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Alton Towers, Price rises AGAIN!

furie

SBOPD
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Pierre, you're a God-dammed mother **** hero :)

Thanks :)

So yeah, it really does show that in reality, Alton Towers isn't quite the bunch of rip-off merchants it first seems... Except for the AP, but how much of that is due to the change between Tussauds and Merlin?
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
The MAP rises were probably combatting against the Tesco Clubcard people...

Good comparisons though, amazing to think how £30 was the going rate half a decade ago...
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
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I think the only reason family owned parks have had such a large increase is to bring their prices in-line with Merlin parks. They know that they don't have the same appeal as a Merlin park (to the casual visitor that is, not necessarily to an enthusiast), but if Merlin can charge about £40 a ticket, they can price their tickets a tenner below and appear to be value for money.

Meh.

Anyway,
furie said:
t's worth noting that Ian did ask Merlin PR how many people pay full price on the door, and it was in the couple of percent range IIRC.
7%. That was a few years ago now. With this new fangled mobile booking, online offers and **** kicking about nowadays, I'd wager that less than 3% pay full price on the gate prices.
 

Robbie

Hyper Poster
I expect the excuse for the MAP rises would be the increasing number of attractions included, like... er, all those Sea-Lifes and Blackpool Tower.
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
Id argue that under £100 for the MAP wasnt just a good price, it was cheap.

£150 is a good price - obv id rather it was cheaper, but the real issue is the introduction if the premium pass.

The benefits of premium are not good enough for the insane added expenditure. I agree with the date restrictions on the standard pass, but I think the parking is unreasonable. What other benefits ARE there??

You have to also remember, like the one day tickets, the MAP prices are not what they seem... They do numerous sales on them.

Neal's inflation example needs to be taken from multiple similar household examples over multiple years to be accurate. Who knows if that year was particularly hot, cold, you ate more than usual, etc. :p

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Smithy

Strata Poster
Seems to be far more 2 for 1's available this year though. I've collected two today from petrol, seen some in newspapers last week.
 

Pierre

Strata Poster
Not worthy of a new topic but BBC have just published their annual 'Price of Football' results.

They have a small comparison table at the bottom with 'other days out' including Alton Towers, Legoland and Madame Tussauds which may be of interest...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23723537
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
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Yeah, I read that. How a 90min football match can be compared to a 8 hour day at a theme park is beyond me. And only idiots pay full price to enter a theme park.
 

furie

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And only idiots would want to spend 90 minutes with the worst, most misogynistic, fans in the world [/suckinguptoJordan] ;)
 

Mark

Strata Poster
Ian said:
furie said:
t's worth noting that Ian did ask Merlin PR how many people pay full price on the door, and it was in the couple of percent range IIRC.
7%. That was a few years ago now. With this new fangled mobile booking, online offers and **** kicking about nowadays, I'd wager that less than 3% pay full price on the gate prices.

Just a thought, but isn't this essentially the same type of thing that Tesco have recently got their hands slapped over. Hyking up their prices and having a bogof or 1/2 price offer so that it seems like a really good deal but actually, people are being ripped off in the first place.

Everyone thinks they are getting such a great deal when they are doing a BOGOF but its only because the vast majority of guests use them which in turn has led to large price increases in the first place.

Given that so many use the bogofs, the 'real' ticket price isn't £46.80 at all (at Alton Towers for example). The 'real' ticket price is actually more like £23.40... or at least that is how much they need to cover the costs of the business AND make a tidy profit. My point being, that the parks still make a sizeable profit even when they do BOGOF offers (most of the money is not made on gate revenue anyway). So why not just do away with all the BOGOFs and just charge £25 for every person? If they did that they would then need to greatly reduce the AP price cost because that would be far less appealling too.

I guess what I am saying is that it just goes to show how over-inflated the 'actual' ticket price is if only around 3% pay that price and the rest get it substantially cheaper.
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
Because if they put the price down to £20something, you'd still have most people rage about how expensive it is.

The bogof creates an illusion of getting a good deal, something for nothing, and makes people happier.

The fact that removing it would actually benefit individuals is irrelevant. It's like flipping Disney fast track.

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nealbie

CF Legend
furie said:
And only idiots would want to spend 90 minutes with the worst, most misogynistic, fans in the world [/suckinguptoJordan] ;)

Misogyny and feminism are both one and the same. Vile, disgusting, awkward and completely unnecessary! Eugh to both.

As Mark said though, the true price is up to £25ish depending on the attraction. But doing away with the BOGOF, as Joey said, would be nonsensical as then people would complain about having to pay £25 instead of being happy with paying £25.
 

Mark

Strata Poster
Which in turn goes to show how naive the masses really are :-(

That and of course, they wouldn't lower the price and get rid of BOGOF because that would also mean lowering the price of the annual passes, which given the true value of the tickets at around £25, seems like a far less better deal as such. (Unless you are totally whoring the pass like many an enthusiast does)
 

roomraider

Best Topic Starter
Just to jump in on something that was said earlier.

People who point out that no one pays full price because people always get 2 4 1. This is true for the british. But thanks to the British's general ignorance of other languages its the holiday makers who may not speak good English who get screwed. I've managed to get deals at parks in China and Korea while travelling because they have English language versions.

The holiday makers who come to the UK will end up paying full price simply because they wont have seen the 2 4 1 vouchers you see in British papers and food items.
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
Tbf, if you can afford to visit the UK, I think you can afford our park prices.

Obviously a joke, but the point is, the BOGOFs work from a business perspective.

Mark's annual pass point is relevant, though...

How much is it now? Like £150ish?

That means you'd have to visit the most expencive attractions 5 times to break even.

That's a lot. Bet most of us who have passes don't do that...

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