So I applied for tickets today, mainly athletics, cycling, gymnastics and shooting, plus the opening and closing ceremonies.
Total value of the tickets I applied for: £446
Amount I actually hope to get through the ballot: £80
Amount I expect to get: £0
Good thing London got them :P
I'm struggling with the game theory on this. Ieall I'd like to go to 3 or 4 events - at least one in the Stadium and one in the Acquatics centre.
But od you order a shed load of tickets in the hope that some of them come through but with the risk that you'll have to off load a bunch. Of just apply for a few and risk getting nothing.
I'm not keen on this system though I understand the administrative attractiveness of it.
:huh:
My great aunt and uncle went to a bunch of events when the Olympics were in Atlanta, and I don't recall them having to enter a raffle to get the tickets. :hmm:
It's different each time?
Seems so. :hmm:
Link, please?
Quote from: Syt on March 15, 2011, 08:03:05 AM
Link, please?
http://www.london2012.com/visiting/tickets/ (http://www.london2012.com/visiting/tickets/)
Quote from: Caliga on March 15, 2011, 07:27:27 AM
My great aunt and uncle went to a bunch of events when the Olympics were in Atlanta, and I don't recall them having to enter a raffle to get the tickets. :hmm:
First come, first served doesn't work fairly in the internet era as anyone who has tried to buy a ticket for a popular gig sold out in 30 seconds will attest.
This ballot system with a "promise to pay" (they take your card details) is the same they use for entry to sporting events like the London Marathon and the half marathon I've entered this year.
Quote from: Caliga on March 15, 2011, 07:27:27 AM
:huh:
My great aunt and uncle went to a bunch of events when the Olympics were in Atlanta, and I don't recall them having to enter a raffle to get the tickets. :hmm:
That is only because people refused to go to the cesspool that is Atlanta even to watch the Olympics.
The Atlantan Olympics were the worst I can remember. Although Athens ran it close.
Quote from: Gups on March 15, 2011, 08:16:55 AM
The Atlantan Olympics were the worst I can remember.
Yeah, it really bombed.
Too soon?
I know they did raffles for the major events in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last year---you remember the one without the snow?
Quote from: Josephus on March 15, 2011, 08:30:47 AM
I know they did raffles for the major events in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last year---you remember the one without the snow?
Don't be so koi(coi?) Sochii is going to have even less snow.
Quote from: Brazen on March 15, 2011, 08:23:50 AM
Quote from: Gups on March 15, 2011, 08:16:55 AM
The Atlantan Olympics were the worst I can remember.
Yeah, it really bombed.
Too soon?
Nope. In fact most people have totally forgot about that.
Quote from: Valmy on March 15, 2011, 08:38:36 AM
Nope. In fact most people have totally forgot about that.
Not my wife, who mentioned it in a similar manner after I told her I passed through Olympic Park on Sunday. :P
Quote from: Valmy on March 15, 2011, 08:38:36 AM
Quote from: Brazen on March 15, 2011, 08:23:50 AM
Quote from: Gups on March 15, 2011, 08:16:55 AM
The Atlantan Olympics were the worst I can remember.
Yeah, it really bombed.
Too soon?
Nope. In fact most people have totally forgot about that.
:yes:
I'll have to admit that it took a few seconds to dredge it up from my memory banks.
There's a mildly evil collaboration with Visa - you can only pay for Olympic tickets with a Visa card!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2011/03/be_wary_of_potential_2012_tick.html (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2011/03/be_wary_of_potential_2012_tick.html)
That was the bombing where they blamed a fat security guard dude but it really turned out to be a crazy Christian fundamentalist mountain man. Good times. :)
Quote from: Brazen on March 15, 2011, 09:28:32 AM
There's a mildly evil collaboration with Visa - you can only pay for Olympic tickets with a Visa card!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2011/03/be_wary_of_potential_2012_tick.html (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2011/03/be_wary_of_potential_2012_tick.html)
Yes, this has really screwed me over. The only Visa I have is my
debit card (which I believe is the case for most Visa card holders), and so I either have to keep my ticket application maximum to something I could afford out of my current account, or I shift my ISA savings into my current account for the whole of May/June. I don't want to do the latter so I've applied for only a few events.
The system in place is a terrible execution of a good idea; if you look at the specifics, the money is taken from your account
before they tell you what you have actually received tickets for - and the resale website does not start until six months later. The system for buying Wimbledon tickets deals with high demand in a much better way.
In any case, I applied for men's handball semi-finals, men's waterpolo semi-finals, football quarter-finals, men's fours rowing final, and women's high-jump medal athletics day.
