Away Tickets

[The Auditor]

The West Ham situation has created plenty of discussion on ticket allocation and fan loyalty.
Is first come first served the best option ( easiest to administer) and if not how should the tickets be allocated?

 

[Marc]

I heard the Away members Point Scheme at Reading worked pretty well, dont know much about it though so maybe RoyalAli can enlighten us? (if infact it was Reading in the first place)

 

[Uncle Buck]

70% to regular away fans and 30% via a ballot to the rest.

 

[Set of Tracksuits]

It must seem unfair if you've missed out on tickets before, but I can't see how else it could (practically) be done.

 

[fatboy]

If England can use a membership scheme will thousands of members I do not see why we can't.

 

[Uncle Buck]

If England can use a membership scheme will thousands of members I do not see why we can't.

Umm, I would say that it is fairly widely criticised, although it has settled down a fair bit, lots of teething problems with it mind you.

 

[Rich Suvner]

surely the regulars are more than capable of getting their application in amongst the first 2700??

i just dont see what the fuss is about

the last time this issue reared its head was when we received a mere 30,000 tickets for cardiff! did anybody miss out?

 

[Uncle Buck]

surely the regulars are more than capable of getting their application in amongst the first 2700??

i just dont see what the fuss is about

the last time this issue reared its head was when we received a mere 30,000 tickets for cardiff! did anybody miss out?

I guess this comes back to the fact that it keeps happening.

At the end of the day if Palace can distribute 750 tickets to their most loyal fans, then surely the Albion can to the same for 2700 tickets for West Ham.

 

[Saint Lennard]

I think it is all irrelevant until the shop stops putting tickets aside for so-called regular punters. That is not a criticism of them cos they are looking after their regulars but any scheme is worthless until it is stopped.

This may be another "stupid" question but could one way around the West Ham scenario be to get an estimation of who is thinking of going beforehand and getting them to put down a deposit then we could have the cash there ready etc. Could we not use the away membership scheme money for that purpose?

 

[The Auditor]

surely the regulars are more than capable of getting their application in amongst the first 2700??

i just dont see what the fuss is about

Not when postie lets you down !!

 

[Titanic]

I am fully in favour of 'first come, first served'.

 

[fatboy]

We are going to have this situation for Rotherham away as we will get an allocation of about 15 and it is the last away game of the season and may be vital.

Regular away travellers plan games in advance. So there is no reason why they cannot buy their tickets for all ticket games in advance and the club would then have a record of how many games each person has been to.

 

[Saint Lennard]

We are going to have this situation for Rotherham away as we will get an allocation of about 15 and it is the last away game of the season and may be vital.

Regular away travellers plan games in advance. So there is no reason why they cannot buy their tickets for all ticket games in advance and the club would then have a record of how many games each person has been to.

Here, here.

 

[pasty]

I do think some kind of "loyalty priority" system should be genuinely looked at.

I very rarely go to away games, but if I do it is either close to home or a "big" match - i.e. one that is very likely to sell out. I think therefore, those that are prepared to go to the arse end of the country on a wet Tuesday night in February, should receive some kind of priority over someone like myself. Say 24 hours.

I'm not sure how it could be governed, but I'm sure its not out of the realms of possibility for the ticket office to keep records of who buys what ?

 

[Indestructible Gull]

This was the response from 'Insider' when I asked the question; clearly the club don't want to change from the current system and fail to recognise that there are continuing problems every season when tickets are over-subscribed.

Not very happy that they are unwilling to discuss with the fans on this point. The club wants its this way so that's that.

===

My Q

The issue of over-subscription for away tickets seems the hot topic at the moment, although this is recurring problem over the last few seasons. Also, I know a lot of fans were not happy at the way the Play-off final tickets where arranged, when regular away fans had to queue for hours with people who never normally attend Albion games.

Maybe it is time to enter serious debate with the fans about a possible loyalty system rather than the present 'first-come-first served' system.

Some possible options have been proposed on the following discussion thread:

http://www.northstandchat.biz/showt...20&pagenumber=3

Please could this be considered by the board?


Answer:


The current ticket system is the one which works best, but as stated before in this forum there is no ideal system when demand outstrips supply. There is no one-size-fits-all application system.

We have tried/considered other options (ballots, away season tickets etc, etc) but in the opinion of the club is that this is the system that works best.

I also think people should wait and see if they are successful or not before they start lambasting the club/West Ham/the police etc, etc.

 

[Rich Suvner]

At the end of the day if Palace can distribute 750 tickets to their most loyal fans, then surely the Albion can to the same for 2700 tickets for West Ham.

It could be called the Always Moaning Society


FACT - many games people have paid on the day, so any type of allocation is unfair cos the club do not have records

to those who refuse to let this lie, get over it and just make sure you're as quick as sending off an application as others - for god, sake it's normally pretty simple to ensure a ticket as long as you are (i) up to date with info (ii) organised

 

[The Auditor]

I do think some kind of "loyalty priority" system should be genuinely looked at.

I very rarely go to away games, but if I do it is either close to home or a "big" match - i.e. one that is very likely to sell out. I think therefore, those that are prepared to go to the arse end of the country on a wet Tuesday night in February, should receive some kind of priority over someone like myself. Say 24 hours.

I'm not sure how it could be governed, but I'm sure its not out of the realms of possibility for the ticket office to keep records of who buys what ?

Use the database !!!

 

[Uncle Buck]

Regular away travellers plan games in advance. So there is no reason why they cannot buy their tickets for all ticket games in advance and the club would then have a record of how many games each person has been to.

That is the issue, the club have the technology to keep a record of all the tickets that you buy and so award loyalty points, but choose not to.

However I do not think all the tickets should be allocated on a loyalty basis as you will once again alienate floating support. Hence going down the road of 70% of the tickets being allocated to the most loyal supporters and the remaining 30% being allocated via a ballot to those that were unsuccesful as they did not have the relevant number of points (this system is entirely stolen from the FA and Englandfans).

 

[The Auditor]

It could be called the Always Moaning Society


FACT - many games people have paid on the day, so any type of allocation is unfair cos the club do not have records

to those who refuse to let this lie, get over it and just make sure you're as quick as sending off an application as others - for god, sake it's normally pretty simple to ensure a ticket as long as you are (i) up to date with info (ii) organised

iii) The post is reliable !

 

[fatboy]

It could be called the Always Moaning Society


FACT - many games people have paid on the day, so any type of allocation is unfair cos the club do not have records

For a new season a system could easily be put in place whereby you either kept your ticket stubs or bought tickets in advance from the ticket office. Regular travellers plan in advance.

to those who refuse to let this lie, get over it and just make sure you're as quick as sending off an application as others - for god, sake it's normally pretty simple to ensure a ticket as long as you are (i) up to date with info (ii) organised

For a game like Rotherham when we will only get a few tickets it is not as easy to beat everyone else in the race to get your application in.