tickets and how it could be done better

[UEF]

I like the current system. It rewards those who try, as opposed to arbitrarily doling tickets out to ransoms it strictly first come first served (which can be galling for popular events)

if they ever moved to selling tickets in shops id stop going. Glastonbury is ridiculous for queues as it is.

[jackarmy]

After many years of going and then one year not getting a ticket I decided to do something different and now volunteer. Would not do anything else ever again and know in advance that I will be there in 2017 and beyond. Get there a week before, do 20 hours work, free food and showers, and no ticket price.

Not to mention the numerous crew bars!!!!

Out of interest - what have you volunteered as?

[matt2007]

Recycling crew via a charity

[rzwodezwo]

After many years of going and then one year not getting a ticket I decided to do something different and now volunteer. Would not do anything else ever again and know in advance that I will be there in 2017 and beyond. Get there a week before, do 20 hours work, free food and showers, and no ticket price.

Not to mention the numerous crew bars!!!!

 boy, where do I sign up?

[guypjfreak]

great discussion old sons .i dont like the ballot idea at all but there is another thing that should be discussed and that is the reopinging of the registration ...if for any chance you didnt happen to get tickets on tix day you will now have to contend with LOADS more people that have heard maybe a rumor that such and such are gonna play and have registered for that where as you have been registered the whole year ...

i dont believe that the registration should be reopend if youve not done it by tix day then unlucky youve had a year to decided whether you want to go to glasto or not ...i just dont think its fair on other people ........

 

 

[LondonTom]

 

Yes I posted the screen grab of it earlier - did make me pretty much useless at work today for an hour whilst I waited, got in at 11am and immediately behind 13K other people.  Did get through to buy but sold old before I could put in card details... 

So basically despite the more pleasant  "queue", effectively had the same out come as Glasto =p

The trouble with the queue system, you could be fucked at 9:00:01 by sheer chance, with a 30 minute sale at least you a chance to get back in

i wonder what effect upping the number of tickets you can buy would have on things?

if you have 50 in a group all trying to get through and one person can by 50 tickets then as soon as one person does get through that's 50 people cleared from the system straight away.

as it stands those 50 will stay on until 9 have got through and bought a full allocation each. And may never clear if only 4 get through.

obviously 50 is extreme but what about 10 or 15?

ive never managed to buy tickets myself, once you have bought tickets, are you ejected from the ticket page or can you just go back and buy more?

 

So lets favor bigger groups even more?

 

The balance with 6 tickets is about right, allows most family/close friends to get through as a group, while not completely out numbering smaller groups.

[Smeble]

So basically despite the more pleasant  "queue", effectively had the same out come as Glasto =p

The trouble with the queue system, you could be fucked at 9:00:01 by sheer chance, with a 30 minute sale at least you a chance to get back in

So lets favor bigger groups even more?

 

The balance with 6 tickets is about right, allows most family/close friends to get through as a group, while not completely out numbering smaller groups.

you are missing my point, upping the number of tickets any one person can buy may actually increase people's chances of getting through, the issue with the system is people aren't getting out of the 'queue' once they have bought 6 tickets because they have other people to buy for, plus the other 5 who now have tickets are still in the queue as well. 

6 would be fine if groups were no bigger than 6 but they aren't, people are combining forces in large numbers and clogging up the system, either limit tickets to 2 which rules out families or increase it to 10 or 15 to get the large groups out of the queue quicker.

[Scotdy]

They should reduce the number of tickets from 6 to 2 per transaction (+ kids) to give people more of a chance of going. Large groups (my own included) seem to dominant t-day over the last couple of years. I think it would weed some people out, I have a ticket this year but am not arsed about going, doing it as there is a large group of friends going. This is so far from the reason I first attended many moons ago. I know alot of people in the same boat.

Edited October 29, 2015 by Scotdy
Spelkin

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

you are missing my point, upping the number of tickets any one person can buy may actually increase people's chances of getting through, the issue with the system is people aren't getting out of the 'queue' once they have bought 6 tickets because they have other people to buy for, plus the other 5 who now have tickets are still in the queue as well. 

6 would be fine if groups were no bigger than 6 but they aren't, people are combining forces in large numbers and clogging up the system, either limit tickets to 2 which rules out families or increase it to 10 or 15 to get the large groups out of the queue quicker.

I'm sorry this doesn't really make any sense and certainly wouldn't make it easier. If you up the amount of tickets people can buy they will sell out much quicker than they do already. Your logic suggests let large groups in to buy more tickets in one go so they are out of the way, with every group out of the way that's 50 tickets sold rather than 6. I'd rather a longer sale with more people trying, than a much much shorter sale because everybody was in and out in 5 minutes buying tickets 50 at a time. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

They should reduce the number of tickets from 6 to 2 per transaction (+ kids) to give people more of a chance of going. Large groups (my own included) seem to dominant t-day over the last couple of years. I think it would weed some people out, I have a ticket this year but am not arsed about going, doing it as there is a large group of friends going. This is so far from the reason I first attended many moons ago. I know alot of people in the same boat.

Be nice if those people "not arsed" left those tickets for people that are, eh?

And yeah just two of us trying this year and definitely felt at a disadvantage in the main sale. Coach sale not so much as the locations available limit the numbers somewhat but that didn't help this year.

[dn3876]

If it's not broke don't fix it!! A couple of years ago the server failed and it stopped certain people getting tickets that was sorted. The system used to fail because of demand they fixed it. Now it handles everything very well.  Families can get tickets as 6 is a very decent number. You aren't stuck in a queue for hours only to be unlucky instead it's half an hour of stress and refreshing which at the end you're either elated or starting forums asking what can be done better which actually means what can be done so I can get a ticket! For me the persistent generally get there whether that be in October or in the resales. I've got mine towards the end of May before but I had to take a day off and constantly watch for the announcement all day to get one. Was it worth it? Of course it was. 

