[Albion] AEK Athens - ticketing process, tiers and all that jazz

[Dave the hatosaurus]

Do you think enough tickets reappeared then? Still didn't seem to be as many as I expected to see.

Assuming that 1:50 ftlushout was manual, I wonder if someone forgot to also press the "Sold Out" button to keep everyone out until 2pm.

100% agree that not enough tickets reappeared and also noted they had all gone BEFORE 2.00

 

[Hamilton]

I gave up my tier 2 ticket in the hope my son would be able to join me in a later bracket. Sadly, not. Gutted.

 

[Titanic]

I don't fully understand this basket-clearing thing but anyway, remember that there will have been a few Tier 2s who could have bought this morning but left it until their lunchbreak, or who suddenly changed their mind about not going, and who jumped in just before the deadline. Not enough perhaps to explain the sudden dip in the final half hour but I bet there were a few who did that.

Simply close the window at 13:45, and re-open at 14:00 with empty baskets.

 

[Titanic]

100% agree that not enough tickets reappeared and also noted they had all gone BEFORE 2.00

The window does seem to open at a random time xx:57 xx:58 etc... that doesn't help with 'transparency'.

With so few tickets to sell to so many keen purchasers it is bound to be sold out before xx:00

 

[jackalbion]

Do you think enough tickets reappeared then? Still didn't seem to be as many as I expected to see.

Assuming that 1:50 ftlushout was manual, I wonder if someone forgot to also press the "Sold Out" button to keep everyone out until 2pm.

Yeah about 30 or so appeared.

 

[Giraffe]

Do you think enough tickets reappeared then? Still didn't seem to be as many as I expected to see.

Assuming that 1:50 ftlushout was manual, I wonder if someone forgot to also press the "Sold Out" button to keep everyone out until 2pm.

I thought so but now looking through the posts not so sure. There was a movement about 1.44 but arguably not enough and then from there they just went.

1.10pm 79
1.40pm 41
1.44pm 52 (this is when I thought they might have done it)
1.47pm 8

 

[Bozza]

I don't fully understand this basket-clearing thing but anyway, remember that there will have been a few Tier 2s who could have bought this morning but left it until their lunchbreak, or who suddenly changed their mind about not going, and who jumped in just before the deadline. Not enough perhaps to explain the sudden dip in the final half hour but I bet there were a few who did that.

It's this...

1. Tier 1 and 2s were still able to buy right up to 2pm today. Even if they'd already bought, they could still enter the game and view seats etc.
2. Their mates in Tier 3 could only buy from 2pm today.
3. Before 2pm, a Tier 1/2 could select a seat and put it in their basket. If they tried to assign it to a Tier 3 before 2pm, the system would correctly reject it as the person wasn't eligible.
4. However, as soon as it became 2pm, their Tier 3 mate became eligible, the Tier 1/2 fans could assign the ticket to that mate and complete the purchase.

Essentially, they were able to have their Tier 3 mate jump the scramble at 2pm.

This was a loophole a few years back, the club learned about it and changed their process. To counter it, immediately ahead of a new ticket sales Tier opening, they'd flush out ticket site baskets, therefore giving everyone a fair and equal chance.

There's every indication that, for some reason, they didn't do that at 2pm, so "reserved" seats could be allocated and most Tier 3s did not have an equal chance of getting a ticket.

 

[Dave the hatosaurus]

Unless my pal is lying to me (why would he) it happened.

Only reason i asked was because most of the weekend the tickets available were around the 700 mark right up until i last looked late yesterday. Yet when i looked this morning at 8.55 it was 630. Then when i refreshed just as the window opened it was down to under 500 and then carried on down. I could well have missed it but to be honest i did not really see that with that amount available that it was worth doing anyway.

 

[Driver8]

So now my son has a £41 ticket he can't use. And I can't get refunded (I know the T&Cs, etc). Seems fair.

Not sure what your point is. It was very unlikely many if any tickets were going to reach Tier 3.

 

[dazzer6666]

Not sure what your point is. It was very unlikely many if any tickets were going to reach Tier 3.

