Loyalty Points Concern

[poidy]

Hello Insider,

Just an email reference the new 'Loyalty Points System' that the club have implemented.

Whilst i agree with rewarding 1901's and Withdean season ticket holders it does seem like away fans who dont come into these two categorys have been completely overlooked.

How can the club reward PREVIOUS season ticket holders, yet PREVIOUS away games attended aren't rewarded. Especially when last season we were encouraged to purchase away tickets online in advance. On more than one occasion it was suggested that having this purchase history would be factored into the new loyalty scheme. Bearing in mind that by doing so fans were being charged more for the online booking fee which they wernt liable for if they waited and purchased on the day.

If the club are rewarding season ticket holders from last season than surely away fans should be rewarded too. Surely you've got to do it for both or not at all?

On a side note it appears each league away game is worth ten loyalty points. Did the club not consider awarding these points based on location? It seems highly unfair that someone who travels to pompey away is rewarded with the same points as someone who travels to middlesborough away. I think the club have missed another trick here.

Insider, this isnt a whinge at you and apologies if its come across that way. Furthermore i do appreciate that you cant please everyone with changes like this. That said, I think if the club can resolve the two 'away' concerns ive raised(a view which i know is shared by many)then we could have a very good scheme in place

Many Thanks

 

[BHAryan]

Id also like to add..i hadnt heard that each away game will be ten points but its stupid to think that the 3000 pdd who goto pompey get 10points and the 500 odd (maybe more including myself) who goto cardiff on a tuesday night also get 10

 

[BASINGSTOKESEAGULL]

Great post, my thoughts entirely.

 

[BHAMAN]

....and spot on as far as I'm concerned too. Historic away game purchases should count for something.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The news item published on the Club website in March certainly gives the impression that away tickets purchased through the Club last season will accrue points.


Albion Launch Loyalty Scheme

Posted on: Fri 18 Mar 2011

By Paul Camillin

Albion will launch a new loyalty scheme for all supporters when they move to the new American Express Community Stadium this summer.

The scheme will be used to prioritise ticket sales for high-profile matches and ensure those fans who regularly support the Albion will be able to purchase their tickets first.

Loyalty points will be awarded when a supporter purchases a ticket for a home or away league or cup match and quotes their fan number - and then for important games, the club will announce how many points are required to apply in the priority period.

New and existing season ticket holders are automatically members, so too are those fans who have already registered with the club's online ticket system, or bought match tickets in the last two seasons.

Managing director Ken Brown commented, "The huge increase in season ticket holders at the Amex, and our fantastic away support means we have decided to introduce this scheme.

"It won't apply to all games, it will depend on anticipated demand, and where we envisage demand outweighing our ticket allocation, this is the fairest way to distribute tickets.

"The important message to fans is to always quote their fan numbers whenever purchasing tickets for home or away matches."

Further details will be announced in due course, including the number of points awarded for purchasing a season ticket, home, away and cup matches will be announced in due course.

Points cannot be added retrospectively, thus supporters are advised to avoid purchasing away tickets from the away club, on the day, as loyalty points cannot be awarded in these instances, because the club cannot track these sales.


Note the highlighted paragraphs ...
"The important message to fans is", not "will be";
"are advised", not "will be advised"

 

[Beach Hut]

Well whatever the Insider will not be reading this thread on the main board

 

[Deleted User X18H]

People need to realise Brighton & Hove Albion are moving on. We are now a Premiership club in all but status. The club are not going too swayed by a small minority suggestion that new initiatives aren’t quite correct or fair.

We all have to move on and embrace the new Albion and enjoy the ride. The board have obviously sat down and come up with a formula they think is best.

The Albion can't play to everyone’s tune. This scheme personifies Albion's loyalist fans. Those that spent a fairly large amount of cash to sit in a ramshackle stadium, occasionally in the rain and often watching dreadful football

The Albion is moving on. Move with them.

 

[kingcole]

OVeral the scheme is good. The idea of rewarding those who supported the Albion financially last season (via a Withers ST) makes perfect sense, however, I also remember making a specific effort to buy away tickets thru the club, as we were advised every time. It really isn't fair that these games are not taken into account.

This is not a moan from me. As a withers STH I am probably going to be OK, but it really does appear that those who attended a lot of games, home and away last year, are going to be at a disadvantage.

As for extra points being awarded for the geographical location - this could be tricky to administerm, and from the club's POV it's just unfortunate that Pompey on a Saturday afternoon if the 1st away game, and will be the away game with most demand in relation to the number of tickets available.

I think this scheme could have been made close to perfect by awarding 10 points for every home and away game attended last season, and for this season, 250 points would have sufficed for this year's Amex STH's, which would mean someone who bought a ticket for every game, by the end of the season would have similar priorities so someone who paid for their games up front.

 

[Mackenzie]

Oh well at least we'll be in the newspaper a bit more now the team is in the championship. It is fairly ridiculous that I attempt to support Brighton whilst living in South Wales.

 

[IndependentWSU]

Why the massive allocation of 1000 points for Amex ST's. I feel this is the issue for non ST's.

For instance a Non STH could in theory go to more games than a STH but be lower on the priority list. For a non STH it will take a long time to amass close to 1000 points.

A big issue could arise when/if Albion get to Wembley. Tickets will be allocated on loyalty basis, there will be some pretty annoyed loyal Away fans then.

Its an awkward situation for many fans, but the club have implemented a system which in time will be fair.

 

[GOM]

Seems a bit of a waste of time awarding 10 points for home and away matches when 18000 fans are starting off with 1000+ points in the loyalty bank.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

A big issue could arise when/if Albion get to Wembley. Tickets will be allocated on loyalty basis, there will be some pretty annoyed loyal Away fans then.

