now renewed my pass and you get the renewal rates (as below) on whichever tier you want.

Splashed out on the Platinum as we were planning on going this weekend (blackout days) although now the weather forecast has changed and it looks a bit rubbish so will probably end up going on a weekday instead, doh. We typically do at least 8 Merlin trips in a Pass year so works out better value regardless i guess and nice to eliminate the need of consulting the calendar i suppose.

Also side note that may be relevant to some, i noticed our previous Carer pass had a later expiry date than the main pass which implied it took several days to process so i bought these today to allow for that but upon completion i received a note saying if your Carer pass hasn't been approved in time you can be issued one on the day if you bring your documentation (i.e Nimbus card). So really i could have renewed the night before (or even morning of) renewal for maximum usage, though seeing as we're pass-holders for the foreseeable not the end of the world.

1702885138767.png
 
Would be interesting to know what the most usage some/value of the passes are. So far I have used my discovery pass which I bought in last years black friday sale for £69 but didn't activate until April this year, 31 usages which works out at £2.23 per visit so far. Though I bundle things like London attractions as 1 usage over each individually so technically more if.you counted each individually.

I track them all in a spreadsheet.
 
We have a merlin platinum pass on monthly membership so we pay each month for it. Do we have to renew it after the 12 months is up or will it just carry on taking the payments out?

The £5 off fast track vouchers (and the other vouchers that are included) that are included in the platinum pass, if you continue the membership after the first 12 months then do you get a new set of vouchers for the second 12 months?

Thank you so much in advance
 
The payments will continue forever until you decide to cancel (or your card expires and you forget!)

No you don't get another set, they're just a one-off at the time of joining.

Hope this helps!
 
Steve74 said:
The payments will continue forever until you decide to cancel (or your card expires and you forget!)

No you don't get another set, they're just a one-off at the time of joining.

Hope this helps!
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Ok that makes sense.

If you get the annual pass and pay for the whole year at once instead of paying monthly, do you then get a new set of vouchers when you renew the pass each 12 months?

Sorry for all the questions.
 
pjanvil said:
Would be interesting to know what the most usage some/value of the passes are. So far I have used my discovery pass which I bought in last years black friday sale for £69 but didn't activate until April this year, 31 usages which works out at £2.23 per visit so far. Though I bundle things like London attractions as 1 usage over each individually so technically more if.you counted each individually.

I track them all in a spreadsheet.
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I had a spreadsheet but I lost it in a laptop rebuild so these numbers might not be 100% accurate.

We had a gold pass for the first time this year, bought with a civil service discount:

TP X 8
AT X 7
CWOA x2
Legoland x2
Warwick Castle x2
Lego Discovery (chimp only) x1
Sealife Birmingham (chimp only) x1

The discount in the shops has also been very useful - I feel we got good value this year and am planning to renew.
 
Don't suppose anyone would know why i cant book Madame Tussauds tomorrow with my Platinum Annual Pass? They have slots every other day, it's not an exclusion date or private event and they have slots available to pay for every session which implies it's not busy...
 
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