FAI Season Ticket

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01/09/2010, 8:27 AM
Polster

FAI Season Ticket

Apologies if this has already been posted. The FAI are advertising on their site a new season ticket option for 8 home games, 3 qualifiers, 2 friendlies, and the home countries tournament next summer. �315, which they say is a 10% discount. I thought the cheapest ticket was �50, perhaps cheaper for the friendlies.

However where does this leave Blockbookers? I've been blockbookig 6 tickets for 20 years, which includes all friendlies to, as the FAI insist on it. I don't recall ever been given a discount or any other incentives that they are listing for the season ticket. So what is the differance between a blockbooker and a season ticket holder? Shockingly, it also says that season ticket holders will get 1st option for away games, so my 20 years of blockbooking and previous away games counts for nothing if someone signs up now to the discounted season ticket.

I am delighted more people will get the option to secure tickets, but overall the way the FAI are doing this does not sit well with me at all. They are giving zero consideration to the long standing supporters.

I will be giving the FAI a call tomorrow when back in the office, now that they are not replying to most mails anymore. However I think I will drop a mail to Delaney later today.
01/09/2010, 8:33 AM
Polster

Apologies, see now I am a bit behind, and this is old news and an old thread already there.
01/09/2010, 9:42 AM
elroy

Although different language is being used I think it is more or less an extension of the block booking scheme. The discount is available where the games were paid for up front. No discount was available if paid on a DD basis. After many years on the WL I for one am glad to finally be a part of such a scheme. However to say the whole process has been a little bizarre is an understatement:

- BBers who had increased allocation for Croker were by and large reduced back to original allocation for LR. I understand that recently alot of these BBers have been offered increased allocation at LR, having orignally been told this was not possible.

- WLers who availed of BB's for Croker told the week before the French game that the allocation was now over as a result of the return to LR, a sum total of 49 WLers had made it to the BB scheme. Approximately 2 months ago, a letter arrived from the FAI offering the BB/season ticket for the games in LR.

- Season tickets were also made available through YBIG's singing section scheme (Great scheme btw), which is undersubscribed I believe. 1000 tickets were allocated by the FAI, I think approx 600 have been taken up.

- Season tickets are now available to the general public on the FAI website. I presume the WL for the BB scheme is now gone as a result.

It looks like the FAI have got their sums seriously wrong here. Instead of having limited capacity, they now in general have excess capacity. By and large, as a long time WLer I dont really care how the whole process went, I finally am guaranteed tickets for every game.
01/09/2010, 10:12 AM
Polster

Agree with all above, I was thinking also what happened the 1000's of back log for block bookers. I got one of those calls yesterday about increasing my block booking, p**s up, brewery, springs to mind.
01/09/2010, 11:27 PM
hunt4the

its a great offer, we as bb's buy up the tickets now and pledge our loyalty season by season
and as soon as the good days come back we'll all get shafted and the suits will move in...
pure genius
02/09/2010, 7:52 AM
jbyrne

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunt4the

its a great offer, we as bb's buy up the tickets now and pledge our loyalty season by season
and as soon as the good days come back we'll all get shafted and the suits will move in...
pure genius

been a blockbooker for over 18 years and never been shafted. what do you base your comment on?
02/09/2010, 12:34 PM
Razors left peg

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbyrne

been a blockbooker for over 18 years and never been shafted. what do you base your comment on?

yeah Im the same, Ive been a block booker for about 7 or 8 years now and Ive never had a problem at all
02/09/2010, 3:56 PM
elroy

No offence but that is ridiculous, at the end of the day FAI want to sell their tickets. As long as you BB/Season ticketer, call it what you will, buy up your allocation of tickets for each game, they wont care less. Good times or bad. Thats the beauty of the system in that it rewards 'real' fans who will go and support the team be it in a poor qualifying campaign (ala Stan years) or a successfull campaign.
02/09/2010, 5:35 PM
Stuttgart88

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbyrne

been a blockbooker for over 18 years and never been shafted. what do you base your comment on?

Well said. They moved my seats once. I complained and got them back again. No problem.

I applied for the season tickets but am still receiving game by game tickets in the post. Any idea when the swipe cards arrive?
02/09/2010, 7:12 PM
outspoken

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polster

Apologies if this has already been posted. The FAI are advertising on their site a new season ticket option for 8 home games, 3 qualifiers, 2 friendlies, and the home countries tournament next summer. €315, which they say is a 10% discount. I thought the cheapest ticket was €50, perhaps cheaper for the friendlies.

However where does this leave Blockbookers? I've been blockbookig 6 tickets for 20 years, which includes all friendlies to, as the FAI insist on it. I don't recall ever been given a discount or any other incentives that they are listing for the season ticket. So what is the differance between a blockbooker and a season ticket holder? Shockingly, it also says that season ticket holders will get 1st option for away games, so my 20 years of blockbooking and previous away games counts for nothing if someone signs up now to the discounted season ticket.

I am delighted more people will get the option to secure tickets, but overall the way the FAI are doing this does not sit well with me at all. They are giving zero consideration to the long standing supporters.

