Loyalty Points - Time For Change?

[blingy]

Fingerprint technology could be used on the ticket rather then having every club in the country needing to use it, a system where the bar code or what ever would not activate unless the correct thumb was on the ticket similar to the smart phone, individual clubs could then do it, without other clubs having the expense of having to install thease systems

you could easily put names on tickets
What is wrong with a picture on your Season ticket / membership card and you would have to produce this at the turnstile to tie in with the name on the ticket
if you were found abusing the system the club could just zero your points and problem solved

no one would take the risk of dropping to the bottom of the list for tickets easily done and problem solved

So if you can't attend a game and you pass it onto someone else how would that work?

Home games are not a problem as no one benafits points wise should you not be able to attend a game and passed your ticket in to a friend, as you have been allocated the points when purchasing the season ticket.
but as has been said by others there are peoplple who just buy there away ticket with no intention of attending, just to keep there points up denying the next person on the list a operaunity to go, so I.d card, fingerprint technology or what ever would put a stop to this.
Should you buy a ticket for a away game then suddenly can't attend then thers no problem returning the ticket to the ticket office so the next guy in line can have the chance of going , or even transferring it to a mate who would then get the points for going, to keep them in touch with the big pointers, maybe you could only do this 2/3 times a season to stop abuse.. If your buying a ticket for a away game your prity sure your going to be able to attend

 

[chris85mcfc]

you could easily put names on tickets
What is wrong with a picture on your Season ticket / membership card and you would have to produce this at the turnstile to tie in with the name on the ticket
if you were found abusing the system the club could just zero your points and problem solved

no one would take the risk of dropping to the bottom of the list for tickets easily done and problem solved

So if you can't attend a game and you pass it onto someone else how would that work?

Home games are not a problem as no one benafits points wise should you not be able to attend a game and passed your ticket in to a friend, as you have been allocated the points when purchasing the season ticket but as has been said by others there are peoplple who just buy there away ticket with no intention of attending just to keep there points up denying the next person on the list a opera unity to go, so I'd card, fingerprint technology or what ever would put a stop to this.
Should you buy a ticket for a away game then suddenly can't attend then thers no problem returning the ticket to the ticket office so the next guy in line can have the chance of going , or even transferring it to a mate who would then get the points for going to keep them in touch with the big pointers, maybe you could only do this 2/3 times a season to stop abuse.. If your buying a ticket for a away game your prity sure your going to be able to attend

but surely this idea would require all the away grounds to have finger touch entry?

its probably a problem that all other clubs have as well with their supporters, but they will always go with the majority vote and im guessing the majority will say just leave it as it is as any new technology will probably just cause more problems that there are now, and what for, just so they know all the people that buy the tickets attend the games and that all loyalty points are legitimate, not sure the club are that bothered who the tickets end up with as long as they sell the allocation they are given.

 

[blingy]

So if you can't attend a game and you pass it onto someone else how would that work?

Home games are not a problem as no one benafits points wise should you not be able to attend a game and passed your ticket in to a friend, as you have been allocated the points when purchasing the season ticket but as has been said by others there are peoplple who just buy there away ticket with no intention of attending just to keep there points up denying the next person on the list a opera unity to go, so I'd card, fingerprint technology or what ever would put a stop to this.
Should you buy a ticket for a away game then suddenly can't attend then thers no problem returning the ticket to the ticket office so the next guy in line can have the chance of going , or even transferring it to a mate who would then get the points for going to keep them in touch with the big pointers, maybe you could only do this 2/3 times a season to stop abuse.. If your buying a ticket for a away game your prity sure your going to be able to attend

but surely this idea would require all the away grounds to have finger touch entry?

its probably a problem that all other clubs have as well with their supporters, but they will always go with the majority vote and im guessing the majority will say just leave it as it is as any new technology will probably just cause more problems that there are now, and what for, just so they know all the people that buy the tickets attend the games and that all loyalty points are legitimate, not sure the club are that bothered who the tickets end up with as long as they sell the allocation they are given.

Agree that clubs are probably not that bothered, just hypothesising a fair system in a perfect world,

On the f/print techno ... All clubs wouldn't need to have the techno , if it was city for example implementing this it would just be the case of city producing the away tickets ourselves putting finger print techno on the card , most grounds are bar code, chip entry nowadays, you would just need your thumb print on the ticket at point of entry to enable the chip/ bar code to work

 

[johnbmcr]

Home games are not a problem as no one benafits points wise should you not be able to attend a game and passed your ticket in to a friend, as you have been allocated the points when purchasing the season ticket but as has been said by others there are peoplple who just buy there away ticket with no intention of attending just to keep there points up denying the next person on the list a opera unity to go, so I'd card, fingerprint technology or what ever would put a stop to this.
Should you buy a ticket for a away game then suddenly can't attend then thers no problem returning the ticket to the ticket office so the next guy in line can have the chance of going , or even transferring it to a mate who would then get the points for going to keep them in touch with the big pointers, maybe you could only do this 2/3 times a season to stop abuse.. If your buying a ticket for a away game your prity sure your going to be able to attend

but surely this idea would require all the away grounds to have finger touch entry?

its probably a problem that all other clubs have as well with their supporters, but they will always go with the majority vote and im guessing the majority will say just leave it as it is as any new technology will probably just cause more problems that there are now, and what for, just so they know all the people that buy the tickets attend the games and that all loyalty points are legitimate, not sure the club are that bothered who the tickets end up with as long as they sell the allocation they are given.

