[Albion] un-listing season ticket and the mad cost of upgrades

[dazzer6666]

This doesn't really make sense from my post. My brohter lists his U16 ticket, he gets £5 back and my friend buys it for £57 - whereas he allocates his adult one to my friend and going by money values lised here and £5 to allocate, my friend needs to pay him just under £34. No timing issue there, just wierd pricing anomoly effecively making the U16 seat useless if you can't go.

List it - get back what you paid for it ( less £1)
Upgrade it - pay the difference between what you paid for it and the matchday cost for the category upgraded to
Why is it an anomaly?

if the U16 can’t go, list the ticket and get a refund (less a quid)

 

[pigmanovich]

Listed mine for Forest and it actually sold - not sure I'll be as lucky for Wolves this month or Stains next month but at least I've firsthand evidence the system works.

 

[amexer]

There’s a reason we always have so many empty seats at home games. The club have put profit above putting bums on seats, which ironically is going to mean lower take home on match day revenues.

Our ticketing system is a joke, quite frankly.

Not long ago club penalised ST holders if they missed I think more than 5/6 games. They dont now because they delighted if you dont attend as ticket on exchange is then sold at match day price.and club make a further £20/30.
Last season my son came round 3 hours before Arsenal game and said problem at work and unable to go. At time had just had op on leg and was unable to drive so persuaded my wife to come. Cost my son about £30 to give his seat to his mother. I suppose have to be thankfull STravel did not charge more for my wife using my sons bus ticket.
Things will never change all time all tickets sell. Although I do think there would be far less empty seats if club increased number of games able to pass ticket on from 1 to 3/4

 

[Guinness Boy]

Have to say, I've never understood why folks don't list their tickets when they can't go. I mean, the sum refunded if the ticket sells is not inconsiderable (£20+). Maybe it's a lack of awareness of how the exchange works? Lack of online savvy perhaps? I've missed the last two home games, Ipswich and Forest (through illness and holiday respectively) and both lisred tickets sold, despite the opposition not being maybe the most attractive out there. It all seems a bit hard to fathom

I couldn't go to Chelsea home last season when they rearranged it for Thursday or whenever it was and I was away working.

I very deliberately did not list it as it is next to my 17 year old son who can be a little opinionated (fancy that) when it comes to away players and refs (who he always considers bad). Sticking a Sussex Chelsea fan next to him, which is almost certainly who would buy a single for that game, would not have been pretty.

In general I'll list if we both can't make it or if it's a relatively benign game, but Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs or Arse and just my ticket? I'd pay more than I received bailing him out and contesting his ban

 

[Weststander]

I must admit to not paying much attention to the exchange as to whether listed tickets generally sell or do not sell. I know that it only opens when the club have sold all their own spare tickets meaning that any listed on there must be a season ticket holder not going. So with that in mind i was intrigued enough to have a look at the exchange for the Spurs match this sunday and was slightly surprised to see tickets available for virtually every block in the ground and a grand total of...........
846 !
So it may be the case that some of those empty seats we see are not just people not attending and not listing but listed seats remaining unsold?

My feeling is there are far more empty seats than that (in school term time, weekend games), going by the sample of our part of the NS and we're yards from WSL. Ipswich - loads of no shows around us including 6 in our row next to us, and the row in front. Is it my aftershave ? Not people with kids at games, so "the evil PL" excuse can't be used of having the temerity of setting a fixture when kids have rugby or football. The WSL and ESL always have clear gaps, everywhere.

We only seem genuinely pack out for Liverpool and CPFC2010.

Folk hold on to ST's for dear life because we're in the PL, then attend a few games.

 

[dazzer6666]

Not long ago club penalised ST holders if they missed I think more than 5/6 games. They dont now because they delighted if you dont attend as ticket on exchange is then sold at match day price.and club make a further £20/30.
Last season my son came round 3 hours before Arsenal game and said problem at work and unable to go. At time had just had op on leg and was unable to drive so persuaded my wife to come. Cost my son about £30 to give his seat to his mother. I suppose have to be thankfull STravel did not charge more for my wife using my sons bus ticket.
Things will never change all time all tickets sell. Although I do think there would be far less empty seats if club increased number of games able to pass ticket on from 1 to 3/4

Should be able to pass to members, not just A+ members. Seat has been paid for and club knows who is in the seat.