A game at Wembley is likely to be the least problematic. There will be thousands of seats still available, once everyone with any degree of priority has had their chance to buy one early. The only mistake the Club could make would be to allow STHs to buy more than one ticket each during the priority period.

 

[Bozza]

Seems a bit of a waste of time awarding 10 points for home and away matches when 18000 fans are starting off with 1000+ points in the loyalty bank.

I'm not sure we can determine that yet.

Say, half way through the season, the following phases could be offered for a game...

Phase 1: 1300+
Phase 2: 1100+
Phase 3: 1000+
Phase 4: 250+
Phase 5: 100+
Phase 6: free for all

Those non-season ticket holders who have attended 10 or more games would still be ahead of the crowd who just fancy a game.

 

[DanielT]

The other thread said points are being added by Thursday. Isn't writing a letter two days before that a little premature?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

The news item published on the Club website in March certainly gives the impression that away tickets purchased through the Club last season will accrue points.


Albion Launch Loyalty Scheme

Posted on: Fri 18 Mar 2011

By Paul Camillin

Albion will launch a new loyalty scheme for all supporters when they move to the new American Express Community Stadium this summer.

The scheme will be used to prioritise ticket sales for high-profile matches and ensure those fans who regularly support the Albion will be able to purchase their tickets first.

Loyalty points will be awarded when a supporter purchases a ticket for a home or away league or cup match and quotes their fan number - and then for important games, the club will announce how many points are required to apply in the priority period.

New and existing season ticket holders are automatically members, so too are those fans who have already registered with the club's online ticket system, or bought match tickets in the last two seasons.

Managing director Ken Brown commented, "The huge increase in season ticket holders at the Amex, and our fantastic away support means we have decided to introduce this scheme.

"It won't apply to all games, it will depend on anticipated demand, and where we envisage demand outweighing our ticket allocation, this is the fairest way to distribute tickets.

"The important message to fans is to always quote their fan numbers whenever purchasing tickets for home or away matches."

Further details will be announced in due course, including the number of points awarded for purchasing a season ticket, home, away and cup matches will be announced in due course.

Points cannot be added retrospectively, thus supporters are advised to avoid purchasing away tickets from the away club, on the day, as loyalty points cannot be awarded in these instances, because the club cannot track these sales.


Note the highlighted paragraphs ...
"The important message to fans is", not "will be";
"are advised", not "will be advised"

I KNEW I had read that somewhere. It was definitely indicated that away matches from when the scheme was first mentioned would count.

Even if they just took say, the last five away games, and awarded points for them it would be a start.

 

[8ace]

I would like to see more points given for the further afield games. We have some very loyal fans who go to all of these games and it would be a shame if they missed out on a big game. There are not a huge number who fall into this category (<100) so accommodating wouldn't put that many STHs out of contention. Besides I'd rather one of these regular fans was sat next to me at an away game than some JCL West Ham fan day tripper.

 

[Bozza]

I would like to see more points given for the further afield games. We have some very loyal fans who go to all of these games and it would be a shame if they missed out on a big game. There are not a huge number who fall into this category (<100) so accommodating wouldn't put that many STHs out of contention. Besides I'd rather one of these regular fans was sat next to me at an away game than some JCL West Ham fan day tripper.

Will it make any difference though?

For the ultra-loyal home and away fan who goes to Middlesborough as well as West Ham - he'll already be at the top of the list whether he gets 1, 10 or 100 points for the Middlesborough game.

Those who are Northern based, don't have season tickets and tend to mainly go to games in the Midlands/North will be a long way down the pecking order. But, most/all of the games they want to go to will not sell out anyway, so they'll still get in easily.

 

[Easy 10]

It wouldn't be the Albion if there wasn't some kind of ticketing binfest would it.

Pompey aside, 99% of the time at this level demand will not outstrip supply anyway, so there's really no point in getting overly het-up with all of this.

 

[strings]

I think this is the right scheme. I have worked with a very similar (in fact, almost identical) scheme elsewhere and it does work. By the time the 3rd round of the cup comes along there will be non STH's with 150+ points, 100+ points, etc. And, if we are lucky enough to get to the play-offs, the fans that have been to matches in the current season have priority after season ticket holders. The only time it doesn't really work is where there are less tickets for big matches than there are people in the top priority grouping, which is pretty rare.

I also think it is correct that the points are 'wiped' every season, and points from the current year cannot be carried over. Otherwise you then get ex-STH's who potentially haven't been for a couple of years getting priority for big games before fans that have been lots in the current season.

It wouldn't be the Albion if there wasn't some kind of ticketing binfest would it.

Pompey aside, 99% of the time at this level demand will not outstrip supply anyway, so there's really no point in getting overly het-up with all of this.

Basically, in my opinion, Easy is right - so there is little point in worrying anyway.

 

[GOM]

It wouldn't be the Albion if there wasn't some kind of ticketing binfest would it.

Pompey aside, 99% of the time at this level demand will not outstrip supply anyway, so there's really no point in getting overly het-up with all of this.

Agree with Easy10, although I would add at least a couple more, CP and West Ham.

I'm not sure we can determine that yet.

Say, half way through the season, the following phases could be offered for a game...

Phase 1: 1300+
Phase 2: 1100+
Phase 3: 1000+
Phase 4: 250+
Phase 5: 100+
Phase 6: free for all

Those non-season ticket holders who have attended 10 or more games would still be ahead of the crowd who just fancy a game.

The point is that the loyalty points won't be needed for most games, but the 100 points aren't going to be worth anything for the BIG ones as those with over 1000 will probably take the full allocation.

So to summarise, points not needed most of the time, only STHs etc will have sufficient for the biggies, so why waste time with 10 points here and there ?