Indeed - surprised it reached T3 at all.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Another seat has come on sale (15:25).

Honestly guys, leave the complaining until later and keep checking.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

So now my son has a £41 ticket he can't use. And I can't get refunded (I know the T&Cs, etc). Seems fair.

I would go in any case. Depending on your son's age, won't one of you be happy for the other to have the ticket? And you might well be able to get another ticket locally. If all else fails, one of you can sit in a nice bar and watch the game with loads of other Albion fans while the other is at the match. Athens is a fantastic city for a holiday too. The history is astonishing and the hotels are cheap. Go, and enjoy yourselves.

 

[Lewes Punk]

Was Tier 4 and had committed to going out to Athens regardless of getting a ticket or not, so would absolutely be up for watching at a bar with other ticketless fans out there. Knowing how hard getting a ticket would be, was treating it more as a well earned holiday abroad being out there from Tuesday until Sunday and a ticket being a bonus.

I will also be going sans ticket (booked flights and hotel for all 3 games at the outset. Got tickets for Marseille and Ajax so can't complain I suppose). So if there's a bar in Athens where Albion fans will gather to watch the game then I'll be there.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I will also be going sans ticket (booked flights and hotel for all 3 games at the outset. Got tickets for Marseille and Ajax so can't complain I suppose). So if there's a bar in Athens where Albion fans will gather to watch the game then I'll be there.

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to get an Ajax ticket but not an Athens one? Ajax were long gone at T2

 

[Lewes Punk]

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to get an Ajax ticket but not an Athens one? Ajax were long gone at T2

I think I had just enough points to sneak into Tier 2 for Ajax but was just below the bar for Athens (smaller stadium). I got lucky the first time, but not today.

 

[peterward]

I think I have to finally admit defeat. It's the hope that kills

In Tier 3 with 225 points, Been hitting F5 for 90 minutes, and on a few occasions I got in, even got as far as allocating 1 adult, but hit buy button and gone! Then stuck on one area, with constant F5, sold out, F5 etc as less clicks to get to buy button, at one point 3 seats in 46 appeared and then as quickly as Doku passed Milner, they were gone.

I refreshed so many times, I got a message from club site suspecting I was a bot, and have had my ip address banned from ticket purchases, so put VPN and carried on, next port of call is a club email.

pre bought flight on Ryanair (a punt I know) and have hotel booked, hotel at least can be cancelled, can only hope someones circumstances change, cant make it, and the club release a few more.

Had a friend that went to an away europa league game at AEK and he said the experience was shitehouse!

 

[Shins]

I think I have to finally admit defeat. It's the hope that kills

In Tier 3 with 225 points, Been hitting F5 for 90 minutes, and on a few occasions I got in, even got as far as allocating 1 adult, but hit buy button and gone! Then stuck on one area, with constant F5, sold out, F5 etc as less clicks to get to buy button, at one point 3 seats in 46 appeared and then as quickly as Doku passed Milner, they were gone.

I refreshed so many times, I got a message from club site suspecting I was a bot, and have had my ip address banned from ticket purchases, so put VPN and carried on, next port of call is a club email.

pre bought flight on Ryanair (a punt I know) and have hotel booked, hotel at least can be cancelled, can only hope someones circumstances change, cant make it, and the club release a few more.

Had a friend that went to an away europa league game at AEK and he said the experience was shitehouse!

Exactly the same experience as me. Very frustrating! I'd prefer a ballot to save the time and stress.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Had a friend that went to an away europa league game at AEK and he said the experience was shitehouse!

Why did they say that? What happened?

 

[Titanic]

Why did they say that? What happened?

Whoosh!

 

[peterward]

Exactly the same experience as me. Very frustrating! I'd prefer a ballot to save the time and stress.

It is frustrating, but c'est la vie. I was at least fortunate enough to go to Marseille.

Theres simply too many Albion fans wanting to travel midweek to Athens, and not enough seats available...... which in another way is an amazing testament of just how far we've come.

Fair play to all those that got them, its always dog eat dog with such oversubscribed ticket binfests! We can only hope for a few more or the KO stages.

UTA