Thanks all for your replies.

Ok, looks like I am out of luck for any type of discount but I will keep checking back. So, how to maximize points if we do book at the "seasonal rate"? I have a CSP and checked the UR site. Loews hotels is not part of the UR mall and the rate quoted through UR travel book w/ points was over $100 more than Loews site. Also none of the resorts come up via Amex FHR so no deals for using
Platinum card...

Have any FT'ers found a way to up the miles/points when booking one of the Universal hotels?

Any single-night stay discount for late Sept / early Oct @ Loews Royal Pacific?
 

Are there any discounts for a single-night stay for late Sept / early Oc 2014 @ Loews Royal Pacific, the Hard Rock Hotel, or Portofino?

Looking to leverage a one night stay for two days of early admission to Diagon Alley (wife's a huge HP fan). Seems like a common strategy.

EDIT: Does Loews Hotels still have a partnership with Amex, such that purchasing either a hotel stay or park tickets with an Amex card provides a discount?

Also, is there really any advantage to being a new Loews YouFirst member? Signed up a few days ago hoping for some sort of introductory discount or incentive.

If your primary purpose is to get the early hours in to the Harry Potter section (and not to get an unlimited Express Pass for rides through out the day), you can look at staying at the new Cabana Bay on-site hotel. It is much cheaper than the other 3 on-site hotels and it will give you the early access to the Harry Potter section. But the Cabana Bay does NOT come with the unlimited Express Pass benefit that the other 3 on-site hotels do.

We are planning a short trip and want to spend 1 night at Universal to get the express pass access. My husband is a big harry Potter fan and wanted to see both areas. Did I read correctly that in order to do so we have to buy multipark tickets because they're in 2 different parks?

Our thinking was to arrive in the evening, spend the day at Universal, and then go on to Disney in the late afternoon/evening. We did it once before and with that express pass, we got to see everything we wanted to in the morning/afternoon.

Thanks hhoope. Initially considered Cabana Bay, due to the low price and early admit to Diagon Alley. However, also like you pointed out, a stay there doesn't get you the unlimited "skip the line" benefit. Although my wife and I have visited the WDW theme parks for decades, she's only been to Universal once and I've never been at all. So it seemed the extra cost was worthwhile. Especially being spoiled using WDW's FastPass system over the years.

Hi Mary,

You're correct that to visit both HP areas you'll need a multi-park pass--what I believe they call a Park-to-Park ticket (the Universal equivalent of Disney's Park Hopper ticket option). This would allowing entrance to both Universal Islands of Adventure (where the initial HP Hogsmeade area is) and the new London / Diagon Alley area located in Universal Studios. Both are connected by the Hogwart's Express train ride which looks quite cool.

Thanks! It's as I suspected. We really only wanted to spend one morning/afternoon there using the front of the line access. It may not be worth for such a short period of time.

I know it may not fit your schedule or desire, but staying even one night at an onsite hotel (except for the Cabana Bay), will get you the unlimited Express Pass for both the day you check-in and the day you check-out.

So you could spend a few hours at one park the afternoon you check-in and a few hours at the other park for the next day (your check-out day.) Doing that, you could get by with only purchasing single park passes for each day. (But note you wouldn't be able to ride the Hogwart's Train between the two parks as that ride does require having a 2-park pass.)

The plan was to spend 1 night to get the express pass, as we did the first time we went.

We have to arrive at night and only have the next day, so it means the park to park pass.

We'll have to think about it some more.

Thanks!