Undercover tourists ticket warning

[tzolkin]

Wondering what we are going to run into with our tickets now. We have 5 day hoppers bought through UT that "expire" 12-31-18. Our trip was cancelled as my wife blew her achilles and had surgery. We are going 1-6. When we called UT to inquire, we were told that the expiration date was actually 12-31-19 and the worst that could happen would be we have to pay the price difference once at Disney. Our plan is to move the 5 day hoppers into APs.

Have you linked the tickets to your MyDisneyExperience account? If so, it will display the expiration date so you can check there if you're unsure.

 

[Marionnette]

Yes you can say my sister should of done a ton of things differently but before that understanding my sister paid for tickets that expired before Disney announced it... but UT knew about the change and still sold the tickets before you had to put in any dates. She bought 2, 4 day tickets and 6, 5 day tickets over a 2 month period. We have used UT for many years for many trips never had an issue so she put them in her safe and today when she could of started FP she finds out the tickets expire 2018. Tell me how UT sends out newsletters every month I never read anything warning ppl that they might have tickets that expired before their trip but UT knew. The only way to find out if your tickets are good during your trip is to call Disney directly because if you just trust the ticket is good and link it we all know nothing can be done. For anyone who knows of someone who bought tickets from UT before May when they didn't tell you tickets would expire going in the next few months they need to call and see if they can use the tickets. I can only imagine how many more ppl will get punched in the gut by this. Just put yourself in those shoes and I do believe you'd feel different about who had a responsibility to notify their customers especially because you're talking thousands of dollars per family.

Disney instituted an expiration on MYW tickets in 2017. This isn't something new. Any tickets sold by UT after Feb. 12, 2017 had expiration dates (with the exception of a few pre-2/12/17 tickets that were left in inventory). Tickets sold in 2017 expire Dec. 31, 2018. This information was made quite clear on the UT website when the change was made. In 2018 , they had some leftover physical tickets from 2017 which expire 12/31/18, while e-tickets have an expiration of Dec., 31, 2019. Initially, their website made no distinction between the physical tickets and the e-tickets. It was corrected rather quickly and the website was pretty clear that if you ordered a physical ticket, it was going to expire at the end of 2018.

Now, I don't know when your sister ordered her tickets but UT was pretty straight forward about expiration dates from the time that Disney initiated the change in 2017. However, there was that brief period, after new ticket prices came out in Feb. 2018, that they did not make customers aware that they were selling physical tickets that expire at the end of this year and not next year. And by "brief", I mean a matter of weeks, not over a 2-month period.

ETA: I found the thread that brought the problem with expiration dates on physical tickets to light. https://www.disboards.com/threads/check-your-undercover-tourist-recently-purchased-tickets.3681370/ I was incorrect about the issue only lasting a few weeks. The thread is from May 2018. That was nearly 3 months after Disney MYW ticket expirations changed from the end of 2018 to the end of 2019.

 

[mom2my3kids]

We have ordered at least four times with no problems, I would contact Disney I thought all tickets were FP accessible.

 

[Marionnette]

We have ordered at least four times with no problems, I would contact Disney I thought all tickets were FP accessible.

They aren't if they expire prior to the dates you're trying to make FP+ for. At that point, they're no longer considered to be "valid admission media" until you upgrade them at a ticket window or guest services. Had the OP's sister purchased directly from Disney, then it might be possible to upgrade over the phone but since they were purchased from a 3rd party the answer will most likely be NO.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

Was wondering how the new Disney pricing structure was going to impact the 3rd party vendors. Even though I have had great experiences in the past, I'll probably be working straight with Disney going forward for my tickets

 

[Judique]

Was wondering how the new Disney pricing structure was going to impact the 3rd party vendors. Even though I have had great experiences in the past, I'll probably be working straight with Disney going forward for my tickets

At this point it should be a non issue. Whoever sells you the ticket, it will have an expiration date. Personally, I will continue to use tickets from UT for the discount.

OP has still not told us when the tickets were purchased. She refers to 'before May' in her last post. Was that 2017 or 2018?

 

[SL6827]

This is one change I wish Disney had never made.
Tickets expiring.

 

[Alesia]

Was wondering how the new Disney pricing structure was going to impact the 3rd party vendors. Even though I have had great experiences in the past, I'll probably be working straight with Disney going forward for my tickets

Ever since tickets started expiring, UT has been very clear about the expiration date when you purchase them as well as on the paperwork that comes with the tickets. There's no need to be concerned as long as you pay attention.

 

[OHVolunteer]

Ever since tickets started expiring, UT has been very clear about the expiration date when you purchase them as well as on the paperwork that comes with the tickets. There's no need to be concerned as long as you pay attention.

Yes this! I purchased physical tickets right before the price increase and they were very clear on the site that any physical tickets purchased expired on 3/1/19 - well the last day of our trip is 3/1/19 so I was comfortable purchasing them. They also had a sticker on the tickets when they arrived again noting the expiration date.

 

[gottalovepluto]

She needs to deal with the reality of where she is at now no matter whose fault it is. She has tickets she can’t use to get FP. She says there was no expiration listed when she purchased them. She needs to get UT to fix it, that’s the only way she gets FPs now. She will have to get on the phone again to UT, she will have to hope she gets a different rep and will have to explain the situation. She may have to get firm and escalate if the front line rep says they can’t do anything.

