Loyalty Scheme or over the counter tickets

[Peaceman]

You're right UEF - however, for some of the characters turning up a week late, the internet really wouldnt have made a difference!

[Avalon_Fields]

So, if there was a real queue for tickets, when would the queue start to form do you reckon? A week before, or more??

[daveinafield]

Sounds daft but we forget sometimes how little possiblity there was to "look things up" before the Internet. If it wasn't in a newspaper, you basically had to look in a library for information. Or ask someone, who might tell you some bullshit you'd have to believe ("Glastonbury? In August I think"). Or maybe you'd ring someone in Yellow Pages.

Thank fuck for the Internet.

[daveinafield]

So, if there was a real queue for tickets, when would the queue start to form do you reckon? A week before, or more??

[DeanoL]

people say that...but i think a lot of people would not be arsed. I think its so easy to click f5 a few times and say you have worked hard to get a ticket. Make it harder and i think a lot of the 'new'/'middle class' glasto goers would go off it

[let's 'ave it!!!]

Why would Glastonbury need to change anything? the festival has sold out in record time

[frostypaw]

Why would Glastonbury need to change anything? the festival has sold out in record time

[daveinafield]

They don't, but some folk didn't get tickets. Some of them think they deserve tickets more than the people who DID get tickets so they think Glastonbury should change it's systems so that it skews it in favour of the demographic they think they're in because everyone thinks their demographic is the 'right' one

[frostypaw]

*shakes head*

can you think it through for a moment... so they do the over the counter sales thing...

first there's an argument about how tickets are allocated. skipping that horror say 100,000 get assigned to HMV london

have you ever seen the wednesday morning queue? that's under 100,000 people. Now considering the overdemand you're probably looking at 200,000 people queueing even after taking account of people buying a handful of tickets each

Can you imagine policing that queue? Who pays for the police - because you'd need them. That queue would go all the way down oxford street, around tottenham court road, past euston and into regents park - the potential for the rough/heavies to force their way in is extraordinarily high

And when does it form? We start worrying here weeks before. Is that the ideal 'stalwart'? Someone whose career and family are so unimportant that they will queue for weeks for a five day holiday?

People need to think before they suggest things just to avoid wasting so much time and effort explaining again and again the obvious flaws in their plans

[Greenelk]

collector tokens at Starbucks and McDonalds - you know it makes sense.

[Paul ™]

I thought that was to try and win tickets?

[daveinafield]

*shakes head*

can you think it through for a moment... so they do the over the counter sales thing...

first there's an argument about how tickets are allocated. skipping that horror say 100,000 get assigned to HMV london

have you ever seen the wednesday morning queue? that's under 100,000 people. Now considering the overdemand you're probably looking at 200,000 people queueing even after taking account of people buying a handful of tickets each

Can you imagine policing that queue? Who pays for the police - because you'd need them. That queue would go all the way down oxford street, around tottenham court road, past euston and into regents park - the potential for the rough/heavies to force their way in is extraordinarily high

And when does it form? We start worrying here weeks before. Is that the ideal 'stalwart'? Someone whose career and family are so unimportant that they will queue for weeks for a five day holiday?

People need to think before they suggest things just to avoid wasting so much time and effort explaining again and again the obvious flaws in their plans

[daveinafield]

Are you even allowed to take alcohol into Glastonbury?

(Mwuhahaha!)

[frostypaw]

OTT, that would never happen - my point of view is that many would not be arsed....if it does not involve sitting infront of a computer i dont think people give a crap anymore

[daveinafield]

what time did you arrive?

you should have seen how many people gave enough of a crap not over a chance of going to the festival but merely over where they camped inside the festival that they turned up before 5am..... you vastly underestimate people's persistence

beyond that have you gone past playing fields in the early saturday/sunday mornings? the vast majority are not as tied to their computers as you might think. a lot yet, but they're probably the ones too scared of crowds to try and get tickets in the first place

[5co77ie]

I've got the perfect solution, the Festival is a family friendly event, and currently there's all this news about how old people feel abandoned. So everyone who registers has to be over 70 years old in order to get tickets.

