Did you get any Olympic tickets? If so, congratulations! But what of the many who didn’t and are left disappointed and empty-handed? What are the chances of success second-time round – and what tickets will be left?
Well, that’s that then. I’ve just checked my bank account and there’s a distinct lack of debits today.
That would usually be a good thing, but today of course is a different matter – it officially means I won’t be getting charged by Locog. And that means no Olympic tickets.
Many left empty-handed
Thanks to the strange ticketing system Locog has come up with, checking our bank account is the only way to tell if we’ve got any tickets. And even then we won’t know which events we’ve got tickets for, as Kathryn Roberts (@fwinroberts) told us on Twitter:
‘Money has gone out of my account so looks like I have Olympic tickets! I don’t know what they are for – but don’t care! I don’t mind if they are not that good – just want to have the experience of the Olympics – I’m very lucky.’
Indeed you are, Kathryn. According to Locog, one in seven people who have applied in this round will be unsuccessful – which means that ‘at least’ 250,000 households will be left with nothing.
A quick straw poll around the Which? office, friends and our Twitter followers shows many people are in the same ‘no tickets’ boat as me. And it seems that I shouldn’t beat myself up for not applying for more. One colleague applied for 16 tickets to the value of almost £600 and got nothing – another tried for 20 tickets and still ended up empty-handed.
Second time lucky?
So, what’s next for us unfortunate ones? A second round of sales will take place in late June, giving unsuccessful first-round applicants priority on a first-come-first-served basis. Later, everyone will be able to apply for any remaining tickets.
Sounds fair in theory but as another Tweeter, @murkee, pointed out, some will still be left short:
‘I applied for about £1,000, most as a couple, some singles for missus. We got one single. As my missus got one, we won’t get first dibs in July. Looks like I’m not going at all. Grr!’
And I’m curious to know what tickets are actually left. Many of the people I’ve spoken to went for cheaper events and early rounds and got nothing. Does this mean these are being kept for resale – or that these events are sold out and only pricey ones are left? If it’s the latter then many of us will be priced out altogether.
Ticketing the biggest UK event of the decade was never going to be easy, so I have some sympathy for the organisers. But couldn’t there be a bit more transparency about which tickets have been allocated and which remain? That way, we can apply more sensibly next time round and avoid manically over-bidding on tickets we can’t even afford.
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