“City Matters” fan committee

[bluwes]

For what seems like the millionth time, the club have to cover the cost of the empty seats so if it's a 200-seater plane and goes half-full, the club pays for those 100 empty seats. So that's something like £25k. Shakhtar cost them £50k alone I believe.

No idea what the cancellation threshold is and not sure if TC get compensated if the flight has to be cancelled. TC aren't a charity and neither are the club. The fact that the prices of the TC and Sport Options day trips are similar suggests TC aren't ripping fans off.

Hamburg away they cancelled the plane just over 3 weeks before the game leaving us with no chance of finding a replacement or getting a match ticket

 

[fathellensbellend]

And your travel agent is who may I ask ?

Low cost airlines, bahn.de, booking.com

Very easy, very cheap

 

[blue corby]

As it seems to have been agreed between the fans reps and the club already there isn’t much point in commenting anymore. I thought the idea of this group was to put the interest of the fans first ? I will look forward to if and when we get to the final as I now know how to guarantee my ticket !

 

[wolfie1988]

Low cost airlines, bahn.de, booking.com

Very easy, very cheap

I've got mine for £75. Into Dusseldorf Weds morning, hotel Weds night and flight back on Thurs morning. Add maybe £20 in trains or less in a taxi to the airport.

Just can't justify spending £279 on a day trip when there is better, cheaper ways to do stuff

 

[blue corby]

Low cost airlines, bahn.de, booking.com

Very easy, very cheap

Absolutely correct we have booked 2 nights 4* hotel for the 2 of us with flights for £300 as opposed to Over £550 for a day trip .

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Appreciate one day trips can suit some people, but my loyalty points have earnt me the right to make my own decisions, based on a system implemented by the club. Every Europan trip be it one day, or two, I have always done it for miles cheaper than TC, or spikes trips.

And no one is stopping you doing that. No one is forcing people to travel with TC and there's no intention to do so in the future, which is why we were insistent on it only being one plane. The club could just say that they're handing over the whole thing to TC and there would be nothing anyone could do about it, City Matters included. By us being involved though, we've taken note of all the problems associated with this and made what we consider by far the least bad decision. Without our input, City could have made a far worse one.

We already know that people with high points, who qualify for tickets, do book the TC flight as it saves hassle and/or they can be back for work the next day. That's their choice as much as it's your choice to make your own arrangements.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

As it seems to have been agreed between the fans reps and the club already there isn’t much point in commenting anymore. I thought the idea of this group was to put the interest of the fans first ? I will look forward to if and when we get to the final as I now know how to guarantee my ticket !

If it's not working we can always change it. But how do you know you've got a ticket for the Schalke game? They've not gone on sale to ST holders yet. So you've either got high points that will pretty well guarantee you a ticket, you've got one through a branch or you know someone who will definitely source one for you.

 

[squirtyflower]

Here is the link you made between Shaktar, stopping people selling tickets on and Thomas Cook.

I've made the point before that this may involve maybe 100 people and that group stage games aren't selling out any more, now the novelty has worn off. The alternative was just giving TC 200 tickets or more and letting them sell those as a package to anyone. Then 200 people or more would have lost out. Yes it will possibly have an impact later on if we play at a smaller venue but you should look at this in the contect of stopping people buying tickets and passing them on. Around 300 did that for Shakhtar so that's probably typical. If we even stop 200 people doing this in future then there's a net benefit to points holders.

And while there's nothing official, we believe TC may look at running flights from London if demand is there.

I can almost guarantee Schalke will be sold out.

 

[squirtyflower]

If it's not working we can always change it. But how do you know you've got a ticket for the Schalke game? They've not gone on sale to ST holders yet. So you've either got high points that will pretty well guarantee you a ticket, you've got one through a branch or you know someone who will definitely source one for you.

The branch allocations were given out on Thursday 3rd January.
Our branch has none, so I’m told.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Hamburg away they cancelled the plane just over 3 weeks before the game leaving us with no chance of finding a replacement or getting a match ticket

Exactly. Not filling the plane doesn't benefit anyone. Even if they wait till everyone has tickets before they open bookings, the same thing could happen plus the people who know they've got tickets earliest will be branches, seasonal hospitality members and people on the highest points who know they'll get a ticket. So ST holders who have to wait to see if they secure a ticket will be last in the queue.