The oldest registrants are allowed tickets first and the youngest last. SeeTickets could employ some friendly folk to go around to all the old peoples' houses in order of age, starting just after the festival finishes and ask them who they would like to accompany them to the next one, they don't have to be relatives, and have a chat and a cup of tea.

The people whose names are given can then register to ensure the system isn't abused.

Not only would it remind everyone it's a family event, but it would make our elders highly important, and probably result in a nice atmosphere, plus it would be helping out all the lonely old people.

[mortosaurus]

I remember getting the bus into Bristol on a Friday afternoon to get my ticket to 1997. I Walked into Rival records (I think) paid my £87 and walked out with a ticket. No queues, no hassle, I think the tickets had been on sale for about a week as well.

The problem now is that Glasto has become much more popular and particularly fashionable so obviously demand is much higher. It was weird, but even up until the late 90's it was still kind of under the radar, as soon as the security went mental and the travellers got turned away it quickly became "The In Thing". Anyway, I digress....I could be wrong but I believe back then the tickets were divided up amongst several large retail distributers who allocated them geographically. It would be very hard to do that now although I do (to a certain extent) agree with earlier comments that less people would be willing to physically queue up for them than are willing to sit at home and refresh their screen.

To fix what is broken, the organisers really need to make the purchasing software more robust. The issue at the moment is that it crashes far too much and (I know it did this last year, not sure about this year) favours those that have got through and been able to make purchases. This seems like a bit of a loop hole (like I said, not sure if this happened again this year) to me, and rather unfair. The simple fact is that the organisers are charging a huge sum of money and yet EVERY year the ticketing system fails in some way. There is technology out there to cope with the demand, they just need to invest in it.

Edited October 21, 2013 by mortosaurus

[Squonk]

But why should they fork out all that extra money when they dont need to. The tickets all sell and in a reasonable timeframe. I would prefer a slower computer system where those who were more persistent I.e. still hitting their refresh button 5 hours in - were successful

[Greenelk]

I thought that was to try and win tickets?

[matt2007]

I bought two tickets in 1989 by knocking on a door that had a small poster in the window, they were local CND people and had a stack to sell and they put the poster in the window because they could not sell the ones they had..........

I wonder what they think about this now!

[topmarksbri]

I know this is really wishful thinking but it would be nice to see the likes of Wayne Rooney not given a ticket. I presume he doesn't get up at 8am on that fateful Sunday and sort out tickets for himself and neither media lovvies like Caitlin fucking Moran. I can understand why they need VIP tickets to keep themselves from being flooded/assaulted but this should happen after they've secured tickets for themselves. I'd like to see tighter regulation given to this. That being said Wayne will be too busy disappointing a nation again next summer to attend....

[The Naughty One]

I know this is really wishful thinking but it would be nice to see the likes of Wayne Rooney not given a ticket. I presume he doesn't get up at 8am on that fateful Sunday and sort out tickets for himself and neither media lovvies like Caitlin fucking Moran. I can understand why they need VIP tickets to keep themselves from being flooded/assaulted but this should happen after they've secured tickets for themselves. I'd like to see tighter regulation given to this. That being said Wayne will be too busy disappointing a nation again next summer to attend....

[Alcatraz]

But why should they fork out all that extra money when they dont need to. The tickets all sell and in a reasonable timeframe. I would prefer a slower computer system where those who were more persistent I.e. still hitting their refresh button 5 hours in - were successful

[Justiceforcedave]

It's always the people who miss out who make this suggestion...I suspect they'd also be the first to complain about it if as a result of not getting tickets the year before, they weren't given as much of a chance the next.

I'll keep my fingers crosses for you in the resale though.

[Justiceforcedave]

It may as well read "I wish they'd change the ticket system so the odds were stacked in my favour"