Any Point Having A Season Ticket?

[rosscarrick]

I think this thread has focused only on the ticket lottery end of things.
I'm just saying that it's quite easy to get tickets to Leinster games nowadays, with the bigger ones being moved to LR.
And 'if' you miss a couple of games (Aironi on a Thursday) the financial difference between single tickets and ST is negligible.
I have enjoyed going to the games with my brother and Dad (the only time the three of us area get together), but I'm starting to think that the Season Ticket isn't as important as it use to be.

[Edna Kenny]

I think the season ticket is well worth getting. It's convenient more than anything as you never really have to worry about collecting tickets/remembering tickets and you also get to sit beside your mates at the LR games. If you're going to miss a few games then it may not be worth it but having to buy tickets for every game is hassle.

The allocation for the H-Cup final is always below the amount of season tickets Leinster have so anyone relying on the lottery is taking a risk. I can understand why they allow you to apply for 2 tickets per person as it is generally nice to sit beside someone you know. Offering 4 per ST holder is unfair in my opinion.

Tickets for the final are on sale from the day after the previous final so there have been opportunities to buy. It is a risk shelling out for a ticket in advance but it's worth it in my opinion as you can always try to sell it on if you decide not to go. I bought final tickets after the Cardiff game figuring I would either go to the final regardless or else the chances were I could sell to an Ulster or Clermont supporter.

For those without tickets I would not panic. As mentioned above, for the previous finals there have been free tickets available on the day and in the lead up. I was offered several tickets in Cardiff and I remember the bagpiper in Murrayfield asking people to stop giving him tickets, he couldn't sell them! They come out of the woodwork so keep asking and you will get them.

[leins]

Before I start I cannot make it to Twickenham and did not apply for tickets, I just don't believe the tickets Leinster rugby received were fairly allocated.

From the ERC website:
Leinster Rugby
Season Ticket Holders and Supporters Club : Sunday, 29 April: Leinster will email Season Ticket holders and members of the Supporters Club this evening offering them the opportunity to enter a lottery for tickets. Season Ticket holder and Supporters Club should log into their Season Ticket account before 5.00pm on Tuesday, enter their payment details and the number of tickets required (maximum four per person). The lottery will on Tuesday, 1 May at 5.00pm.
Queries to the Ticket Office on 00353 1-2693224 from 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.

Affiliated Clubs
Approximately 2,500 tickets will be distributed internally via the club network, staff, squad and committees.

Public Sale
Leinster do not envisage any sale to the general public, but may consider this option if Season Ticket holders have been facilitated.


So only 5,000 tickets approximately were allocated for the ST holders, so people in the clubs where the final might be the only Leinster game they go to all season are getting priority over people who have paid upfront to attend all the home games.
If they allocated 7,000 tickets at 1 ticket each to the ST holders they could have satisfied over half of the ST holders, and not all of the 13,000 ST holders would have requested tickets (I didn't!).
But then we all have single tickets.......no you are seated beside the other successful applicants on your account.....who only has one ticket on their account ?
For the GAA STs when it comes to the All Ireland Finals you only qualify for tickets if your card/ticket was scanned at atleast 60% of games (it does not have to be you who used it), and you only qualify to buy one ticket per ticket held. Maybe something similar could work here with a higher attendance rate, maybe 80%+ attendance would give priority access to 1 ticket each.

Sales of STs are currently behind sales at this time last year, these sales will be a lot lower next year if Leinster rugby do not resolve the issues around allocating tickets for the finals.

[awaaf]

There was an official ticket counter selling tickets in cardiff as far as I could see.

