The Great season ticket swindle

[bigmike]

It seems that the club are now discounting most of the games

The official site states

The Royals host Crystal Palace next Tuesday evening at 8pm, and there is £5 off every single ticket if you buy before end of play on Fri 4th Dec

Does anyone think the club are going to pass on any potential saving on to season ticket holders who have to be honest been getting fleeced by the club for years?

Looking like yet another reason not to renew season tickets

[Thaumagurist*]

Nice, another STH moaning about this. I've bought my CP ticket and am happy to pay the cheaper price.

BTW, this belongs in Club Policies along with several other similar threads.

[Dirk Gently]

Mods - merge this here : http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=94247&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a with the other threads from people lwho think that someone else's good fortune is their bad fortune.

[Ian Royal]

Self self self self self.

[Magnus]

NIMBY

[Sun Tzu]

Looking like yet another reason not to renew season tickets

Any chance of cancelling yor HNA membership too ?

[Stranded]

It seems that the club are now discounting most of the games

The official site states

The Royals host Crystal Palace next Tuesday evening at 8pm, and there is £5 off every single ticket if you buy before end of play on Fri 4th Dec

Does anyone think the club are going to pass on any potential saving on to season ticket holders who have to be honest been getting fleeced by the club for years?

Looking like yet another reason not to renew season tickets

YAWN - the club have said a million times that the total savings someone could acheive by buying every single game seperately will not be more than the saving a ST holder gets.

Not only would an individual have to buy a ticket to every game but they would need to be aware of all promotions and deadlines. For example, Blackpool was only cheap if you were lucky enough to find out via the flyers they handed out at Reading station - it wasn't advertised anywhere else.

[Hoop Blah]

I'm not really bothered as I don't buy my ST for the discount, but at a time when plenty of STs will be thinking seriously about renewing again next time, it doesn't encourage you to put your money into the club upfront.

ST renewals are very important to the club, and I do think they need to remember that when they sell them and then negate what is, to many, the biggest advantage of having one.

[Sun Tzu]

It's a fair point, but we've always had deals in order to boost take up and I wonder how many STH do actually buy purely for financial reasons.

I'm not convinced they will manage to ensure that the S is the cheapest way of seeing all games and when people like to work it out on their personal attendance plans there is no hope !

[Ryn]

If want to be really pedantic when working out if it's cheaper to buy the ST, then don't forget how early we had to renew our tickets this year to take 'advantage' of a price freeze.

Take your season ticket cost and work out the interest you would have earned on that money between renewing and the first tickets going on sale for the new season, and then the diminishing pot throughout the season as you buy tickets for individual games. It could possibly be enough to buy as much as a rubbish hotdog by the end of the season.

[Hoop Blah]

I think it's possibly that the cost savings might actually be less of an influence for renewals than it is for new purchases.

Either way, it's not going to be a positive thing that your saving is reduced with all the pricing offers throughout the season.

Perhaps when they sell season tickets they should include a compairson against the lowest 'offer price' of attending all games. If they set that at the start of the season and make it clear that the ST is still going to be £X cheaper then there can be no complaints.

I don't really care, but I can understand people getting a bit cheesed off by it.

[Sun Tzu]

I think it's possibly that the cost savings might actually be less of an influence for renewals than it is for new purchases.

Either way, it's not going to be a positive thing that your saving is reduced with all the pricing offers throughout the season.

Perhaps when they sell season tickets they should include a compairson against the lowest 'offer price' of attending all games. If they set that at the start of the season and make it clear that the ST is still going to be £X cheaper then there can be no complaints.

I don't really care, but I can understand people getting a bit cheesed off by it.

How could they do that ?

The offers aren;t worked out 12 months ahead, they are reactive to a large degree. People need to do their own thinking sometimes and decide whether all the benefits of a ST are worth perhaps not saving any money against buying weekly.
Imagine if we have another season like 2005-6 and sell out most games. HNA would be full of people who had decided they would save money by buying weekly and complaining that not only were there no 'offers' going but they couldn;t get tickets for the key games !!

[Terminal Boardom]

I think it's possibly that the cost savings might actually be less of an influence for renewals than it is for new purchases.

Either way, it's not going to be a positive thing that your saving is reduced with all the pricing offers throughout the season.

Perhaps when they sell season tickets they should include a compairson against the lowest 'offer price' of attending all games. If they set that at the start of the season and make it clear that the ST is still going to be £X cheaper then there can be no complaints.

I don't really care, but I can understand people getting a bit cheesed off by it.

How could they do that ?

The offers aren;t worked out 12 months ahead, they are reactive to a large degree. People need to do their own thinking sometimes and decide whether all the benefits of a ST are worth perhaps not saving any money against buying weekly.
Imagine if we have another season like 2005-6 and sell out most games. HNA would be full of people who had decided they would save money by buying weekly and complaining that not only were there no 'offers' going but they couldn;t get tickets for the key games !!

As Shakespeare said, "To buy, or not to buy".

It is a matter of personal choice and circumstance. But it irks me to see offer after offer to non STHs but I can understand why the club does it. If we have a season like 2005/06, then sobeit whether or not I, or anyone else buys a ST.

Perhaps the club could consider the financial impact on a family of 4 with STs. Throwing in a bit more of a discount may encourage more families to attend more regularly. And whatever happened to the Megablock deal that they had in the WSU? Discounted kids STs if purchased with an adult.

[Sun Tzu]

We've probably got a higher proportion of families at games than most clubs ironically.

But I'd agree that inevitably the cost of a group going to games is going to be higher than for individuals.

I'd love to see kids ST cut dramatically in price for next season. It makes a lot of sense to almost run them as a loss leader.

