Arsenal Away - 3rd March 07- Ticket Details UPDATED

[Royal Lady]

1,000 AST holders as opposed to 18,000 home season ticket holders - maybe a lot of people just don't have the money "up front" to purchase an AST.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Just to reitierate the point for the 100,000th time. They are called Royalty points, not loyalty points. Hence why you are rewarded for going to home games

They might be called Royalty points but when the club launched the scheme it was sold as having the aim of rewarding the most loyal fans with higher priority tickets. Just because they name it something difference doesn't mean it's not a loyalty scheme!

The way the club allocates the points to games is wrong and does not meet the aims they set out when launching the program but nobody but the niavest Reading fan can really have expected any more. It's another area where STAR should be campaigning for the supporters rights and having the system reflect supporter loyalty and not money into RFC coffers.

The allocation of points is a long standing issue, moer importantly the club have yet again made an error in setting the points bandings though. How many times do they have to make a mistake before learning from it? When will STAR start to pressure the club into looking after its loyal fans and not just lording it up with the management and basking in their reflected glory?

[Royal Lady]

I have never joined STAR - but I'm going to now, though I won't hold my breath for my points. I suspect I'll be chucked out, however, as I'm not going to toe the party line with a lot of things...

[BLUES & ROYAL]

Those with the highest number of points should be given "first refusal" - so if there's 1,000 fans with 827 points or whatever the highest amount you can have is, they should have had first chance, then the club should have released in the following days to those with slightly less. Lumping everyone with 601 or above, or whatever it was, was bound to cause problems imho. You should join STAR stranded, if you haven't already, you're quite an apologist for the club lately.

I'll join the apologists then also! seeing as you have obviously decided that the club are at fault here

Fans with over 601 already get an advantage over those below, if they choose not to take up the option when it is given to them, and allow a second banding to get tickets then that is their choice.
The club give plenty of forewarning to availability, it appears as though some people think they have a god given right to get special treatment when it comes to allocation of tickets. Royalty points don't make individuals "better" and more "worthy" fans than others, they just indicate a longstanding commitment to the club. The club choose to band these individuals together to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get to games. When tickets to away games are allocated by other clubs there is usually a short space of time to sell so bandings have to be spaced as they are designed to allow "everyone" to get a chance, even if, as in this case, everyone doesn't get a chance. The important thing to remember here is the members with the highest bandings DID get a chance. Those 601 and upwards that didn't get a ticket, should learn from this.

The system, IMO, is fair, OK so it can be worked by those who really want to get to games, but is that not fair play for having the wherewithall to do something about it? The ones who feel hard done by appear to be the ones with a list of excuses as long as your arm as to why the system doesn't work for them. Well, its not supposed to work for individuals, its supposed to work for "a" majority. If people spent as much time working out ways of getting tickets rather than ways to complain about not getting them we wouldn't have this discussion every time tickets for big games go on sale.

There is a solution.......AST!

Agree with everything quoted here.



The only downside for those not getting tickets is that there are another 5 points awarded for the game......The points awarded means that those 3000 fans will have another boost to their Royalty points leaving those not going even further behind!

[Warfield Royal]

Those 601 and upwards that didn't get a ticket, should learn from this.

It's ironic that the last big lesson on how to buy match tickets was for Arsenal Away too.

[Rawlie19]

Those 601 and upwards that didn't get a ticket, should learn from this.

It's ironic that the last big lesson on how to buy match tickets was for Arsenal Away too.

Er, no. ManUre away (league) me thinks.

[ayjaydee]

1,000 AST holders as opposed to 18,000 home season ticket holders - maybe a lot of people just don't have the money "up front" to purchase an AST.

As a supporter for so many years I am surprised you are not aware that there is NO up front money for an AST just a committment to purchase every away ticket by means of a credti/debit card lodged with the ticket office.

PS
I work in an office full of Royals and everyone that wanted a ticket and had the required number of points managed to get one even if it meant making up time by missing a couple of lunch hours so they could go to the stadium in the morning.

I find it very hard to understand that anyone who REALLY wanted a ticket could not have arranged something/someone to sort it.

[readingbedding]

1,000 AST holders as opposed to 18,000 home season ticket holders - maybe a lot of people just don't have the money "up front" to purchase an AST.

As a supporter for so many years I am surprised you are not aware that there is NO up front money for an AST just a committment to purchase every away ticket by means of a credti/debit card lodged with the ticket office.