[simonokeeffe]

ST was definitely worth it at least until a year or 2 ago when huge demand for for HC knock out games and interpros, but with downturn, Munster fans not enjoying watching them lose to us in Dublin :-p there is less demand. If you can get to A games theyre amazing value, plus STH are getting discounts on knock out games and it's nice to be able to pass on tickets for a few matches if you cant go to them

Sounds trivial too but I think a lot of people like getting the STH scarf

[jggy2003]

I think the season ticket for Leinster is as good a value for money as you'll get anywhere. The quality of rugby and the atmosphere in the RDS is mighty. The business of the Lottery is as fair a way as any of doing the distribution. Two of my friends are going but three of us entered the Lottery and we all won! I got rid of my two within hours and I'm sure the other two will go soon enough!

[Avenger]

I don't have a season ticket. Due to a few reasons I didn't renew for myself and the wife this year after being a season ticket holder since they were introduced. If you are going to the games every week they are absolutely worth having and are great value IMO.

For the 2009 and 2011 finals I was lucky enough to get tickets in the ST lottery (even though I couldn't go in 2009 - I applied for a friend) but this year because I knew I didn't have the lottery option, I went and bought tickets from ticket master months ago. This option is open to everyone and I'm sure there are plenty of ST holders that got tickets via this avenue this and other years.

A lottery is the fairest way of doing it. Leinster Rugby would have to get far more advanced than they currently are if they were going to allocate final tickets on attendance records and start putting more weight on attendance of away fixtures like they do in football. And I'm not sure that Leinster even have any interest in going down that route as it would take investment.

[AdamK]

I love my season ticket. Renewed it again this year. Great value. It's a great way to spend friday/saturday evenings, getting to see some of the best rugby in the world right infront of you, and the atmosphere around the RDS is fantastic.

The only problem with it is my friends never want to dish out cash for a ST, so I always end up sitting on my tobler! Ha!

[OTT]

The point for me in having a season ticket is that I want to have one. I had one back in the donnybrook days when I didnt neccessarily need one, the success the team is having over the last couple of years is certainly a bonus and has me in better form more times then not but if it goes away I will still get a season ticket because thats how I like to spend my spare time following Leinster. If we didnt get to the Heineken Cup Final or the previous Heineken Cup Final wins this thread wouldnt be here but alot more about how we are bottlers, chokers, no heart, underachievers etc etc would be.

I can understand people in this climate who maybe cant afford a season ticket or due to geographical location cant get to every match, cant go to late matches with kids and prefer to pick the matches they can attend but if you are not in this boat and really support leinster, if you love leinster like so many people on here and can financially stretch to one I cant see how you wouldnt want a season ticket,I plan things around leinster matches, the minute the fixtures become available I try and see if I can do an away match or two (Edinburgh is usually the city of choice for me plus a heineken match).

The only way we can be guaranteed a ticket in a lotto is if we have around 4000 season ticket holders and for that to happen would mean we are piss poor and all these Leinster people who currently have season tickets would have turned their back on their province I certainly hope this never happens, it wont be a lotto for a Heineken Cup Final anyway if this was the case thats for sure.

All of the little incentives that come with a season ticket are just that incentives, they are not deal clinchers for me, they are nice little extras. If its out of some principle because you didnt get a HCUP final ticket to not get a season ticket, when you are gonna go to every match you can anyway, what is the point? Tickets on an individual basis are more expensive so it will be your pocket you are hitting.

To finish the point in having a season ticket is because you love Leinster and wouldnt be without one, thats how it is for me anyway. Theres alot of other things that will go for me first if financial constraints become a problem.


N.B. I have 4 season tickets in my account needed 4 tickets for the final got 2. Obviously I was disappointed not to get all four but I was delighted to get the 2 when I saw how unfortunate some people were on here. I sympathise with you all I even do with myself!! Ended up with 4 spare tickets for edinburgh '09 of which 3 i couldnt even give away for free, bought in the sept for Cardiff'11 and left it late this time. I hope everyone gets what they need I am confident I will come across the extra 2 I need I might have to lick up to a few Munster people but it will be a small price to pay.