[brendywendy]

23 quid isnt a swindle

and id rather have a fuller ground than moan about non ST holders getting cheaper ticketrs than me

personally

[Hoop Blah]

I agree brendy, but I can also empathise with those that feel a bit hard done by.

Sun Tzu, we're often told how well the club is managed and how budgets are set and all that goes with that. It would be perfectly feasable for the club to stipulate a maximum cost saving for adhoc sales promotions during the season.

This wouldn't need to be met if crowds were holding up and sales promotions weren't required, but it could be a ceiling for the promotions to club would market to protect the price offering involved in a ST.

[Sun Tzu]

I agree brendy, but I can also empathise with those that feel a bit hard done by.

Sun Tzu, we're often told how well the club is managed and how budgets are set and all that goes with that. It would be perfectly feasable for the club to stipulate a maximum cost saving for adhoc sales promotions during the season.

This wouldn't need to be met if crowds were holding up and sales promotions weren't required, but it could be a ceiling for the promotions to club would market to protect the price offering involved in a ST.

Would it differ from what we have already been told though ?

And if there was a formal announcement that savings of 'up to' a certain amount would be available and then they weren't can't you just see the usual suspects bleating about how they decided not to get a ST becasue they were 'promised' certain savings and didn't get them ?
It seems people want everything done for them and in writing !
Isn't it pretty easy to look at the cost of a ST, look at the additional benefits, have a think about whether you might miss any games, factor in maybe 4 or 5 'special offers' and then decide if you want to buy ?

[Wimb]

Once again.....

Insults aside...

The cost of the entire matchday experience for one is high. For a family of 4, extortionate. The cost of the buses from the station to stadium is more expensive than if you purchased a return on a scheduled Reading Buses service. Car parking in the area is expensive or you run the risk of parking in an iffy side street and hoping your car is still there intact. The cost and quality of the food and drink inside and outside the stadium is dreadful. The value of a ST compared to pay per game is a sensitive issue and I don't think that it is one that is being handled or managed particularly well by the club. They see that income is reducing so they look at providing specials to encourage people to come. This is great if you don't commit to a ST but if you do, and there are in the region of 11,000 of them, this can backfire.

The only time that the football club have actually done anything positive to thank the supporters has been to lay on free coaches to Norwich last season. A marvellous gesture but surely would have been more impressive had the free travel been to a game on a Saurday and not being broadcast on live TV. Makes me think the only reason they did it was because they knew that the take up would be low.

I think you've dodged the main point of my post and the reasons for my ire with posters such as yourself. You've still failed to say how this club 'takes you for granted'. Secondly you're still failing to explain exactly why ST holders are being hard done by.

For your season ticket YOU STILL GET IT CHEAPER then those who buy game by game. You claim it's a sensitive issue but I can't understand why. As long as you recieve even a £1 discount then by definition you are technically 'rewarded' for your loyalty. As it stands even after all of the promotions you are still 4 odd games better off I believe. Not just this but as I and others have mentioned you get benefits that non season ticket holders don't get even if they pay to see every game.

You are ensured YOUR SEAT for every game, you don't have to bother to book a seat every game. You have priority for away games and cup matches and you also have the benefit of having your seat ensured for next season. On top of this the club has done things such as the 'bring a friend for free' and the money off voucher for a new replica kit this season. You also get free entry to reserve games IIRC (though this maybe wrong)

The above paragraph is part of the 'reward' for being a ST holder and are all things the club don't have to do but choose too. Beyond that entire issue, what devine right does a season ticket holder have over the rest of the fanbase who maybe can't commit/can't afford to go to every single game?

The sheer number of ST holders a couple of years back meant I couldn't get to see the club I've followed for years in perhaps the biggest games of my lifetime and whilst that annoys me I don't blame the club, it's circumstances and bad luck really.

The 'matchday experience' cost is high but it's about as high as you want it to be....

After your season ticket you shouldn't have any cost other then your travel. If you want a matchday programme, food at the ground etc etc that's your choice isnt it? the club don't MAKE you buy them and you can't even say alternative facilities aren't available nearby. Is the food substandard? it's no worse then most other entertainment venues, and given the speed/quantity with which they need to prepare food for 20,000 i fail to see how it could be THAT much better.

Parking is an issue yes and the bus prices are a tad high but so is travel across most of the area right now. To save money you could look at car sharing or walking further to the Basingstoke road to get a 'regular' Reading bus. Also whilst never a sure thing, you can get fairly safe and free parking at a number of places if you arrive well before the game and know your way around.

Finally you lambast the club for putting on free coaches to games that have been moved by Sky :\ In case you forget Sky actually provide the club with one of it's largest sources of income and have the right to move games at late notice to suit viewers. Does that annoy fans when they can't go? well yes but don't forget it also benefits thousands of fans who couldn't have gone in the first place and also generates revenue/publicity to help the club improve.

I don't like singling out anyone for 'insults' but really I have little time when people dodge the issues and twist it to such an extent that it doesn't match up with reality.

[Terminal Boardom]

Womb. No-one is forcing you to read what I think. Stick me on ignore if it offends that much. Or would you rather that this was a police state where free thought and opinion were outlawed? Your choice. Put up or...

[Wimb]

Womb. No-one is forcing you to read what I think. Stick me on ignore if it offends that much. Or would you rather that this was a police state where free thought and opinion were outlawed? Your choice. Put up or...

Quite the opposite TB, I'd like you to respond to some well rationaled points that I believe I made with some of your own. I quite like the open and honest discussions we have on here but what I don't enjoy (and few others do) is the blanket sweeping statements and generalisations that some people come up with.