PS
I work in an office full of Royals and everyone that wanted a ticket and had the required number of points managed to get one even if it meant making up time by missing a couple of lunch hours so they could go to the stadium in the morning.

I find it very hard to understand that anyone who REALLY wanted a ticket could not have arranged something/someone to sort it.

Definitely, especially if they had enough points, if not, well that's the way it goes.

[Southbank Old Boy]

1,000 AST holders as opposed to 18,000 home season ticket holders - maybe a lot of people just don't have the money "up front" to purchase an AST.

As a supporter for so many years I am surprised you are not aware that there is NO up front money for an AST just a committment to purchase every away ticket by means of a credti/debit card lodged with the ticket office.

PS
I work in an office full of Royals and everyone that wanted a ticket and had the required number of points managed to get one even if it meant making up time by missing a couple of lunch hours so they could go to the stadium in the morning.

I find it very hard to understand that anyone who REALLY wanted a ticket could not have arranged something/someone to sort it.

Definitely, especially if they had enough points, if not, well that's the way it goes.

I agree to an extent, I don't think the club should have to wet nurse it's fans BUT they were the ones who introduced the Royalty Point scheme to help look after its most loyal fans and distribute high demand tickets more "fairly."

They've managed to cock that up yet again.

[Gav]

I've got well over 601 points, but me dad only has something like 589, so had to wait until today (tuesday) to try to get them.

I tried to phone from 10am onwards and only actually managed to get in the queue at around 10:45.

At 11:30ish I got through to the 'sales centre' to be told they had run out 5 minutes ago and were just putting up info saying this.

After 45 minutes on my mobile that was a major bummer, but sh*t happens.

It was a suprise though, I'll tell ya. Thought the tickets would last til Wedesday. The only lesson to learn is that there are more in the 601+ bracket than I'd anticipated.

I haven't read the thread, but I can't really see much reason for disgruntlement. Everyone over 601 had their chance to get one, excluding me, cos I'm a berk who didn't act on my selfish impulse of just getting my own when I could!

[Stranded]

1,000 AST holders as opposed to 18,000 home season ticket holders - maybe a lot of people just don't have the money "up front" to purchase an AST.

As a supporter for so many years I am surprised you are not aware that there is NO up front money for an AST just a committment to purchase every away ticket by means of a credti/debit card lodged with the ticket office.

PS
I work in an office full of Royals and everyone that wanted a ticket and had the required number of points managed to get one even if it meant making up time by missing a couple of lunch hours so they could go to the stadium in the morning.

I find it very hard to understand that anyone who REALLY wanted a ticket could not have arranged something/someone to sort it.

Definitely, especially if they had enough points, if not, well that's the way it goes.

I agree to an extent, I don't think the club should have to wet nurse it's fans BUT they were the ones who introduced the Royalty Point scheme to help look after its most loyal fans and distribute high demand tickets more "fairly."

They've managed to cock that up yet again.

How? People with the most points (ie over 601) had a day in which to get their tickets. Given the speed of sales ie 1500ish on Monday, most got them. Those who tried on Monday with adequate points (and therefore surely among if not the most "loyal") got a ticket. Those who didn't took the risk and didn't get one. I'm really failing to see how this is the clubs fault.

[Southbank Old Boy]

How? People with the most points (ie over 601) had a day in which to get their tickets. Given the speed of sales ie 1500ish on Monday, most got them. Those who tried on Monday with adequate points (and therefore surely among if not the most "loyal") got a ticket. Those who didn't took the risk and didn't get one. I'm really failing to see how this is the clubs fault.

There was no need for a risk though.

The club could have looked after those supporters with more points by reducing the size of the bands and giving those so called more loyal fans a better chance of getting them. There was no need to rush the sales was there? They were never going to need to be offered to the masses.

Can you give me one good reason for making it a scramble for the tickets on the second day of sale when they could've regulated it to be a smoother demand curve?

I know there will always be a point where there will be disappointed fans but I don't think the club have handled the point’s thresholds very well, and their apparent anxiousness over releasing the data behind the points just makes me think they know they're haphazard at best.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Surely more tickets to be made available?
My other half has just said that on the local news it said Madejski to put pressure on them to issue more, but she may have misheard

If true, will it make a blind bit of difference?

Not if they feel they can sell the rest of the tickets to their own supporters, which they more than likely can. They only have to give us 3000 so anymore is at their discretion.