 

[drew]

I’d imagine one. The need for a friend or family member to become a MyAlbion+ member for £38, and then for the ticket seller to have to pay £20 a year to release the ticket to the appropriate person, make the whole thing awkward and costly.

And just putting it on the ticket exchange is no guarantee you’ll get your money back. I haven’t for Forest.

It’s such a bad system that I’m surprised people with such business savvy have deemed it to be worthwhile. They certainly wouldn’t get away with such folly if we get relegated.

I'm guessing you're one of those that thinks that you paid for the season ticket so it's up to you who uses it, regardless of whether they are an Albion+ member or not, or in other words, your mates can jump the queue.

It's not an awkward system, it just seems those that used to hand their season ticket card to anyone resent the fact they can't do that anymore.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Price of a pint tho eh

Not at the Amex

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I'm guessing you're one of those that thinks that you paid for the season ticket so it's up to you who uses it, regardless of whether they are an Albion+ member or not, or in other words, your mates can jump the queue.

It's not an awkward system, it just seems those that used to hand their season ticket card to anyone resent the fact they can't do that anymore.

You’re right, I am one of those and I don’t see it as the insult that you do.

But there’s business logic to it too. They miss out on match day revenue because they put so many barriers in front of those tickets being easily passed to people who will come and spend money in the shop, at the turnstiles etc. In simple terms, it’s bad business, and we certainly wouldn’t be doing it if we weren’t a Prem side.

Also, it is an awkward system, for the reasons I outlined. And it offers no guarantee of being able to get a refund when you put the ticket on the exchange, nor does it guarantee that you can pass it on to the person you want it to, which is a problem if only two of you go together and one of you can’t go.

But hey ho, let’s agree with the club’s stance even when it’s a barrier for their customers…

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Not long ago club penalised ST holders if they missed I think more than 5/6 games. They dont now because they delighted if you dont attend as ticket on exchange is then sold at match day price.and club make a further £20/30.
Last season my son came round 3 hours before Arsenal game and said problem at work and unable to go. At time had just had op on leg and was unable to drive so persuaded my wife to come. Cost my son about £30 to give his seat to his mother. I suppose have to be thankfull STravel did not charge more for my wife using my sons bus ticket.
Things will never change all time all tickets sell. Although I do think there would be far less empty seats if club increased number of games able to pass ticket on from 1 to 3/4

I agree, there are simply solutions that would make this work. But it isn’t fit for purpose in its current state either for fans or from a business perspective.

Also, I’ve never actually had my ticket be resold on the ticket exchange from the west upper, in the middle. So work that one out…

Basically, I think the system is crap, and there’s not likely to be anyone on here that can convince me otherwise in its current format.

 

[swindonseagull]

I had a moan here only 2 days ago about the fact I wanted to take my grandson, age 11 to the wolves game,
We have paid his membership but he has to pay a full adult price for a ticket ( £41 ESU ) close to our ST,

no wonder seats are empty.....

[Albion] - Kids ticket prices

Got the chance to take my Grandson to the wolves game but when I try and buy a ticket it says no under 18’s and they want £47 for an adult ticket. Is this normal ? Or am I allocating the tickets wrong? If it’s normal what a rip off, buy a season membership and can’t buy kids tickets.

www.northstandchat.com

 

[drew]

You’re right, I am one of those and I don’t see it as the insult that you do.

But there’s business logic to it too. They miss out on match day revenue because they put so many barriers in front of those tickets being easily passed to people who will come and spend money in the shop, at the turnstiles etc. In simple terms, it’s bad business, and we certainly wouldn’t be doing it if we weren’t a Prem side.

Also, it is an awkward system, for the reasons I outlined. And it offers no guarantee of being able to get a refund when you put the ticket on the exchange, nor does it guarantee that you can pass it on to the person you want it to, which is a problem if only two of you go together and one of you can’t go.

But hey ho, let’s agree with the club’s stance even when it’s a barrier for their customers…

Well I do agree with the club's stance because there are plenty of albion+ members who have paid for the right to be ahead of the queue to some random person who just happens to be a mate of a STH. It's not dissimilar to the system that is designed to prevent away tickets being passed on to those not in the relevant tier.

And for the record, I'm a season ticket holder.

 

[Is it PotG?]

It goes without saying, if resale tickets are in batches of two or more they usually fly out.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

My attendance on Sunday depends on whether Im playing golf in the morning as won’t be doing both.

