Ticket exchange launched

[mxpx]

Platinum is £50 extra. It's £50 extra because it has more than the regular Gold card, the ticket exchange being one of them. You pay more, you get more benefits. Those that went Gold chose not to go Platinum, and decided that the exchange was not worth £50 more.

What's unfair about it? That's life FFS

It's unfair that people can buy loyalty points and get in the queue for priority tickets above long suffering Blues who have earned theirs the ethical way.

If we'd had the Gold and Platimum scheme for York away in 1998/99 then I wouldn't complain about it.

Everyone was at York away in 99, so wouldnt make much difference.

 

[Stuey]

My post was nothing to do with priority queuing...

And being on the planet longer doesnt make you more worthy than genuine City fans who were too young to self-fund York away (which is now the amazingly cliche game to mention. Seems more people went to York away than their whole ground can actually hold).

As a 32 year old, I wouldn't try and pull rank over a 64 year old who has been going longer than me. At 64, I'll have been going longer than a 32 year old. If the truth be told then I deeply respect our long suffering Blues who were at York away and experienced garbage throughout the 80's and 90's whilst U****d won everything.

The York reference was blatantly a joke btw.

I wouldn't expect anyone to pull rank over anyone...a 64 year old who has followed City all his life is no more worthy of going to a game than a 32 year old who has followed City all his life and the same is true vise-versa. In fact, until 2008, the 32 year old would have witnessed total shite all that time. The 64yo would have witnessed total shite + cup/league wins of the 50/60/70s. I'd say the 32yo would have been alot more desperate for SOMETHING, ANYTHING back in 2008. One the flip side, those older folk would have suffered as they've known better in the past and watched that club crumble before them. Certainly, neither are more deserving than the other just because one was born earlier. Sure, respect is a given to those folk who have followed City for decades, but there should also be respect in reverse there too for younger fans who cannot help that.

Not sure if I'm getting Dave's point correct here, but if you're suggesting that people should give their spare tickets away to true fans who cant afford it instead of putting them on Viagogo, then you need to understand that for some fans the financial return for the games they cannot attend is much needed. I'll include myself in that example, where every home game I attend this year will be the equivalent of travelling from Manchester to an away game, with an average of ~£30 being spent on travel alone. Now for some that might seem like pocket change but for others it's not. Those who couldn't afford a seasoncard, or the 50 odd quid for Southampton this year should be able to relate to that. For those people who need that return, the Ticket Exchange could prove very valuable to them.

Of course, there will be people who go Platinum for loyalty points boosting, and those who go Platinum to sell tickets on Viagogo for £75. But don't make the mistake of assuming ALL Platinum members and TicEx sellers fit into one of those groups.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

My post was nothing to do with priority queuing...

And being on the planet longer doesnt make you more worthy than genuine City fans who were too young to self-fund York away (which is now the amazingly cliche game to mention. Seems more people went to York away than their whole ground can actually hold).

As a 32 year old, I wouldn't try and pull rank over a 64 year old who has been going longer than me. At 64, I'll have been going longer than a 32 year old. If the truth be told then I deeply respect our long suffering Blues who were at York away and experienced garbage throughout the 80's and 90's whilst U****d won everything.

The York reference was blatantly a joke btw.

I wouldn't expect anyone to pull rank over anyone...a 64 year old who has followed City all his life is no more worthy of going to a game than a 32 year old who has followed City all his life and the same is true vise-versa. In fact, until 2008, the 32 year old would have witnessed total shite all that time. The 64yo would have witnessed total shite + cup/league wins of the 50/60/70s. I'd say the 32yo would have been alot more desperate for SOMETHING, ANYTHING back in 2008. One the flip side, those older folk would have suffered as they've known better in the past and watched that club crumble before them. Certainly, neither are more deserving than the other just because one was born earlier. Sure, respect is a given to those folk who have followed City for decades, but there should also be respect in reverse there too for younger fans who cannot help that.