If she can’t get it fixed after another try or two she has one more option. IF she has proof no expiration date was listed on the tickets or confirmations she can file a complaint about the charge with her credit card company & attempt a dispute to get her money back. I’m not a fan of that option because they may find in her favor or they may not & it can takes weeks to get the dispute settled either way. Super sucky to go through all that and have it found in UT’s favor.

 

[kaytieeldr]

She may have to get firm and escalate if the front line rep says they can’t do anything.

Assuming, of course, that she isn't misremembering the information provided/available at the time of purchase.

IF she has proof no expiration date was listed on the tickets or confirmations she can file a complaint about the charge with her credit card company & attempt a dispute to get her money back

It may well be too late for this. Isn't there typically a requirement that any challenge be initiated within 60 or 90 days of the transaction?

 

[sbarisch]

Have you linked the tickets to your MyDisneyExperience account? If so, it will display the expiration date so you can check there if you're unsure.

Where do you see an expiration? I also bought UT tickets, though e-tickets, in October and immediately linked to MDE. I see no expiration listed either on the e-ticket or on MDE.

 

[tzolkin]

Where do you see an expiration? I also bought UT tickets, though e-tickets, in October and immediately linked to MDE. I see no expiration listed either on the e-ticket or on MDE.

Using the app—


Click where it says “My tickets” and then the tickets should pop up. See in the bottom right corner mine says “Valid through 1/14/20”

 

[gottalovepluto]

It may well be too late for this. Isn't there typically a requirement that any challenge be initiated within 60 or 90 days of the transaction?

1 year according to this https://www.sapling.com/8188839/far-dispute-credit-card-charge

 

[Gman76]

Okay, it appears it is possible your sister was not paying attention.

Hopefully your use of the word WARNING is less about UT and more about people PAYING ATTENTION to what they are buying.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I’m not sure how this worked out, or not. Nor how it actually occurred and who is to blame.
I personally just hope that the trip can be an enjoyable one, not marred by this obvious conundrum. Eek.
Good luck OP!!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

My sister had purchased 8 tickets from UT for her trip in February today would of been her day to start getting her FP set up. When she called Disney they told her the tickets expire in January! She was told to call UT and see if they would do anything to fix it so she called. My sister is a very soft spoken person she was treated horribly by customer service and basically was told that the ticket is good when she gets to the gate but as far as her being able to get FP or anything else that is attached to the ticket sale she can't do any of it. She bought her tickets using UT and she is paying for it with her trip and the other thousands she spent for hotels and dining. All a waste if she can't get FP we check in on February 15th its President week.... anyone know of this or what she might be able to do?

Just wondering how this worked out for you?

 

[Pirate Granny]

I bought tickets from UT and it was very plain that they expired on February 28, 2019.

No problem, my daughter and boyfriend were going with us in January. He ran into an unexpected problem and couldn’t travel. The ticket was assigned to him in MDE so they could make FP+.

I went with my daughter to the customer service at Disney Springs. We explained the issue, and the CM had my daughter call and FaceTime with him so that he could confirm he couldn’t travel (no excuse was asked), and that it was OK to reassign the ticket to me. He agreed and the ticket was assigned to me.

Then I asked the CM, now what, both my husband and I already had AP just renewed and I really didn’t want to lose the $404 the ticket cost. He then allowed me to pay the difference between the $404 and a Gold Annual pass renewal, and put a certificate in my MDE account. If I don’t renew the gold or purchase a platinum pass I will have to pay the difference. Certificate doesn’t expire until 2030.

I was very thankful. It sometimes pay to do such exchanges face to face rather than over the phone.

 

[Alynw]

My guess is this had to do with WDW changing to tickets that are based on date. We have always purchased our tickets from UT and have never had any problems. I wanted to purchase the "old" tickets for our March trip, but when I went on their site it stated that those tickets would not be valid for our trip dates (I think they expired 2/1 or something but can't find the date now). She most likely purchased the "old" style tickets and Disney is now requiring date specific tickets for the timeframe of her trip? Not 100% sure about that, but that's my best guess. I would try calling UT back to get a different rep and see if there is any way to change the tickets or what she needs to do.

I would say u are correct. Disney switched to date specific tickets in October but u could still buy the cheaper tickets from UT until supplies ran out. But u have to read the tickets. UT was very specific that u could buy a hard ticket for the lower cost but that all of the hard tickets expired Dec 31st. They were also selling e-tickets at the cheaper rate that didnt expire until 1yr after it was activated. Im guessing she bought hard tickets not realizing they would expire because of disney goin to date specific. All of UT tickets are fp enabled. They dont even sell tickets that arent fp enabled. Hopefully disney will allow her to setup some fp.

 

[Alynw]

When did she purchase the tickets? And, I’m assuming they’re paper tickets, yes?

We bought our tickets in the fall before the new date-based ticketing came out, but they don’t expire until 1/14/20. I do remember when I ordered them that there was a big disclaimer that popped up warning that if your trip was after some specific day (maybe sometime in Feb 2019) that you must order e-tickets.

But perhaps they didn’t start doing that until after your sister purchased hers when they realized the potential issue. Although I’m pretty sure I remember being given expiration dates for our tickets we bought from UT for Nov 2017 trip too.

I also bought my 2019 tickets back in fall from UT after disney announced the date specific and price increase. My tickets also dont expire until 1/14/20. But i bought the e-ticket as im sure u also did because UT was very specific that the hard tickets would expire 12/31/18. The email i got, UT even went as far as to say if ur planning a trip in 2019 to make sure u buy the e-ticket because of the experation dates.