As stated a fairer way surely would have been to offer 1 ticket perseason ticket holder and allow more if theres excess as oppsed to 2 for 1 sth I agree with that and maybe they will learn, every year there is an improvement in how the general season ticketing is handled (for me anyway) if we go back a few years it was bloody diabolical. Hopefully we will be lucky/good enough to get to another final in the future and we can see if they have learned from this episode. Where demand exceeds supply there will be no perfect way of doing it and someone will always end up disgruntled. Its shitty but its the way it will always be.

[Mauler]

Great post OTT!

[ronk]

The lottery was resolved fully this morning. Most people knew yesterday. That's pretty good going and it was essential to get tickets allocated quickly so people could make travel plans.

We got some of the tickets we wanted but have enough to manage with. It happens that we ended up with 4 tickets between 4 season ticket holders when you balance out that one didn't apply and one applied at the last minute having decided to risk being stuck with tickets.

At least now we're organised, and many other fans are too. We really should have prebooked though, at least part of the trip, especially in the window after Ulster qualified.

[English Bob]

There was an official ticket counter selling tickets in cardiff as far as I could see.

There definately was

[Skinfull]

Out of the 4 of us that have had season tickets for the past dunno how many years, this year (season 2012 - 2013) I am the only one who is contemplating renewing and I'm hesitating. The only real lure is getting tickets to the big games, there are always tickets to the other games be they in LR or RDS. The discounts and scarves are moot. There are always good deals on ticket bundles so I might give it a miss this year too and see how the finances tally out at the end of the season.

[Xanthippe]

Out of the 4 of us that have had season tickets for the past dunno how many years, this year (season 2012 - 2013) I am the only one who is contemplating renewing and I'm hesitating. The only real lure is getting tickets to the big games, there are always tickets to the other games be they in LR or RDS. The discounts and scarves are moot. There are always good deals on ticket bundles so I might give it a miss this year too and see how the finances tally out at the end of the season.

Sent you a message - check your PMs

[sid]

To finish the point in having a season ticket is because you love Leinster and wouldnt be without one, thats how it is for me anyway.

Exactly.

[The Doc]

The point of a season ticket is to get a discounted ticket to all home regular season games. Anything after that is a bonus - or rather the "chance" to get other benefits. And in fairness, tickets for the final is about the only time there is a doubt over. But if you wanted to "buy" insurance, tickets for teh final were available up to a week ago on the RFU website. Been to the last 2 finals and - as said lots of times already - I was left with spares in both cases. Couldn't give them away.

But apart from the discounted regular season games, the real advanatage I have gained from the ST is getting tickets to the away games i.e. Munster, Clermont etc - where it has been easier to get tickets as an away supporter than for the home ones. Also, there have been a number of times where STH get early discounted tickets - SF next week anyone?

I've been through the dissapointment of not getting tickets in tlhe lottery - didn't get them last time. And I understand the mild panic in the days after - but I will add to the various voices that have already said this - keep an eye on the forums and on other clubs forums and if you don't pick them up there, go to the Cabbage Patch before the game - they will turn up.

[johng]

In addition to all the discounts, cheaper tickets for SF etc. The sheer hassle of getting tickets for every game, and the lack of stress involved in not having to even think about it.

I went to every home game in Donnybrook the year before I got an ST. The (minor) drama of having to head to the spar, or pay ticketba$tard fees and transact so many times per season is a pain in the whole.

[RavenhillRaider]

Wont be renewing mine this year. Was great at making me head to as many games as i already had a ticket. But the increasing thurs/early fri nite kickoffs made it impossible to travel down from belfast. Saying that if i still lived in dublin i'd get one every year.

[rpurfield]

im not a season ticket holder but im suprised that they are letting each season ticket holder apply for four.surely there could be a way of linking season tickets so if i have one and my mate has one we apply together get one ticket each for the final but sat together.id love to have a season ticket but i work shifts so i couldnt justify it.id imagine it makes life a lot easier for going to games too like

[Degz]

Pretty self-congratulatory stuff.