Weather suggests it’s touch and go so won’t know until the day so they won’t be listed and if I don’t go to the game I suspect they won’t sell. Had I been allowed to have an informal transfer to some mates the seats would be occupied regardless

 

[Bozza]

I had a moan here only 2 days ago about the fact I wanted to take my grandson, age 11 to the wolves game,
We have paid his membership but he has to pay a full adult price for a ticket ( £41 ESU ) close to our ST,

no wonder seats are empty.....

[Albion] - Kids ticket prices

Got the chance to take my Grandson to the wolves game but when I try and buy a ticket it says no under 18’s and they want £47 for an adult ticket. Is this normal ? Or am I allocating the tickets wrong? If it’s normal what a rip off, buy a season membership and can’t buy kids tickets.

www.northstandchat.com

I have sympathy both with you and the club on this one...

You - because that's clearly a lot of money for a kid's ticket.

The club - that ticket is probably an adult ticket, so the resale compensation is based on the adult ticket rate. If it were sold at kid's rates, then the STH would get very little back.

The alternative would be only selling exchange seats to a fan of the same category (or higher), which would mean those wanting to buy a kid's resale ticket would have to try and find one, which would mean a reduced selection to choose from.

 

[southstandandy]

Crazy isn’t it.

It is, but for some people money isn't an issue. I know of 4 people who have multiple memberships at London clubs costing £30 odd a season, just so they can guarantee themselves a ticket for Brighton matches in London. Granted, you have to sit in their home ends, but most of the people I know can control themselves and prefer to do this so they can watch the Albion away from a better position in the ground and guarantee a ticket.

I had one ex-work who had memberships at Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Palace, and Brentford so he could get tickets. This must have cost him at least £150 a season but he was well off and money wasn't a problem.

Crazy to me but some people have more money than sense.

 

[Bozza]

My attendance on Sunday depends on whether Im playing golf in the morning as won’t be doing both.

Weather suggests it’s touch and go so won’t know until the day so they won’t be listed and if I don’t go to the game I suspect they won’t sell. Had I been allowed to have an informal transfer to some mates the seats would be occupied regardless

Everyone has one free share per season so, if you haven't used that, you can do so fee-free from your side.

The sharee does need to me a MyAlbion+ member though, I think.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Everyone has one free share per season so, if you haven't used that, you can do so fee-free from your side.

The sharee does need to me a MyAlbion+ member though, I think.

Yeah it does unfortunately

Now that everyone attending needs to be registered (the citied original claim for the policies for letting people in) I don’t see why they need to be Albion+ members, beyond the commerciality of it. I

 

[Freddo]

Should be able to pass to members, not just A+ members. Seat has been paid for and club knows who is in the seat.

Have I missed something where we have 'normal' members? AFAIK it's just either a 'registered user' of the ticketing website, or a MyAlbion+ member.

I agree with the sentiment though, you shouldn't have to pay £38 just for a friend to share their unused seat with you

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

You’re right, I am one of those and I don’t see it as the insult that you do.

But there’s business logic to it too. They miss out on match day revenue because they put so many barriers in front of those tickets being easily passed to people who will come and spend money in the shop, at the turnstiles etc. In simple terms, it’s bad business, and we certainly wouldn’t be doing it if we weren’t a Prem side.

Also, it is an awkward system, for the reasons I outlined. And it offers no guarantee of being able to get a refund when you put the ticket on the exchange, nor does it guarantee that you can pass it on to the person you want it to, which is a problem if only two of you go together and one of you can’t go.

But hey ho, let’s agree with the club’s stance even when it’s a barrier for their customers…

Some of my group are London based and cannot always make midweek games. At work, I often have guests from around the UK and around the world and, in the past, it was great to be able to take one of my mates tickets that they couldn't use and bring along a guest. The overseas guests especially would often end up going to the shop to get stuff either for themselves or their kids. We also used to use the spares to bring along our own kids as they started to get to an age where they might be interested.

One US visitor adopted the Albion as his team when we were still in the Championship, brought a shirt and some other stuff in the shop and continues to follow us on US TV and even attended the Chicago fan event the other week. This would not have happened if I hadn't been able to get him along to enjoy a game.

Nowadays, it is such a pain those seats tend to be left empty. If this Premier League journey comes to an end, we could end up with another lost generation of fans who have been denied easy access to tickets.