• 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

I imagine if covid goes away a bit and restrictions become less. They could launch an alton towers annual pass (not season) at any point next year and ramp the price up like at Thorpe.

I bought my first alton towers annual pass way back in 2011 and that was £100 (or £50 I paid on a half price offer), if anything the price has got cheaper over the years, with it changing to a season pass if you buy at the start of the season.
 
Is anyone absolutely certain that the 'old way' of just being able to turn up will ever come back?

I can't be sure, but it would not surprise me if the new system is here to stay beyond COVID-19 - although I can see them in future allowing more pre-bookings than the current numbers.
 
I am pretty sure that Merlin passholders once Covid goes will be able to just show up. However, due to the lower number of passholders it will have less of an effect anyway.

:)
 
It appears Merlin have taken the decision to continue taking payments from monthly membership holders despite the fact most attractions are closed.

They are however actively suggesting that members who aren’t happy with this should cancel their membership.

I wonder if this is a tactic to get monthly pass holders to cancel, since they will only be able to rejoin the scheme in the Spring once the more expensive new monthly programme is released.
 
Swarm Chris said:
Wow, they've chosen the policy of don't like it, leave?

I suppose those on the 12 month tie in can't do that.
Click to expand...

They aren’t being overly clear about whether people in the 12 month period are able to cancel, it is perhaps a little telling that instead of asking people to login to the portal to cancel (which is the official method if you are past the 12 month term) they are advising people to email them. Again, makes me wonder if they are letting people cancel early to clear down the number of people on the monthly product.

Edit: they are even advising annual pass holders that they can have a partial refund on unused portions of passes. Strange times.

 
Last edited:
AT86 said:
They aren’t being overly clear about whether people in the 12 month period are able to cancel, it is perhaps a little telling that instead of asking people to login to the portal to cancel (which is the official method if you are past the 12 month term) they are advising people to email them. Again, makes me wonder if they are letting people cancel early to clear down the number of people on the monthly product.

Edit: they are even advising annual pass holders that they can have a partial refund on unused portions of passes. Strange times.

Click to expand...

This is certainly an odd timeline we're in...

Reducing numbers or reducing customer service complaints, either way it's quite a change in upfront public policy from Merlin.
 
Covid isn't just going to go away sadly. I think 2021 is going to be fairly similar to 2020. The only thing that can stop that is that if the roll out of the vaccine is efficient and they hit the targets they have set.

Scientists are saying that maybe by August we could have hit the 70 to 80% mark of total number of people vaccinated. However there are people who think this is overly ambitious and it could even be 2022 before the final less at risks groups get theirs.

Lets hope it's the former and we get this under control soon. However I don't think this coming year will be a good one for theme parks yet again. Social distancing almost certainly isn't going away for a good chunk of the year.
 
Benjsh said:
Covid isn't just going to go away sadly. I think 2021 is going to be fairly similar to 2020. The only thing that can stop that is that if the roll out of the vaccine is efficient and they hit the targets they have set.

Scientists are saying that maybe by August we could have hit the 70 to 80% mark of total number of people vaccinated. However there are people who think this is overly ambitious and it could even be 2022 before the final less at risks groups get theirs.

Lets hope it's the former and we get this under control soon. However I don't think this coming year will be a good one for theme parks yet again. Social distancing almost certainly isn't going away for a good chunk of the year.
Click to expand...
I think there’s one key thing that will shape the vaccine rollout and speed at which restrictions are removed in Britain, and that is the approval of the Oxford vaccine. I know that the Pfizer vaccine we’re currently deploying is more effective, but Britain has far more doses of Oxford’s vaccine, and it is also easier to deploy in a wider range of situations. As such, speedy vaccination will be far, far easier once Oxford’s vaccine is approved.

The government is saying that Oxford’s vaccine should be approved by the end of 2020. As such, I personally think that things will look significantly better as we move towards spring/summer 2021. I think the first quarter of 2021 (January, February, March) could possibly be quite difficult, but as we move into the second quarter (April, May, June), I think things will significantly improve.

Even excluding the impact that mass vaccination will have, COVID cases will naturally decrease as we move towards the spring and summer, anyway, as from what we’ve seen, its transmission seems to be seasonal (higher in winter, lower in summer).
EDIT: On that note, approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine is now anticipated to be coming “within days”: https://apple.news/AN3-7X9tpTGm_zpBQcV6Nxg
 
Last edited:
Merlin are quite happy to suffer short term dissatisfaction regarding these changes for the longer term benefit.

I actually applaud them for choosing to weather the storm.

By March this will blow over and the new normal of passes will be here.
 
Interestingly, it would appear that Merlin has stopped selling MAPs once again:

Could more changes to the lineup be on the horizon?
 
Perhaps the increased price didn’t cause as larger drop in pass numbers as they wanted so they have pulled them from sale for now to limit numbers.

After all the reduced capacity of the parks looks set to continue throughout the 2021 season and they need to keep the cash coming in from day ticket holders as much as they can.
 
AT86 said:
Perhaps the increased price didn’t cause as larger drop in pass numbers as they wanted so they have pulled them from sale for now to limit numbers.

After all the reduced capacity of the parks looks set to continue throughout the 2021 season and they need to keep the cash coming in from day ticket holders as much as they can.
Click to expand...

Yep they need a significant drop in the number of passholders to stop the same moaning that was on Watchdog last year.
 
The thing is, the moaning/issue isn't going to go away if restrictions continue, at least not in the short/medium term - because passes that were due to expire a year ago are being extended.

Not selling new passes at this point is a good idea. Anything to lower sales in the present climate. Maintaining renewals is sensible
 
I renewed in mid October (old premium pass) so it's only actually 2 weeks old as the parks/midways have all been shut since then.

Merlin might've been best off scrapping and refunding all the existing pass holders and then launching this new pass for everyone starting from whenever the parks can reopen.
 
Merlin have announced the new passholder booking system will be going live on Monday 8th March.



The new system will allow you to cancel and amend bookings, and perhaps resolve one of the biggest complaints from last year... people block booking tickets and then not using them. The new system will cap the number of prebooked tickets to three per passholder per attraction. For example, you can have three tickets booked for Alton Towers and three for Thorpe Park, but would not be able to book more for either of those attractions until you have either visited or cancelled. Platinum passholders will be able to book six tickets per attraction.

They also will be releasing the tickets in waves throughout the year to stop the most popular times being immediately booked up.

More details on their website here.

Edit to add: Also looks like a further extension has been added. Calculator can be found here.
 
Last edited:
Three per attraction is still more than I think is needed, but then I haven't had a pass for years so it doesn't affect me. I think there will still be issues with people booking their three and then others missing out as all the tickets have gone. Two at a time feels more realistic and then book the third visit once the first has taken place.

There will still be complaints from people who can't book the dates then want. Also complaints at the moment from people who want to buy a new season or annual pass.
 
My original expiry date on my Premium Merlin Pass was actually tomorrow, 27th February 2021.

Just checked what my current one is... 8th December 2021! I’m happy with that; that’s almost the amount of time I would have gotten had I bought another pass after this one ended, lockdowns aside of course!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top