Not sure if I'm getting Dave's point correct here, but if you're suggesting that people should give their spare tickets away to true fans who cant afford it instead of putting them on Viagogo, then you need to understand that for some fans the financial return for the games they cannot attend is much needed. I'll include myself in that example, where every home game I attend this year will be the equivalent of travelling from Manchester to an away game, with an average of ~£30 being spent on travel alone. Now for some that might seem like pocket change but for others it's not. Those who couldn't afford a seasoncard, or the 50 odd quid for Southampton this year should be able to relate to that. For those people who need that return, the Ticket Exchange could prove very valuable to them.

Of course, there will be people who go Platinum for loyalty points boosting, and those who go Platinum to sell tickets on Viagogo for £75. But don't make the mistake of assuming ALL Platinum members and TicEx sellers fit into one of those groups.

You've missed my point. I think Ticket Exchange is a very good thing for some. My point is that it should be available for all.

You've been suckered by the club to think you are "getting something" for your £50 with Seat Exchange. You are not. There is not a single reason for the club not to include all season ticket holders in this. It is self-sustaining financially and it costs nothing to give someone a password or whatever.

The sole reason Peoffrey can't use it and I can is that the club want to maximise revenue from ticket sales.

 

[Stuey]

I was given 2 options when renewing. Everyone was. Gold or Platinum. One with TE, one without. £50 difference. Now, given my location and ability to make only around 60-70% of games, it was much more beneficial to go with Platinum. Whether or not its 'fair' or 'right' or not to those who chose gold is up for debate, but the club have chosen this route and that won't change for this season. Just because Gold members may think it's 'unfair' that they paid £50 less to not get the Exchange is not going to get me to make a 'moral'/'ethical' decision to pass up a potential £200-300 back in my account, for tickets I can't use, to help with travel to games.
Does that mean I was 'suckered in'? I don't think so, however I really won't be giving a shit when using that potential £300 max to help with travelling to games this year. A cost most Gold members won't have this year, with most seasoncard holders living locally.
I don't think the majority of Platinum members were 'suckered in' at all. I think they would have made a choice, a choice based on their own personal situation, between the two products given for this season and, knowing that making a 'moral decision' will do fuck all for them for this coming year, chose Platinum because it is the best option for them at this time.
Some Gold members may have chose Gold to show City they disagree with the whole thing. That's fine and well done to those members, however the onus is not on anyone else to follow suit and if those gold members were in the exact same situation as some of the Platinum members who will be relying on the Ticket Exchange to reap back some money to help pay bills or whatever, then they may have thought differently and decided that £200-300 extra for this coming year is alot more helpful to them personally than sticking 2 fingers up at Viagogo and taking the high ground.

You want my opinion as a prime example?
I do think it should be open to all season members. Its beneficial for both the season member, the blue member who couldn't get a ticket because a tourist beat him to it, and the club as there's an even better chance of a fan in every seat for every game. I even think it should be open to Blue members to sell incase something comes up at the last minute, and that blue member should be able to sell the ticket for a maximum 100% face value after any fees. I also think Match Day Priority should only be available to members with at least 250 loyalty points, but there's a con in the fact that those genuine fans who may only be able to one or two games a season may build points very slowly. 2 games a year since 2002 and the glory days of David Sommeil would only have net you 200 points to present for your obviously genuine support, but that's where the reprieve of the Exchange comes in anyway!
I do hope that the club are using Viagogo as a tester, analysing how it all works out with a limited set of fans and if it actually makes an effect in attendance amongst those qualifying seats, and then planning to build their own, or buy the system from Viagogo, that is open to a wider selection of members. After all, even charging just a fiver fee to those sellers (if they really have to!) and nothing to the buyer would be mega-beneficial to City as more empty seats filled and any, if all, fees go to them and not a third-party. And I do not for one second believe that they wouldn't be realising that already. I believe and really hope that this is just Phase 1 to a bigger, open, fairer system and I would agree that it's very risky to open it to all seasoncard members when they haven't tested it on just a portion of them.
If I still lived in Manchester, I would be walking to every match and not spending £300 a year on travel to home games and I could, and would, waive the TE to stick it to them. But right now, for this season at least, when I'm travelling 200 miles to a home match (and 10+ of them a year at that!), sticking my fingers up at them would just make life a bit harder for me financially. 'Suckered in'? Nah. And I think the majority of other genuine, Platinum City supporters are in the same boat.