Arsenal sold out at the start of last week or so, a Red member at my office could not get tickets at all.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Just to reitierate the point for the 100,000th time. They are called Royalty points, not loyalty points. Hence why you are rewarded for going to home games

They might be called Royalty points but when the club launched the scheme it was sold as having the aim of rewarding the most loyal fans with higher priority tickets. Just because they name it something difference doesn't mean it's not a loyalty scheme!

The way the club allocates the points to games is wrong and does not meet the aims they set out when launching the program but nobody but the niavest Reading fan can really have expected any more. It's another area where STAR should be campaigning for the supporters rights and having the system reflect supporter loyalty and not money into RFC coffers.

The allocation of points is a long standing issue, moer importantly the club have yet again made an error in setting the points bandings though. How many times do they have to make a mistake before learning from it? When will STAR start to pressure the club into looking after its loyal fans and not just lording it up with the management and basking in their reflected glory?

I'm afraid you are talking utter rubbish, the Member card scheme and subsequent Royalty points were introduced first and foremost for HOME games. Hence why AWAY games have always received a lower points reward. It's in black and white on the club's customer charter

Member Cards
Member Cards are available to home supporters. When you book with a Member
Card, your ticket will be automatically loaded onto your card.
Confirmation of seat details is very important and we can send the details
to you using text message or email, depending on how you book. If you
forget your seat number, we have red-jacketed Customer Support Staff with
electronic hand held card readers situated around the stadium on matchdays
who will be able to help you. Alternatively, there are seat locator
machines situated in various parts of the stadium.

To enter the stadium, insert your Member Card into the reader at the
entrance to the turnstile. The reader checks against the database to
confirm the card is valid, a green light is shown and you can go through
the turnstile.

Member Card holders also receive Royalty Points (Reading FC's version of
loyalty points). For high demand games, these points will allow the club
to fairly allocate tickets based on supporter loyalty.

You can apply for a Member Card in the following ways:
Email: memberservices@readingfc.co.uk
In person: at the Sales Centre
By Phone: 0870 999 1871

[Stranded]

How? People with the most points (ie over 601) had a day in which to get their tickets. Given the speed of sales ie 1500ish on Monday, most got them. Those who tried on Monday with adequate points (and therefore surely among if not the most "loyal") got a ticket. Those who didn't took the risk and didn't get one. I'm really failing to see how this is the clubs fault.

There was no need for a risk though.

The club could have looked after those supporters with more points by reducing the size of the bands and giving those so called more loyal fans a better chance of getting them. There was no need to rush the sales was there? They were never going to need to be offered to the masses.

Can you give me one good reason for making it a scramble for the tickets on the second day of sale when they could've regulated it to be a smoother demand curve?

I know there will always be a point where there will be disappointed fans but I don't think the club have handled the point’s thresholds very well, and their apparent anxiousness over releasing the data behind the points just makes me think they know they're haphazard at best.

There's always a risk involved and even with a smoother curve the risk wouldn't be minimalised just delayed. The only people with 600 pts that missed out are those who chose to wait or couldn't get to the phone or the ground - that's life I'm afraid. It's not as if the club just through this at people from left field it was adverised well in advance in both the programme and the website (and possibly an ad in the EP?).

I'm sorry but the whinging on here seems to be just a case of people upset because either they or a friend/family member didn't get a ticket and somebody that they perceive as being less worthy to has. It just seems all a bit spoilt child to me.

[Custard Cream]

Anybody else order a child's ticket and received it with stub removed? Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a mistake.

[Warfield Royal]

Anybody else order a child's ticket and received it with stub removed? Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a mistake.

The stub was removed on our child ticket for Arsenal Away.

If you hold the Arsenal Away ticket up to a bright light you can see the induction loops which allows the ticket to be read by the card readers on the turnstiles. I expect the turnstiles at Arsenal to be unmanned as at Madejski.

[Seal]

Anyone else going in the home end then? Easy to get home tickets for Arsenal games, especially non glamour ties (for them) like Reading at home...

[Stranded]

Anyone else going in the home end then? Easy to get home tickets for Arsenal games, especially non glamour ties (for them) like Reading at home...

Sure it's already been mentioned that Arsenal have sold out.

[Seal]

Anyone else going in the home end then? Easy to get home tickets for Arsenal games, especially non glamour ties (for them) like Reading at home...

Sure it's already been mentioned that Arsenal have sold out.

Same as our place - always 'sold out' but never full unless a big game.

Easy to get tickets through mates or friends of friends etc. There's also loads of corporate tickets, so could even do it on a work jolly.

Not a problem!