• 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.

Merlin Annual Pass

rob666 said:
Still the school holidays for the vast majority, so lesser passholders may have filled their boots earlier.
Click to expand...

Ha. Yeah just seems odd that the days either side of it which are also school holidays have plentiful availability, not to mention the general availability.
 
They made a commitment previously that passholders would have ticket access as long as general public did. Not sure it is written down anywhere now but worth speaking with someone in the morning if you really want to go.
 
Tom said:
They made a commitment previously that passholders would have ticket access as long as general public did. Not sure it is written down anywhere now but worth speaking with someone in the morning if you really want to go.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I don't think that will work out timing wise as we'd need to have left by the time we have an answer but i might inquire regardless for future reference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tom
Bowser said:
Interesting. I don't think that will work out timing wise as we'd need to have left by the time we have an answer but i might inquire regardless for future reference.
Click to expand...
If you're in London anyway, it's honestly just worth a punt. It's really not difficult to get to and extremely central, even if the crowds did use to bother me when I was a gosling and trying to get through my front door. Worst they can say is no and you've not really wasted any time. If they say yes, then that works out for you too!
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
If you're in London anyway, it's honestly just worth a punt. It's really not difficult to get to and extremely central, even if the crowds did use to bother me when I was a gosling and trying to get through my front door. Worst they can say is no and you've not really wasted any time. If they say yes, then that works out for you too!
Click to expand...

Wasn't going to be in London other than this. Anyway, spent an hour waiting on Live Chat but no response so will have to remain a mystery.
 
Tom said:
They made a commitment previously that passholders would have ticket access as long as general public did. Not sure it is written down anywhere now but worth speaking with someone in the morning if you really want to go.
Click to expand...

Just to update this, i had a read through the Terms and Conditions and there are multiple references to them being free to restrict attendance numbers at any time, including by pass type and no reference to pass-holders having equal access to ticket availability.

To further cement this i noticed again at Madame Tussauds both tomorrow and Saturday have no MAP availability but plentiful tickets.

So does seem for whatever reason they are severely restricting MAP access at this particular attraction.

I've emailed to see if i can get any further clarification as don't imagine Live Chat will be productive on this matter.
 
Thanks a lot for that. Might have been something as simple as a Facebook reply comment, but will try and dig it out.

They received a lot of crap for the issue on Watchdog during peak Covid years and I think that's what led to the u-turn at the time.

EDIT: Didn't take too long.
https://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/passholder-hub/blog/merlin-annual-passholder-faqs/
Wednesday April 6th 2022

There are currently day tickets available but no tickets for Passholders – what’s happening?

So long as day tickets are available at the attraction, Passholders should also be able to book. Our attraction teams update Passholder tickets daily, so please check back over the next 24 hours if a date appears to be unavailable. Do let us know ASAP if you're having trouble booking via Twitter or LIVE chat and we will get in touch with the attractions.
 
Tom said:
Thanks a lot for that. Might have been something as simple as a Facebook reply comment, but will try and dig it out.

They received a lot of crap for the issue on Watchdog during peak Covid years and I think that's what led to the u-turn at the time.

EDIT: Didn't take too long.
https://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/passholder-hub/blog/merlin-annual-passholder-faqs/
Wednesday April 6th 2022

There are currently day tickets available but no tickets for Passholders – what’s happening?

So long as day tickets are available at the attraction, Passholders should also be able to book. Our attraction teams update Passholder tickets daily, so please check back over the next 24 hours if a date appears to be unavailable. Do let us know ASAP if you're having trouble booking via Twitter or LIVE chat and we will get in touch with the attractions.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Well now i'm more confused!

Could be they've updated again since then as that's almost 2 years ago?

Or could be Madame Tussauds has different exclusions as they don't do day tickets but time allocations.
 
I would say it's likely they have quietly u-turned again and they need to be held account if that's the case.

Might just be midways, and maybe only London at that. Not noticed anything at parks so far but keep your eyes peeled people.
 
