Block Booking for WC Qualifiers

[gspain]

I hope Gspain is on to something here. As number three thousand and something on the waiting list for Aviva, I'd imagine I'd bet onto the BB list if the blazers and association people get bumped up to first class. If I had shelled out for a ten year Vantage ticket, I'd be less than pleased and looking for my money back though.

This is only guessing but from a conversation with a friend who would know but he was only guessing too. No decision has been made.

Assuming the Vantage Club doesn't sellout which is a pretty safe bet then the seats will get sold on a match by match basis. There is no way they'll be left empty. The obvious thing to do is to move the council and their friends etc in there and sell their tickets to the waiting list.

[eamon666]

Gspain. I know nothing about the Byzantine workings of the FAI council. How many people are you talking about potentially being bumped from BB to Vantage? There are ten thousand Vantage seats and best estimates are that one tenth of them have been sold. 9,000 seats is a lot of blazers! I'd be thrilled if you're onto something as it would mean that I'll get to stake my claim to 2 or more seats in Aviva. There's a compelling logic to this strategy as it fills more seats, which is good for both cash flow and optics and it means that even if they are making less on the Vantage side of tings, they have a full house and BBers who'll pay into every game to keep their place. I know I would. I'd say they'll offer BBers a chance to upgrade to Vantage on a game-by-game basis for fifty quid extra or so. As long as I move from waiting list to actual (economy class) seats, I don't mind what they do. ;-)

[gspain]

Gspain. I know nothing about the Byzantine workings of the FAI council. How many people are you talking about potentially being bumped from BB to Vantage? There are ten thousand Vantage seats and best estimates are that one tenth of them have been sold. 9,000 seats is a lot of blazers! I'd be thrilled if you're onto something as it would mean that I'll get to stake my claim to 2 or more seats in Aviva. There's a compelling logic to this strategy as it fills more seats, which is good for both cash flow and optics and it means that even if they are making less on the Vantage side of tings, they have a full house and BBers who'll pay into every game to keep their place. I know I would. I'd say they'll offer BBers a chance to upgrade to Vantage on a game-by-game basis for fifty quid extra or so. As long as I move from waiting list to actual (economy class) seats, I don't mind what they do. ;-)

Ultimately the FAI will want to sell every seat for every game.

As it looks today there should be lots of space in the Vantage club but little else when you factor in away fans and current bbers.

I don't know the breakdown in figures but a number of bbings must be held by council members, clubs leagues etc. 2 of my mates get their tickets on a bbing from officials. I would guess these are in the thousands.

The easy solution would be to just offer the Vantage tickets to the waiting list on a match by match basis while still trying to sell Vantage club tickets.

However you would guess that many of the waiting list are young fans looking for the cheapest seat possible. The friends and family of many council members are more likely to want the padded seats etc and wouldn't mind paying a bit more. It would make sense to offer them a temporary relocation to the Vantage club until it sells out (if ever).

However one thing I know is that certain businesses have block bookings and indeed these would have been prime customers for the Vantage Club otherwise. I'm sure the FAI would love to convert them into corporate seats but they are hardly going to switch.

Now I don't think this decision has been made yet. However it seems to be the most logical way of filling the stadium.

[SuperDave]

I sent this email to FAI ticket office

Hi,

I am currently on the waiting list for Block Booking tickets and get tickets for every game at Croke Park and I have heard from people who have taken a tour of the new stadium that those currently on the waiting list and receiving tickets at Croke Park will not be accomodated when the new stadium is completed. I was just wondering if this was correct, or if a decision had even been made on the point. Any information you had would be most appreciated.

And received this reply:

Ticket allocations for Aviva stadium have not been made yet. We have only confirmed to our block bookers their allocation of the amount of tickets they received in Lansdowne Road. There is no information on who off our waiting list will be receiving an allocation yet.

[dynamo kerry]

I got the same letter and while the way in which they initially organised the Croker seats was haphazard to say the least, I'm happy with the way things are conducted in general.
As for people complaining about touts, there is an option of reporting the ticket number to the FAI. If they get a report it can be traced back to the blockbooker and that ticket/ allocation can be taken away,

thank you - now my WL14869 makes so much more sense!

[aidz1]

Reckon there could be a good bit of movement on waiting listers to block bookers.

nobody has been upgraded to bb for about 3-4 years now (cos of moving to croker).
I reckon there are quite a lot of existing block bookers that would have dropped their option of block booking because of economic circumstances and performance of team under stan.

By the time this is sorted for next summer (with added capacity too), i'd guess a good few thousand on the waiting list will be offered the chance..

[eamon666]

Reckon there could be a good bit of movement on waiting listers to block bookers.

nobody has been upgraded to bb for about 3-4 years now (cos of moving to croker).
I reckon there are quite a lot of existing block bookers that would have dropped their option of block booking because of economic circumstances and performance of team under stan.

By the time this is sorted for next summer (with added capacity too), i'd guess a good few thousand on the waiting list will be offered the chance..

Hope you're right, aidz1, though remember that although the Aviva has more capacity (50,000) than the old Lansdowne Road (36,000 fully seated), 10,000 of those seats are premier and 1,300 in boxes, so there's only an extra 2,700 seats for the block bookers. Assuming most people want 2 tickets that means that 1,350 waiting list people will be accomodated. That figure might increase due to people dropping off the list due to ill health, financial or family circumstances or disinterest with the team. We'll have to wait and see what the FAI does. They have already contacted existing Lansdowne Road block bookers to confirm their allocations.

[gspain]

Hope you're right, aidz1, though remember that although the Aviva has more capacity (50,000) than the old Lansdowne Road (36,000 fully seated), 10,000 of those seats are premier and 1,300 in boxes, so there's only an extra 2,700 seats for the block bookers. Assuming most people want 2 tickets that means that 1,350 waiting list people will be accomodated. That figure might increase due to people dropping off the list due to ill health, financial or family circumstances or disinterest with the team. We'll have to wait and see what the FAI does. They have already contacted existing Lansdowne Road block bookers to confirm their allocations.

Unfortunately the away allocation goes from 3,600 to 5,000 assuming the rest of your figures are correct. This only leaves 1,300 by your figures.

The Waiting list will be first in line for the away tickets if not needed however
if we get an England or a Holland these will all be taken.

[SuperDave]

Unfortunately the away allocation goes from 3,600 to 5,000 assuming the rest of your figures are correct. This only leaves 1,300 by your figures.

The Waiting list will be first in line for the away tickets if not needed however
if we get an England or a Holland these will all be taken.

rumour has it the away allocation is being cut from 10% to 5%, hence down to 2,500, allowing an xtra 1,100 seats. Also, the people targeted for premium tickets are block bookers.... i think we will all be waiting and seeing....

[ArdeeBhoy]

It's all going to depend on whether they sell all the 11300 corporate-type seats.
The boxes are one thing, but hopefully not all the rest are sold and another couple of thousand are available on a 'General Sale' basis?

[ChemicalBrother]

Anyone know how long you would need to have been on the block booking list to be sure of a place on it when we move back to Lansdowne?

[gspain]

rumour has it the away allocation is being cut from 10% to 5%, hence down to 2,500, allowing an xtra 1,100 seats. Also, the people targeted for premium tickets are block bookers.... i think we will all be waiting and seeing....

Only for European qualifiers not for World Cup qualifiers where it stays at 10%.