Author Topic: Your card is your ticket to the game  (Read 22914 times)

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Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #200: March 01, 2013, 09:58:53 AM »
Not sure I agree on that.  Many times in the past I've realized at noon that work was going to keep me really late and couldn't find a ticket partner who could go last minute.  Posted them at a reduced price on craigslist and met a buyer out front of my building downtown.  Now it'll be what? "Yeah, sure, Mr. Craigslist Stranger. Give me that cash and I'll run back upstairs and transfer the tickets to you via email".  People are (rightfully) a little leery of buying print outs of tickets as well.  I don't for a minute think that this won't push resale to StubHub (as designed).  And that's not even mentioning the legions of scalpers outside the Half St. Metro entrance.  Those guys are SOL.

Paypal the money to me first, then I email you the ticket through the Nats site . People trust Paypal. No fuss, no muss. Been doing it for years with dozens of strangers and not one problem.

And the scalpers have been selling the printed tickets for years. They'll adapt and so will the customers.

Offline eastie

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #201: March 01, 2013, 10:15:40 AM »
Paypal the money to me first, then I email you the ticket through the Nats site . People trust Paypal. No fuss, no muss. Been doing it for years with dozens of strangers and not one problem.

And the scalpers have been selling the printed tickets for years. They'll adapt and so will the customers.
Yes, Paypal is an option, but one that I personally avoid like the plague (More fees!  I have to wait for them to mail me a check!).  E-ticket cards are a solution in search of a problem and do not offer any benefit to the ticket holder that did not already exist.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #202: March 01, 2013, 10:19:34 AM »
Yes, Paypal is an option, but one that I personally avoid like the plague (More fees!  I have to wait for them to mail me a check!).  E-ticket cards are a solution in search of a problem and do not offer any benefit to the ticket holder that did not already exist.

I don't mind paying the Paypal fees for the convenience and security. Worth every penny and they're fairly low compared to stubub. And you can pass them on to the buyer if you want.

If the e-cards make the lines shorter to get in, then they're worth it for me.

Offline eastie

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #203: March 01, 2013, 10:24:47 AM »
Quote
Q. What are my options if I can't make it to a game? Do the Nationals still offer exchange and resale opportunities?

A. The Nationals do still support exchange and resale opportunities. If you know what game you won't be able to attend ahead of time, our Future Exchange Program allows you to turn in those seats for seats of equivalent value to another future game.
This year, the Unused Exchange Program will give you Red Carpet Rewards Points in return for any unused tickets turned in.
Also new for this year, all exchanges will take place online via nationals.com/exchange.
Lastly, posting your tickets to StubHub is a few easy clicks away via your online account.
Could be good or very, very bad.  Does this mean if I exchange tickets for a Premium game I can trade for another Premium game?  at the same level?  Or even upgrade to a better seat for a regular game?  That wold be an improvement? Also would this mean no blackout dates?

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #204: March 01, 2013, 10:46:53 AM »
Why not email tickets to your friends?

http://nationals.brochure-mlb.com/2013/benefits.php

Offline eastie

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #205: March 01, 2013, 10:55:48 AM »
Why not email tickets to your friends?

http://nationals.brochure-mlb.com/2013/benefits.php
I will, and I have in the past.  The point is that now I HAVE to.  This is the only way to get tickets to my partners, who all actually LIKED paper tickets.  How will Will Call work?  I hope that if I'm meeting a friend at the game with two of my access cards in hand I can plan for them to pick up a printed copy if they are running late and I want to go in.  I'm far from a luddite, really, but these aren't stupid concerns.

Mostly I hate that there is no way for me to equitably share all of the benefits of being STH now.  I've gone out of my way in the past to make sure that all members of my group receive the benefits, whether it was RCR points or the printed club passes and discount stubs we got with the season ticket books.  That seems out the window at this point.

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #206: March 01, 2013, 11:56:09 AM »
I will, and I have in the past.  The point is that now I HAVE to.  This is the only way to get tickets to my partners, who all actually LIKED paper tickets.  How will Will Call work?  I hope that if I'm meeting a friend at the game with two of my access cards in hand I can plan for them to pick up a printed copy if they are running late and I want to go in.  I'm far from a luddite, really, but these aren't stupid concerns.

Mostly I hate that there is no way for me to equitably share all of the benefits of being STH now.  I've gone out of my way in the past to make sure that all members of my group receive the benefits, whether it was RCR points or the printed club passes and discount stubs we got with the season ticket books.  That seems out the window at this point.

You can print tickets and distribute them to your friends. You can even buy card stock and make very nice tickets or print from a crappy laser printer for cost savings. But if you expect the Nationals to continue using obsolete technology to distribute tickets, you are in fact, a Luddite.

