Changing how we release Passholder tickets
- Friday August 6th 2021
- Merlin Annual Pass
- New for 2021
Passholders! The summer holidays are now in full swing, restrictions are easing, and we hope you’re having an awesome time at our magical attractions! Whilst we have you, we’d like to let you know about an important update regarding pre-booking, so please read on.
Since re-opening this year, we’ve released Passholder tickets a little differently from normal. Previously, we released Passholder tickets in waves, giving you plenty of notice when the next round of tickets would become available to help you plan in order to have the best chance of booking the tickets you wanted. After careful consideration, from Monday 9th August 2021, we will revert to making Passholder tickets available to pre-book for the entire year in accordance with each respective attractions’ calendar of events.
Why did you release Passholder tickets in waves this year?
We implemented the ‘save the date’ and ‘tickets now live' approach this year in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. We wanted to release tickets cautiously to ensure that all Passholders could pre-book the dates they wished to visit our magical attractions. In releasing tickets this way, most Passholders have been able to secure their preferred dates throughout the year.
Why are you no longer releasing tickets in waves?
With Covid-19 restrictions easing and after careful consideration, from Monday 9th August 2021 we will revert to making Passholder tickets available to pre-book for the entire year, in accordance with each respective attractions’ calendar of events. To reassure you about this change, we wanted to let know about the measures we’ve taken before reaching this decision.
This July our attractions increased their Passholder ticket allocation significantly in accordance with the latest Government updates around social distancing, helping improve Passholder availability at our attractions.
In addition, we also introduced the three pre-book rule* earlier this year alongside our new pre-booking system, which helps prevent Passholders from overbooking or booking slots they did not intend to use, creating a fairer system for all.
Following the introduction of the above measures there’s currently plenty of Passholder slots available at our attractions, including the ability to use your Pass to visit on the same day if we have tickets left!
When will October – December Passholder tickets be available?
All attractions will release October – December 2021 Passholder tickets from Monday 9thAugust onwards. This will be a staggered release, so please check back regularly on the Passholder Pre-Book Hub throughout the week to pre-book visits to your favourite attractions and events for the rest of this year. Please note special ticketed events at our attractions outside of our usual operating calendar such as Winter’s Tail at Chessington World of Adventures may take longer than regular day tickets to appear, so please keep an eye on our social media channels for updates on these!
*Six pre-books for Platinum Passholders.
We hope this helps to explain why we’re making this change from August onwards and we look forward to welcoming you to the attractions for more magical days out this autumn and winter!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the three pre-book rule still in place?
For us to continue to manage our attraction capacities to ensure we deliver the very best and most magical days out possible for our guests, including you our Passholders, everybody will continue to be required to pre-book a ticket to our attractions.
Is the three pre-book rule here to stay?
Following the introduction of the three pre-book rule, there is great availability at the attractions, including the ability to use your pass to visit on the same day if there is availability. Therefore, we plan to continue with the three pre-book rule at this time to continue to be able to offer this availability to you our Passholders, and we will let you know if this changes moving forward.
Why are you releasing tickets throughout the week rather than at one time?
We are staggering the release of tickets throughout the week in order to help you book the tickets you’re after as quickly and easily as possible. We do still anticipate a higher amount of traffic than normal during the week, so you may be placed in a queue for a little while before pre-booking.