 

[beermusic]

the point of ticket exchange is to fill up the empty seats that were apparent at practically every game last season in the league, by providing a safer and more reliable (as opposed to selling on forums etc) way for fans to sell on or buy unused seats for certain games. Obviously it is also a revenue stream for the club but either way, by excluding Gold members from selling, they will lose out on revenue while also ensuring that there will still be empty seats this season.

Yes people had the choice to go platinum, but why pay £50 if you've no idea in advance whether you will miss any games? Half the fixtures were changed after renewal anyway.

Bet they change it midway through the season.

 

[Stuey]

Yes people had the choice to go platinum, but why pay £50 if you've no idea in advance whether you will miss any games? Half the fixtures were changed after renewal anyway.

I'm sure most people who go Platinum know they're likely to do so. The fixtures were changed after renewal yes, but we had a good idea of what dates and weekends each game would be from the original pre-tv changes fixture list. I know for a fact I'll definitely miss 5 games at least, I knew that back when I bought the ticket. I know I can't make most midweeks and a couple of weekends for sure.

I won't be the only one...

 

[peoffrey]

As a 32 year old, I wouldn't try and pull rank over a 64 year old who has been going longer than me. At 64, I'll have been going longer than a 32 year old. If the truth be told then I deeply respect our long suffering Blues who were at York away and experienced garbage throughout the 80's and 90's whilst U****d won everything.

The York reference was blatantly a joke btw.

I actually agree.

As a group, we ended up with the entitlement to buy more tickets than we needed for the FA Cup semi and final. Everyone was after tickets, of course.

We all agreed in the end how we would allocate them. We gave one semi ticket to a mate who was there in the dark days, home and away, and is in the navy. Only gets to see City a few times a year now but is a mad keen blue whatever corner of the world he is in.

For the final we ended up with two spare. We gave them to two good mates who again, went home and away in the 80s/90s, but have drifted away after getting married and stuff.

Loyalty points don't tell the whole story. We would all have rather these dyed in the wool Old School Maine Road blues got the tickest than some jester hat wearing kid who thinks the "dark days" were under Stuart Pearce.

I couldn't afford a season ticket after I dropped out of University saddled with debt but would ask season ticket holders I knew (from the Pub or work) if they could order me an away ticket on their details. Everyone does it. What I do resent is a new Platinum member buying a ridiculous amount of loyalty points at once instead of earning them properly like everyone else had to. 600 points for all 3 Cup schemes and only an actual guarentee of having to fork out for 3 Champions League games? Rubbish.<br /><br />-- Wed Aug 08, 2012 7:59 pm --<br /><br />

I'll include myself in that example, where every home game I attend this year will be the equivalent of travelling from Manchester to an away game, with an average of ~£30 being spent on travel alone. Now for some that might seem like pocket change but for others it's not.

Hello from London btw. I spend an average of £40 travel per match and left Manchester when I was 16.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

There's going to be about 3 or 4 games i can't make this season. As i've got a gold membership the seat will just go empty as the club won't let me use the ticket exchange.

 

[Vinjay]

For paired tickets an unusually high percentage seem to be available in section 328 for the opening game. Reckon a little caution might be needed when using the exchange at least until any initial faults are rectified...

 

[Dubai Blue]

For paired tickets an unusually high percentage seem to be available in section 328 for the opening game. Reckon a little caution might be needed when using the exchange at least until any initial faults are rectified...

I think that's where the Thomas Cook hotel/match ticket packages are. Maybe they've not had a great response and have opted to sell the seats off on the ticket exchange.