Offline eastie

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #207: March 01, 2013, 12:13:55 PM »
You can print tickets and distribute them to your friends. You can even buy card stock and make very nice tickets or print from a crappy laser printer for cost savings. But if you expect the Nationals to continue using obsolete technology to distribute tickets, you are in fact, a Luddite.
It'll be obsolete when a majority of MLB clubs are doing it and the rest are in the process of transitioning.  Right now it's bleeding edge, and we're the guinea pigs this season.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #208: March 01, 2013, 12:59:20 PM »
You can print tickets and distribute them to your friends. You can even buy card stock and make very nice tickets or print from a crappy laser printer for cost savings. But if you expect the Nationals to continue using obsolete technology to distribute tickets, you are in fact, a Luddite.

Yep. Printed tickets on nice coated paper are so last century. :couch:

Some people like change and some people are unnerved by it. Either way, change is inevitable.

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #209: March 01, 2013, 01:00:13 PM »
Yep. Printed tickets on nice coated paper are so last century. :tomatoes: :couch:

Some people like change and some people are unnerved by it. Either way, change is inevitable.

a game that sells itself based on tradition should view change with some skepticism

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #210: March 01, 2013, 01:00:36 PM »
It'll be obsolete when a majority of MLB clubs are doing it and the rest are in the process of transitioning.  Right now it's bleeding edge, and we're the guinea pigs this season.

If you are worried, print a hard copy of the ticket and you'll be using the same system as last year. You seem to be complaining prematurely.   

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #211: March 01, 2013, 01:05:14 PM »
a game that sells itself based on tradition should view change with some skepticism

I think that's fair. Baseball and its fans seem to pride themselves on being slow to change. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but that doesn't stop change from coming anyway.

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #212: March 01, 2013, 01:24:13 PM »
More info that came from the Nats today.

Q. What is The Ultimate Ballpark Access?
A. The Ultimate Ballpark Access is the new, one stop shop for Nationals Season Plan Holders to manage their tickets, ballpark access and benefits.

Q. How do I log into my account?
A. When you receive your Cards in early March, you will be able to login straight from the nationals.com homepage. Click on The Ultimate Ballpark Access button on the nationals.com homepage and you will be directed straight to the login page. Enter your MLB login and password and you will be directed to verify your first-time user information and accept the terms and conditions. In the first-time user section, it will ask you to enter the Card number and member ID located on the front of your Card.

Q. What happened to My Nationals Tickets?
A. My Nationals Tickets is no longer necessary. Everything needed for a Season Plan Holder to manage their tickets, benefits and access can now be done from their Ultimate Ballpark Access account.

Q. If I share my season plan with partners, how do I get them their tickets if everything is loaded onto my Cards?
A. The Ultimate Ballpark Access allows you to set up partners with their own online accounts and personalized access Cards. Once your partners have activated their online accounts, you can distribute any denomination of your own seats to them. When you distribute a seat to a partner, it will be removed from one of your Cards and is automatically assigned to your partner's Card carrying the same seat location.

Q. If I have more than one seat as a part of my season plan, do I receive more than one Card?
A. Yes. In early March, you will receive your Season Plan Holder package that will include your Cards. For every seat in your plan, you will receive one Card. Each Card will be printed with your name, account number and the seat location.

Q. Do I have to setup partners in order to give my seats to friends, family and clients?
A. The partner feature is meant for our Season Plan Holders who share significant portions of their Season Plans (10 or more games) with other fans. If you are looking to send seats to clients, family or friends for an individual game, emailing those seats via your online account is both faster and easier than setting them up as partners.

Q. What are my options if I can't make it to a game? Do the Nationals still offer exchange and resale opportunities?
A. The Nationals do still support exchange and resale opportunities. If you know what game you won't be able to attend ahead of time, our Future Exchange Program allows you to turn in those seats for seats of equivalent value to another future game.
This year, the Unused Exchange Program will give you Red Carpet Rewards Points in return for any unused tickets turned in.
Also new for this year, all exchanges will take place online via nationals.com/exchange.
Lastly, posting your tickets to StubHub is a few easy clicks away via your online account.

Q. If I purchase additional seats or parking, do those get loaded to my Cards? What about Rewards Tickets?
A. Only the tickets within your Season Plan are loaded to your Cards. All parking passes will be sent in the Season Plan Holder package as colored passes. All other additional tickets, rewards tickets and exchanged tickets will arrive as print-at home emails. You will be able to manage these tickets from your online account.

Q. What if I lose one or more of my Cards?
A. Within your account, there is a REQUEST REPLACEMENT CARD button. There is a $10 fee for lost or stolen Cards. If you lose or forget your Card on your way to the ballpark, please come see us at Ticket Services and we will supply you with a ticket to that game. Once you are inside the ballpark, you can come to the Season Plan Holder Lounge at section 137 to address any Card or online issues.