It could also be that Passholder pre-book slots are fully booked, and more haven't been released, but it should not necessarily prevent you from accessing the attraction on the day.
 
Tom said:
I would say it's likely they have quietly u-turned again and they need to be held account if that's the case.

Might just be midways, and maybe only London at that. Not noticed anything at parks so far but keep your eyes peeled people.
Click to expand...

No i've never encountered it at any park in the last 3 years and almost always book the night before or morning of. Not really plausible that any park would be "full" outside of a few peak days anyway i imagine.

Going up there and chancing it just isn't worth the risk though when you have children and travel involved.
 
Bowser said:
No i've never encountered it at any park in the last 3 years and almost always book the night before or morning of. Not really plausible that any park would be "full" outside of a few peak days anyway i imagine.

Going up there and chancing it just isn't worth the risk though when you have children and travel involved.
Click to expand...
I personally have never encountered a problem going to a midway attraction, or a theme park without booking, but I can appreciate the uncertainty and anxiety that others may feel with "chancing" it. Caveat that I have always booked for Scarefest. With that said, however, I've never scanned the pre-book ticket barcode, just my AP. I don't know if the system is built to recognise an AP gate scan as a pre-book gate scan, (the ticket numbers and barcodes are different) or if I've accidentally been reducing capacity for years.

I've always been under the impression that as long as the attraction has capacity to sell, the capacity can either be used by a walk up gate ticket purchase, or an annual pass user. I've always presumed that a certain amount of pre-book slots are ring fenced for Annual Pass holders, for those who want to guarantee entry in advance if the attraction is a sell out (much more likely with COVID), but that the pre-book slots are just a small percentage of permitted visitor numbers. You wouldn't want to have your entire capacity booked out in advance by those who aren't paying for an attraction specific ticket, but there's no reason why you wouldn't permit them as part of your on the day / at the gate capacity.

I'm aware that pre-booking is used to control capacity and to not have the attraction overwhelmed. Growing up I do remember having to fight through the Tussaud's queue to get to my front door, pecking ankles as I passed, and of course that queue is nothing like it used to be.

It would be useful if Merlin gave some definitive and up to date guidance on this issue.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I personally have never encountered a problem going to a midway attraction, or a theme park without booking, but I can appreciate the uncertainty and anxiety that others may feel with "chancing" it. Caveat that I have always booked for Scarefest. With that said, however, I've never scanned the pre-book ticket barcode, just my AP. I don't know if the system is built to recognise an AP gate scan as a pre-book gate scan, (the ticket numbers and barcodes are different) or if I've accidentally been reducing capacity for years.

I've always been under the impression that as long as the attraction has capacity to sell, the capacity can either be used by a walk up gate ticket purchase, or an annual pass user. I've always presumed that a certain amount of pre-book slots are ring fenced for Annual Pass holders, for those who want to guarantee entry in advance if the attraction is a sell out (much more likely with COVID), but that the pre-book slots are just a small percentage of permitted visitor numbers. You wouldn't want to have your entire capacity booked out in advance by those who aren't paying for an attraction specific ticket, but there's no reason why you wouldn't permit them as part of your on the day / at the gate capacity.

I'm aware that pre-booking is used to control capacity and to not have the attraction overwhelmed. Growing up I do remember having to fight through the Tussaud's queue to get to my front door, pecking ankles as I passed, and of course that queue is nothing like it used to be.

It would be useful if Merlin gave some definitive and up to date guidance on this issue.
Click to expand...
There is definitely no system link-up between scanning your annual pass and whether or not you have pre-booked - at AT at least the turnstiles will always let you through. However on busy days I have been asked to present my annual pass to a staff member with proof of pre-book, especially if it's a blackout day for certain pass types. Some attractions might be more stringent with checks than others. I'd expect to need to book a timeslot for something like a Sealife Centre.
 
So Merlin have replied to my query (i'm in bold, they're italics):

I've been trying to book our first visit to Madame Tussauds London with our Platinum passes but keep coming across days where booking is completely unavailable despite plentiful availability of paid admissions. I wanted to check if this was a glitch with the booking portal or are there significant limits for Annual Passholders at this attraction?