Agree that clubs are probably not that bothered, just hypothesising a fair system in a perfect world,

On the f/print techno ... All clubs wouldn't need to have the techno , if it was city for example implementing this it would just be the case of city producing the away tickets ourselves putting finger print techno on the card , most grounds are bar code, chip entry nowadays, you would just need your thumb print on the ticket at point of entry to enable the chip/ bar code to work

Just a thought you can walk in and out of the UK without the level of sophistication your suggesting for a ticket to see QPR or Burnley maybe its not as big a problem as we think in the great scheme of things

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

There will never be a perfect system unless clubs spend a fortune. My only beef is with OSC's being able to give tickets to whoever they like but that's no different to someone buying tickets they know they're not going to use and selling them to mates or others who haven't got the points. Also I suspect a load of tickets go to hospitality holders & people like Thomas Cook.

 

[Bluedodd]

Having just renewed my ST's and adding my lad to the waiting list for 2015, it got me thinking how the hell could he ever get in a position to catch up my loyalty point total. I have 12k points and he will obviously start the 2015 season on next to nothing. Whilst I appreciate City let you buy junior tickets once the adult qualifies, regardless of their points total, he is never going to be in a position when he is older to get tickets for the big games such as OT, Barca away etc. Is it now time to revisit the system we currently use? We need to make sure that the younger element of our fan base can attend such games in the future.

We would obviously have to ensure that those at the top are not unfairly affected by any changes but also we need to ensure that the top points group do not disappear over the horizon, never to be caught.

The fairest way I can see would be to have a 10 year rolling period. For example, in the current season any points accrued before 2004 would drop off your points total. This wouldn't have any affect on the top group as they will still be in the highest band and therefore still be able to buy on the first couple of days. A new ST holder would still be at the bottom and would therefore be unlikely to have access. However, if the new ST holder went to all away games that did become available (I would say that at least 10 go to any ST holder) over a couple of years they would have a chance of moving up the ladder. The more they go to the more games become available. Do that for 10 years and you would be able to get to the OT derby. With this system those currently at the top of the pile would continue to stay there as the majority will still go home and away each week, but it would stop it becoming a closed shop and enable younger/newer fans to be rewarded for loyalty.

Thoughts?

No Chance, 10 years rolling would penalize the fans who were Season Ticket holders at Main Road as their were points given at that renewal point and for a few seasons after which were higher than what you now get for renewal. What ever is done cant erode the differentials. Also my lad got his S/C when he was 6 and is now 16 and has over 9,000 point. My youngest who is 13 has over 7,500. Do the time get the reward.

 

[liamctid]

Is there not a disadvantage for those in the branch then who have there card used but don't get a ticket from the branch, or can those that miss out on branch tickets then apply themselves through the club in the normal manner when it gets to there points criteria ??

Yes !

So in affect the branch uses tickets with points on to obtain tickets for there branch, then those tickets can be given to anyone, then owner of said tickets can used it again to get themselves a ticket should they not get one from the branch even though there ticket has been submitted by the branch to get a branch allocation !!!
Very confusing and have been given many different versions when asked about it b4, puts me off joining a branch...

Know I may sound dumb but just for clarification ,
if I joined a branch would I have to declare my ticket ?
( i have a good few points on it ) the branch would then use my ticket to obtain tickets for the branch and give them to whomever they seen fit, (posable not me,)?
would I still be able to use my ticket again to get a ticket even though the branch has used my ticket to get there allocation ?
No it's the same question as above but just want to clarify as I wouldn't want to joins a branch, have them use my ticket then give it to someone else leaving me unable to use when it gets to my criteria

Your supporter number can only be used once.

If you have been allocated a ticket for X game through the branch then you cannot buy one on the day of sale through the usual avenue.

Similarly, if you have bought a ticket through the usual website way, then your ticket cannot be used by the branch. Sometimes you can confirm the names and supporters numbers on the 10th but the ticket office don't process the tickets for the branch til the 17th (for example).

I can only give examples of our own branch. At the end of the 2011/12 season we were upping our allocation with members because we knew that we were only going to get a certain % of the tickets. i.e. if you have 25 people that wanted to go to Norwich in April 2012, then you put down 33 members, so the supporters club have a higher chance of giving you the number you actually want. The only issue with constantly doing this is that sometimes you will get the full allocation, and then you have to try and shift the extra 8 tickets - not always easy to do if it's not a game of high demand, and it happened a few times where the branch lost money.

Fact is, our fanbase isn't big/rich enough to have this as a constant issue. There's about 500-800 who go to over 90% of away games, and then another 500-800 who go to over 50% of away games. The only time the loyalty points issue is raised is when it's united away, 2 out of 3 euro group games, games in the run in, and the odd cup game. Usually there's always spares/unsold allocations for plenty of games.

It's not difficult to climb up the loyalty point ladder, you've just got to realise that there's about 1,200 who go away every week more often than not. I understand that people will feel aggrieved if they can't get a ticket for West Brom on Boxing Day despite having a season ticket since 1973 and going to 4 away games a season, but you've got to understand - there are people who go a lot more than you, and generally the loyalty points system works (despite the OSC flaw).

It's much better this way than a ballot. My best mate follows Chelsea all over Europe, and they go back to 0 points at the start of every season, which in one sense is good thing. I know from the points tickets go down to that I could probably afford to miss all the away games this season and still be in the top bracket for the 2015/16 season, which in a sense is wrong. The issue for me is that I am at the top now and I don't want to give up my place, so I will be going every week again this year!

 

[Bill]

how odd that this topic has only reared its ugly head now we have a good side.

very strange!!

 

[chris85mcfc]

how odd that this topic has only reared its ugly head now we have a good side.

very strange!!

its alright for you mods i bet you've got contacts everywhere to get tickets :)

 

[CatMan]

Cutting numbered chunks out of the pages of your programmes and sticking the pieces on a voucher card seems the best modern solution to this old chestnut for me!

If you don't buy the programmes then you can't attend the big games; Simples.... I think...!

;-)