Can I haz : Tae Kwon Do tickets?
By the way, any other Londoners think that it is a bit strange that most of the Olympic football matches - for the London games - will actually be at Old Trafford, St James's Park and Hampden Park?
One would have thought that in addition to Wembley, they could have had hosted at Stamford Bridge, Whitehart Lane and the Emirates - all top stadia, and actually in London.
Quote from: Warspite on March 15, 2011, 10:49:24 AM
Yes, this has really screwed me over. The only Visa I have is my debit card (which I believe is the case for most Visa card holders), and so I either have to keep my ticket application maximum to something I could afford out of my current account, or I shift my ISA savings into my current account for the whole of May/June. I don't want to do the latter so I've applied for only a few events.
The system in place is a terrible execution of a good idea; if you look at the specifics, the money is taken from your account before they tell you what you have actually received tickets for - and the resale website does not start until six months later. The system for buying Wimbledon tickets deals with high demand in a much better way.
In any case, I applied for men's handball semi-finals, men's waterpolo semi-finals, football quarter-finals, men's fours rowing final, and women's high-jump medal athletics day.
I'm in exactly the same situation with my debit card. I had to put a note in my calendar saying "Make sure you have money in your account!!!"
I've applied for athletics, cycling, gymnastics, shooting and, over-optimistically, the opening and closing ceremonies. I don't really expect to get anything, except perhaps the shooting, which is great value for money as you get a full day.
As I've been shooting with Team GB through my job, I wonder if they'll let me have a go again? I got both traps last time!
My plan is to avoid London during the games and watch them on TV :)
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on March 15, 2011, 11:34:45 AM
My plan is to avoid London during the games and watch them on TV :)
:)
I dreaded the thought of Cincinnati winning when they was doing a bid. All the people swarming the tri-state. :yuk:
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 15, 2011, 11:42:40 AM
I dreaded the thought of Cincinnati winning when they was doing a bid.
Cincinnati tried to win an Olympic bid? :lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao:
Quote from: Caliga on March 15, 2011, 11:46:34 AM
Quote from: Ed Anger on March 15, 2011, 11:42:40 AM
I dreaded the thought of Cincinnati winning when they was doing a bid.
Cincinnati tried to win an Olympic bid? :lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao:
yep. There was going to be events all over the place. Dayton, Columbus, No. Kentucky, etc. The mere thought of the load on a near non-existent public transport system and no regional transport made me giggle uncontrollably.
They couldn't have seriously thought they were going to win that.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on March 15, 2011, 11:34:45 AM
My plan is to avoid London during the games and watch them on TV :)
I was going to say I could get to somewhere far more pleasant in the three hours it will take me to get to Stratford, but TFL tells me it's less than an hour door to door :)
Quote from: Caliga on March 15, 2011, 11:49:26 AM
They couldn't have seriously thought they were going to win that.
http://www.pbase.com/cincyimages/cincinnati_olympics
Have fun.
:lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao:
Swimming events in the Ohio!!!!!!
Might as well have them in the Cuyahoga.
Ghetto Olympics 2024. :cool:
You know what's crazy? In the Ohio Swimming event drawing there's the Cuban flag! How unpatriotic.
Quote from: Brazen on March 15, 2011, 11:15:25 AM
Quote from: Warspite on March 15, 2011, 10:49:24 AM
Yes, this has really screwed me over. The only Visa I have is my debit card (which I believe is the case for most Visa card holders), and so I either have to keep my ticket application maximum to something I could afford out of my current account, or I shift my ISA savings into my current account for the whole of May/June. I don't want to do the latter so I've applied for only a few events.
The system in place is a terrible execution of a good idea; if you look at the specifics, the money is taken from your account before they tell you what you have actually received tickets for - and the resale website does not start until six months later. The system for buying Wimbledon tickets deals with high demand in a much better way.
In any case, I applied for men's handball semi-finals, men's waterpolo semi-finals, football quarter-finals, men's fours rowing final, and women's high-jump medal athletics day.
As I've been shooting with Team GB through my job, I wonder if they'll let me have a go again? I got both traps last time!
Shooting! In Britain!? :o
Seems to me they could make a lot more money reducing demand by ticket prices rather than raffling tickets. :hmm:
Quote from: Brazen on March 15, 2011, 09:28:32 AM
There's a mildly evil collaboration with Visa - you can only pay for Olympic tickets with a Visa card!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2011/03/be_wary_of_potential_2012_tick.html (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jamespearce/2011/03/be_wary_of_potential_2012_tick.html)
Boo!