Q. Can I get commemorative paper tickets for any game?
A. Yes. You can purchase commemorative tickets for any game at the Advanced Ticket Office located inside the ballpark.

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #213: March 01, 2013, 01:26:20 PM »
a game that sells itself based on tradition should view change with some skepticism

Which baseball tradition is being dishonored?

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #214: March 01, 2013, 01:28:05 PM »
Which baseball tradition is being dishonored?

I like to think of the e-cards as tickets on PEDs...so there's precedent there....

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #215: March 01, 2013, 01:30:43 PM »
Which baseball tradition is being dishonored?

I like to keep the tickets for certain games,  those are now just print outs with bar codes.  It's minor,  but ticket stubs are part of the game

Offline Baseball is Life

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #216: March 01, 2013, 01:32:28 PM »
I like to keep the tickets for certain games,  those are now just print outs with bar codes.  It's minor,  but ticket stubs are part of the game

Q. Can I get commemorative paper tickets for any game?
A. Yes. You can purchase commemorative tickets for any game at the Advanced Ticket Office located inside the ballpark.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #217: March 01, 2013, 01:33:31 PM »
You can print tickets and distribute them to your friends. You can even buy card stock and make very nice tickets or print from a crappy laser printer for cost savings. But if you expect the Nationals to continue using obsolete technology to distribute tickets, you are in fact, a Luddite.
If I was only concerned about hogging the benefits to myself, this would be a great ticket solution. Just have everyone print them out.  But they are tieing in discounts and premiums to this sh!t, so my partners would get nothing.  And all the handy email discounts during games are useless to me unless I upgrade my phone.  And who the heck installed the cell towers down there?

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #218: March 01, 2013, 01:34:16 PM »
I like to keep the tickets for certain games,  those are now just print outs with bar codes.  It's minor,  but ticket stubs are part of the game

They are part of your game experience but not part of the game. 

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #219: March 01, 2013, 01:49:14 PM »
If I was only concerned about hogging the benefits to myself, this would be a great ticket solution. Just have everyone print them out.  But they are tieing in discounts and premiums to this sh!t, so my partners would get nothing.  And all the handy email discounts during games are useless to me unless I upgrade my phone.  And who the heck installed the cell towers down there?

Are you sure they don't transfer to additional cards?

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #220: March 01, 2013, 01:49:22 PM »
They are part of your game experience but not part of the game. 

The game is a form of entertainment -  there really isn't much difference between part of the game and part of the game experience

Online blue911

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #221: March 01, 2013, 01:53:56 PM »
The game is a form of entertainment -  there really isn't much difference between part of the game and part of the game experience

I can't remember ever wondering how the impacted you. Maybe I'm a selfish prick.

Offline HalfSmokes

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #222: March 01, 2013, 02:06:28 PM »
I can't remember ever wondering how the impacted you. Maybe I'm a selfish prick.


if I'm the only one fine, somehow I think I'm not- tickets got increasingly high quality for years prior to this, maybe there was no market research supporting that and notoriously tight fisted owners just did it for no discernable reason

Offline eastie

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #223: March 01, 2013, 02:27:40 PM »
If you are worried, print a hard copy of the ticket and you'll be using the same system as last year. You seem to be complaining prematurely.
Oh, never mind then.  That's a perfectly reasonable yet wholly unnecessary workaround to the fact that the team didn't take one season with paper tickets + the new cards to work out the kinks and go whole hog for 2014.  Operationally, that would have been the safest way to go.  There is a whole lot riding on untested* tech to work right flawlessly right out of the gate.  I think some grounded skepticism is warranted.

* Untested on the scale and infrastructure level for an expected sellout on 4/1 with a purported 20K STH plans (when we don't even have the cards yet, and don't know the turnaround for requesting extra cards for group members).  The articles mention that this was beta tested last year.  We had the little RCR cards that didn't do much, but was the whole Super Card system tested soup-to-nuts in 2012?  Was anybody here part of that?  Entry, seat checking, contact payments at concessions, etc., not the limited card usage that everybody got.

Offline eastie

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Re: Your card is your ticket to the game
« Reply #224: March 01, 2013, 02:37:07 PM »
Are you sure they don't transfer to additional cards?
According to everything published they DO transfer to the additional cards.  The whole point is that it doesn't sound like we are going to get enough additional cards to cover large groups ("Up to 8 cards"); I need 40 to cover my whole group.  I'll take bets on whether they will issue that many for an account.

That being said, it reads like we can invite our partners to create an online account and transfer tickets/points to them, but there is also language regarding adding points to cards and needing a card number to user them.  Just for tickets, an account only is fine: transfer tickets to your partners, the ones without cards just print them out.  But it sounds like some of the at-the-park perks will require a card.  That's where the STH partner equity will break down.