Discounted Universal Studios Orlando Tickets On Daily Getaways Today

Today’s Daily Getaways offer is from Universal Studios Orlando but they’re directed more at people looking to make a big experience out of a visit as opposed to just a simple one-day trip.

NOTE:  This is ONLY for Orlando.  If you’re looking for Universal Studio Hollywood tickets, read this post.

In case you’re not familiar, Daily Getaways are daily deals sponsored by the US Travel Association.  Some are better than others, so you need to think about whether you can take full advantage of the offer before buying.

For the more popular offers, they will sell out quickly, which means being around right when they go on sale each day at 1:00 pm EDT.  Some offers will sell out in hours, some in minutes.  It’s also important to be patient.  If you click shortly after an offer becomes available and it shows sold out, keep trying.  Someone may have an offer in their shopping cart but change their mind or have their computer crash.  When that happens, their bad luck or change of heart can be your good fortune.

Finally, make sure you pay with an American Express card to save an additional 10%.  Any AMEX card will do.

Feel free to e-mail me or post questions in the comments section.  Good luck chasing the deals you’re looking for!

Universal Orlando Resort Exclusive VIP Experience for $2564 after 10% discount for paying with an AMEX card includes the following for 12 people:

• Be personally escorted on a VIP guided walking tour around both Universal Studios Florida^® and Universal’s Islands of Adventure^®. Departing from Universal’s Islands of Adventure, this experience is geared toward the things your group is interested in seeing. As the only guests on this tour, the choice is yours as to how to spend your day at the parks.

• Gain admission into both parks for up to 8 hours; the start time is generally scheduled at your convenience.

• Skip the regular lines with Universal Express priority entry into rides and attractions.

• Enjoy complimentary valet parking (for up to 12 cars!) as well as refreshments (coffee or bottled water) upon check-in.

• Wear VIP Experience credentials and lanyards.

• Receive select savings on food and merchandise.

For perspective, here is the pricing direct from Universal on these packages.  It’s certainly a discount on the packages, especially since they normally don’t include attendance.  Standard 1-day admission to both parks is $136.  You can generally pay about $200 a person to gain access to both parks and get unlimited access to skip the line.  This could be a good value but only if you were already in the market to spend a bunch of cash at Universal.

Universal Orlando Resort Four (4) 3-day tickets for $630 with 10% discount for paying with an AMEX card:

These tickets are on sale on the Universal website for $185 a piece (tickets for children are $175).  That adds up to about $745 if there are 4 adults.  So, not a huge savings. The Daily Getaways site lists the value over $800.  Not sure where they get that number from, unless I’m just having a bad math day.

Universal Orlando Resort Vacation Package for $2,299 with 10% discount for paying with an AMEX card includes:

• Round-trip coach airfare for 4 people between your local major airport and Orlando.

• Round-trip ground transportation between the airport in Orlando and your hotel.

• 3-night, 4-day hotel accommodations for 4 people (in 1 room) at a Universal Orlando on-site hotel.

• Complimentary 3-day park admission for 4 people to both Universal Studios Florida^® and Universal’s Islands of Adventure^® theme parks.

• Blockout dates include July 1-31,2014; November 27-December 1, 2014; December 21, 2014-January 4, 2015; March 29-April 11, 2015. Other Blockout dates and/or other restrictions may apply as dictated by airline and/or hotel.

The T&C are 100% vague about the airfare restrictions, so it’s unclear how much flexibility you have there.  Orlando isn’t a cheap city to fly to, so if I build in $300 round-trip per ticket, that’s $1200.  Airport transportation is probably $125 round-trip based on my previous experiences to Disney.  The hotel prices are all over the board, but it’s safe to assume an average of at least $300 a night for hotels.  The park tickets are worth $185 each, or a total of ~$745.  Those numbers total roughly $3,000.  That makes this package a reasonable deal, especially if you live somewhere where airfare might cost more.  I have snagged tickets to Orlando for as cheap as $200 and change in the past.  I think it’s safe to say you can get $2500 value out of this package at a minimum.

Bottom Line It For Me, Ed

If you were already planning a trip to Universal Studios Orlando, there are some reasonable deals to be had today.  But, don’t stretch to buy these, as the discounts aren’t monumental.