Thank you for contacting the Merlin Annual Pass Team.

I completely understand your concerns regarding the space for standard day tickets when there isn't any for passholders. Please allow me to explain why this sometimes occurs.

We've kept the pre-booking system in place so we can keep an eye on our numbers and to guarantee entry to our pass holders to avoid disappointment and being turned away if we had reached capacity at the time you arrive. Whilst restrictions have lifted and our attractions are returning to normal, we still want to make sure we have tickets for everyone available, so require all of our guests to pre-book.

Because of the way our system works, we have to have different tickets for Passholders and standard guests. However, when Passholder tickets sell out, we will notify the attraction to see if it is possible to move 'paid' standard tickets over to Passholders slots. This is a manual process, so sometimes there is a delay in arranging this, and unfortunately it is not always possible - I do apologise if this was the case when you were trying to get booked in.

If this happens in the future please do get in touch with us and we will try to help get you booked in. We do take slightly longer to reply to emails, so if you are wanting to visit on the same or next couple of days, please do get in touch with us on Live Chat or by phone.

I hope this information helps and you have a lovely day!
 
Just wanted to share my recent experience of attempting to book a hotel room at Towers for Friday 15th March (night prior to opening) through Merlin Holiday Club (MHC).

Spoiler alert: It resulted in the furious typing of a complaint letter.

When I checked the MHC site, there were no rooms showing except for CBeebies Hotel at £218, and a Treehouse for £800. What great value I hear you say.
When I checked the Alton Towers booking website, directly, Alton Towers Hotel showed for £198 and Splash for £168.

After fighting with the absurdly unintelligent automated bot, I managed to speak to a staff member via Facebook Messenger. I asked why there were no rooms for 15th March on MHC despite there clearly being availability as I could see it on the Alton Towers website.

I was advised:

“With Merlin Holiday Club there is a limited availability that is separate to the availability to the booking on the Alton Towers website”.
Click to expand...

When I asked for further clarification I was then advised:

“All discounts have a limited availability and the Merlin Holiday Club is not available for all rooms. The terms and conditions should state that all discounts are subject to availability.”
Click to expand...

I then learned from a friend who had tried to book a room, and had called the team to discuss their experience of being unable to book a discounted room, that there was more to it.

March 15th had been designated a "restricted date" and there were to be no discounts available.

News to me that there is now an option for Merlin/attractions to designate "restricted dates" for bookings and therefore blanket stop any discounts... anyone else come across this?

My furious letter went something like this:
  • This is not advertised when purchasing a pass - perks include 20% off accommodation, or "up to 25% off" at Alton Towers, depending on which of the hundreds of contradicting web pages you come across.
  • The terms and conditions of my Annual Pass do not reference anything specifically around restricted dates where discounts will not be offered (I acknowledge S26 which states discounts are subject to change at any time).
  • In plain English, passholder discount on stays has changed from being an advertised discount available for use when the passholder chose to use it, to being something that Merlin/attractions have control over at their discretion and when they designate ‘availability’, except there is no information to tell passholders when that is.
  • If I apply this logic to everyday life, for example Tesco Clubcard prices, it really doesn’t make sense. If I pick up a tin of beans which is lower on Clubcard price, I expect to pay the lower price because I have a Clubcard. If I get to the till and the checkout staff tell me that the allocated number of tins of beans in the Clubcard offer has run out, but the shelf is still full of tins and the label is still telling me there’s a Clubcard price, I haven’t been fully informed of this and therefore Tesco have hidden some key information about that offer. If the beans are out of stock, I accept I’ve missed the offer.
I believe a few people have raised this with the booking team and also sent in complaints.

The outcome?

...Discounted rooms for 15th March are available tonight...

The concern for the future?
A fundamental and substantial change has been made quietly, and has been done deliberately without telling passholders. Introducing silent ‘restricted dates’ is a huge change which has not been advised to passholders, and there is no information explaining this anywhere.

GO MERLIN!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top