[Smeble]

It makes no odds how quickly they sell if you never make it to the sales page because 30 people who already have tickets are still trying to get tickets for the other 20 people in their group instead of getting out of the way.

groups are the natural reaction to the current booking system but are now the problem with it.

and for the record I'm not in a group, just me and the wife trying to get through on our iPads, we only got tickets this year because we texted a work mate at 9.15 on t day who happened to also be trying for tickets and by chance got through.

we have been trying to get tickets since 2005 and 2007 was our only previous success.

 

[eFestivals]

It makes no odds how quickly they sell if you never make it to the sales page because 30 people who already have tickets are still trying to get tickets for the other 20 people in their group instead of getting out of the way.

groups are the natural reaction to the current booking system but are now the problem with it.

and for the record I'm not in a group, just me and the wife trying to get through on our iPads, we only got tickets this year because we texted a work mate at 9.15 on t day who happened to also be trying for tickets and by chance got through.

we have been trying to get tickets since 2005 and 2007 was our only previous success.

 

ummmm ... you do realise that the 'texted your mate' thing makes you no less of a group as the other bigger group you mention, don't you?

Whatever system is used, you'll have people try to game that system (as you did), and there's always something that can be done to improve your chances.

[UEF]

It definitely does reward groups. The only time in recent years when I've gone with one other person is the only time I've failed. Other times it's been 10-20 of us going and one or two people get through and buy the lot.

[JoeyT]

So effectively as we've all been aware for the last god knows how many years your best chance to get tickets is to spread your registration details to as many people as possible.

Who knew!

 

 

[UEF]

So effectively as we've all been aware for the last god knows how many years your best chance to get tickets is to spread your registration details to as many people as possible.

Who knew!

 

 

Basically yes. And one other thing: everyone who truly wants a ticket will get one. There is a drastic drop in enthusiasm towards the resales.

[Smeble]

ummmm ... you do realise that the 'texted your mate' thing makes you no less of a group as the other bigger group you mention, don't you?

Whatever system is used, you'll have people try to game that system (as you did), and there's always something that can be done to improve your chances.

no more than my wife and I class as a group, and it was a spur of the moment thing 15 minutes into the ticket sale, if you do class it as a group it's hardly on the scale on some of the ones mentioned on here.

groups are fine if they are less than the maximum number of tickets one person can buy, they then don't clog up the system, the issue is when you have large groups of 10-20+ people all staying in the sale process despite some already having tickets.

 

[eFestivals]

no more than my wife and I class as a group, and it was a spur of the moment thing 15 minutes into the ticket sale, if you do class it as a group it's hardly on the scale on some of the ones mentioned on here.

groups are fine if they are less than the maximum number of tickets one person can buy, they then don't clog up the system, the issue is when you have large groups of 10-20+ people all staying in the sale process despite some already having tickets.

 

so what you're saying is: groups are fine if the group includes you and gets you your tickets.

The stuff about the scale of any groups is meaningless. They all exist for the same thing, to secure tickets that might not otherwise be secured.

I'm not having a pop at you for grouping - we all want a ticket after all - but I am pointing out that you're giving yourself a free pass from your own condemnation, via a bit of meaningless twaddle.

 

[**claire**]

Interestingly today was the Harry Potter priority ticket sale. They are using a queue system, which seems to be working well with around 35000 people online initially. I think the main sale is Friday. I doubt the numbers will reach that of Glastonbury, but it could be an indicator that large numbers can be processed in a queue successfully. It would involve some horrific waiting though..

My friend who spent the whole of yesterday in queues for tickets would disagree with you there!

She initially spent 3 hours waiting to get through to the booking page, only to find it wasn't supported by Safari I believe!

[russycarps]

what the frig is this harry potter thing?

 

[eFestivals]

what the frig is this harry potter thing?

 

it's a new JK Rawling thing, called "Harry Potter and country of fools"

Edited October 29, 2015 by eFestivals

[JoeyT]

what the frig is this harry potter thing?

 

Stage play of a new story involving Harry Potter as a middle aged man I believe written by JK Rowling.

Personally would have preferred a book and am a bit meh over this.

 

 

[Hugh Jass]

it's a new JK Rawling thing, called "Harry Potter and country of fools"

Harry Potter and the massive tax bill.

[DeanoL]

It makes no odds how quickly they sell if you never make it to the sales page because 30 people who already have tickets are still trying to get tickets for the other 20 people in their group instead of getting out of the way.

Yes it does.

You're correct that with a larger max group size, they'll be off the system faster. Which means other people will be able to get on the system sooner. But the tickets will also sell quicker.

Say tickets sold out after 20 minutes. I got through in minute 21 and got a sold out message. If we had larger group sizes, people would clear out more quickly, and perhaps I would get through at minute 15 instead? And get a sold out message, because by increasing the max group size, you increase the speed at which tickets are sold. So the net benefit is zero.

[Smeble]

Yes it does.

You're correct that with a larger max group size, they'll be off the system faster. Which means other people will be able to get on the system sooner. But the tickets will also sell quicker.

Say tickets sold out after 20 minutes. I got through in minute 21 and got a sold out message. If we had larger group sizes, people would clear out more quickly, and perhaps I would get through at minute 15 instead? And get a sold out message, because by increasing the max group size, you increase the speed at which tickets are sold. So the net benefit is zero.

if you never get through to the sales page, how quickly they sell out is utterly immaterial.

They could take 5 days to sell out but if system is still clogged up with people who have bought tickets but don't get off the system you won't get near the sales page.

with 1 million registered and only 118000 tickets on Tday you are more likely to not get tickets anyway but your odds are zero if you can't get on the sales page.