I will be giving the FAI a call tomorrow when back in the office, now that they are not replying to most mails anymore. However I think I will drop a mail to Delaney later today.

Good luck with that FAI answering a telephone or replying to mail hahaa joke there a useless shower of _________
02/09/2010, 8:50 PM
elroy

Quote:

Originally Posted by outspoken

Good luck with that FAI answering a telephone or replying to mail hahaa joke there a useless shower of _________

Look at the frantic scramble there is for AI hurling final tickets this week and it will be even worse for the football final. In comparison the FAI do their best to reward fans who are regular attendees at their games. Many genuine gaa supporters struggle to get tickets for the finals, even though they may have went to many games during the year. So at least in the ticket sense I think the FAI do make an effort and much more of an effort than its rival organisations.

In my personal experience the ticket office have always been very helpful, no matter how mundane my query may have been.
03/09/2010, 7:40 AM
jbyrne

Quote:

Originally Posted by outspoken

Good luck with that FAI answering a telephone or replying to mail hahaa joke there a useless shower of _________

the party line of the uninformed. the ticket office are excellent at getting back to emails. always a pleasure to deal with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Well said. They moved my seats once. I complained and got them back again. No problem.

I applied for the season tickets but am still receiving game by game tickets in the post. Any idea when the swipe cards arrive?

asked for good seats this time with my application form and couldnt have got better from the FAI.
my experience of these kind of swipe cards is that they can take ages to sort. would expect them for the russia match though
03/09/2010, 7:46 AM
Kingdom

Lads I got a letter yday from the ticket office explaining that the swipes are currently being tested (or programmed perhaps) for Lansdowne, and that they're on the way.
It also advised to email D4 hotels for the offers, and that other details of add-ons for the season ticket will come with the swipe.
04/09/2010, 10:46 AM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Has anyone else not got their Andorra tickets yet?
04/09/2010, 12:24 PM
Schumi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nah Nah Nah Nah

Has anyone else not got their Andorra tickets yet?

Mine arrived on Wednesday anyway. Get onto them ASAP.
04/09/2010, 6:06 PM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schumi

Mine arrived on Wednesday anyway. Get onto them ASAP.

I mailed them yesterday alright so presume I'll hear from them on Monday. I did get another letter from them about the season tickets which said I should have received my tickets by now!
05/09/2010, 2:13 PM
Schumi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nah Nah Nah Nah

I mailed them yesterday alright so presume I'll hear from them on Monday.

I'd ring as well if I were you. I don't think I've ever got a reply to an e-mail from the FAI.
05/09/2010, 2:33 PM
Spudulika

Quote:

Originally Posted by elroy

Look at the frantic scramble there is for AI hurling final tickets this week and it will be even worse for the football final. In comparison the FAI do their best to reward fans who are regular attendees at their games. Many genuine gaa supporters struggle to get tickets for the finals, even though they may have went to many games during the year. So at least in the ticket sense I think the FAI do make an effort and much more of an effort than its rival organisations.

In my personal experience the ticket office have always been very helpful, no matter how mundane my query may have been.

I don't know how familiar you are with the GAA and the system for All-Ireland (all-ticket match) ticketing. For the All-Ireland finals each club receives a quota through their county board, my former clubs used to have a lottery or award one of the allocation to a long serving/deserving clubperson. Any GAA supporters who are attached to a club, have as equal a chance to get a ticket as anyone else, and the whole country is covered (with a larger portion going to the final pairing of counties obviously). Lots of horse trading goes on between county boards, though it is efficient, decent and fair. In essence the GAA are fairer than other organisations in the country, though for big matches in any code there will be a major push on numbers.
05/09/2010, 8:07 PM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schumi

I'd ring as well if I were you. I don't think I've ever got a reply to an e-mail from the FAI.

They always reply to my e-mails I have to say
07/09/2010, 12:46 PM
elroy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spudulika

I don't know how familiar you are with the GAA and the system for All-Ireland (all-ticket match) ticketing. For the All-Ireland finals each club receives a quota through their county board, my former clubs used to have a lottery or award one of the allocation to a long serving/deserving clubperson. Any GAA supporters who are attached to a club, have as equal a chance to get a ticket as anyone else, and the whole country is covered (with a larger portion going to the final pairing of counties obviously). Lots of horse trading goes on between county boards, though it is efficient, decent and fair. In essence the GAA are fairer than other organisations in the country, though for big matches in any code there will be a major push on numbers.

I am very familiar and regularly attend games. In fairness to them they brought in a season ticket feature in the last year or two which isnt a million miles away from a BB scheme and works quite well. means if you purchase a ticket for each game from the gaa for your county you are guaranteed a final ticket.

To say that the Gaa is fairer than the other organisations isnt right. The FAI BB system is the best of its kind in the country. It rewards people who support the team throughout good and bad.
The only games every year where there are issues with tickets for the gaa is the two finals. And due to their method of allocating tickets (excluding the season ticket scheme), alot of people who may not be strongly affiliated with a club but regularly attendees struggle to get tickets to matches.
It is amazing how many people each year get a ticket for the AI finals but havent gone to a single game during the year. Plenty of them there last sunday i can tell you.