Ticketek - A Painfully Long Explanation

[ArtificialWisdom 3,844]

I thought given people are having ticketing troubles I'd add a couple of notes on what I do to try and minimise my pain (Future AW: seems I wrote a thesis more than ‘notes’ I added a TL;DR at the bottom. Really speaks to how [censored] [censored] Ticketek is when there are so many potential stumbling blocks on what should be so easy). Most of this is specific to Ticketek but you can transfer the concept to Ticketmaster but we only play 1 more game at Marvel this year and most don’t go there anyway so I won’t waste my time on that.

Before I even start I have all my family's membership barcodes saved on my desktop in notepad already formatted so I can easily highlight and copy and paste them all at once every week. I have their names in the same order just so I can remember which barcode belongs to who but that’s not important but if you do that make sure you don’t also copy the names or you’ll have problems. Example:

John
Jonah
Jameson

12345687789
11121687549
12873987456

The Next thing you’ll need to know is which priority your membership is. The Club should have emailed you this info already but more importantly you need to know the lowest priority for the group of members you’re purchasing with. If you’re able to get your ticket in priority 1 but want to sit with someone who is priority 3 you’ll have to wait until priority 3. As for away games, you must have an away game membership but your membership level matter, in away games we’re all treated equals. So for away games follow the following steps as if you are a GA member.

Another couple of notes on groups, you can only buy in a maximum group of 6 so if you may need to do 2 separate transactions for bigger groups, plan the split in advance, so you’re not messing with barcodes under a time crunch, maybe have someone else buying the second group, I’ll cover how to maximise your chances of being near each other later. If you want to sit with opposing club members you’ll have to wait to the public ticket window. (Example: Even though I am a member and my Geelong friends are away members. We had to wait until public window to purchase tickets together as my Melbourne barcode got temporarily disabled during the Geelong member’s window) Don’t panic if this happens, you’ll still have a right to your free ticket during the public window (unless the game sells out before then so beware waiting on the ANZAC game in particular, if you don’t secure in our window the Richmond members will likely take the rest).

If you're preparing to queue right on opening of your window, do your best to ensure you've logged in to Ticketek and have your username/password on hand to copy and paste (or type if you’re fast). I find the "keep me logged in" checkbox extremely unreliable during high traffic periods so being able to log back in quickly is handy. You probably should be using a password manager to make this easier but that’s another discussion best had with a tech-savvy friend or family member. I prefer to log in about 5 minutes before the window opens, that way the website is less likely to kick me out. (but no guarantee so be ready to quickly log back in, you only have 10 minutes before they kick you back to the queue and you might need more of that time than you think)

When you’re waiting in the queue a while, having multiple different browsers open can mean one will get in faster than another, multiple tabs/windows of the same browser won’t make a difference as it treats it all as one session. If you don’t know what means don’t stress it’s only a small efficiency improvement, you’ll be fine with just the 1 window open. I just thought I’d mention it for those who want to know. It’s only really useful come finals time.

Once you've got in through the queue you should easily enough be able to find and selected our game. You’ll then need to select your membership type from the 'Date' dropdown (because choosing your membership type from a date field isn't going to cause any confusion...). This guide is for Melbourne memberships, unfortunately I can’t tell you if there are any differences for MCC or AFL members but I’d imagine they’d be much the same, besides, I'm sure you rich folks can just ask the servants for help ?. From here a text box will appear where you can copy and paste your barcodes. If you’ve formatted them properly like I showed above it should allow you to click ‘Unlock tickets’ and move on.

From there you ‘choose’ your seats. Choose is a bit of a misnomer as we have very little in the way of choice. The Easiest option is ‘Best Available’ but this comes with some problems. What it actually does is just give you first available tickets, nothing ‘Best’ about them. It may also at times give you issues where it attempts to put you in a seat where you have to pay a seat upgrade fee that could be as much as $80 per seat. What I suggest is select the area (Level 1 Wing, Level 2A Goal, etc) that your membership would normally have you. If you’re unsure which you are, hover over the options and they should highlight the bays they relate to on the map. For GA members like me, for some reason Level 4 despite normally being GA has been closed for us in both games, I assume due to low expected crowds. Hopefully we’ll get the opportunity to sit up there at some point but for now we have to simply select ‘General Reserved’ and be put randomly down the bottom somewhere.

Once you’ve selected you’re ticket area it will then for some reason make you go through and for every barcode you’ve entered change the ticket count from 0 to 1. Just in case someone wants to enter 5 barcodes then buy 0 tickets with them? IDK. Anyway after that hit next (bottom right of page) and it will pseudo-randomly select your seats from your selected option. (If the next button is not coming up then the most likely problem is Ticketek has logged you out at its own whim, did this to me yesterday. So check you are logged in, and if you’re not feel free to utter obscenities at the computer while logging in again, it made me feel better)

Just before you checkout be sure to check the total price! Keep in mind, all the ticket area options will all say ‘from $0’ but if your ticket doesn’t normally allow you into that area it will attempt to charge you for a seat upgrade. It may even be sneaky and say $0 right up to the point when you’re about to proceed to the checkout where it would suddenly go up. Depending on the number of tickets and location it could be hundreds of dollars so be careful. My thoughts on disastrous web design aside, this happens because when you've put in a membership code so the website knows you're tickets should be free but it then does a final check on your membership tier on checkout, the only dumber way to design it would be to do the check after you've already checked out, but I digress. As long as you select a seating area you’re membership normally gives you access to you should be fine. As far as I can tell you can’t avoid the damned $3 processing fee. I’ve seen some on twitter claim they avoided it but I’ve not been able to replicate that. If someone has a reliable workaround I’d love to hear it.

After that you should be able to checkout no problem, I assume everyone here can enter their own personal details and payment info. However… let’s say you don’t like what seat it has randomly given you (and this is pretty likely, its selection algorithm is [censored]). There are a couple of options to improve your seat that may have varied success. So take the following options with a grain of salt.

If you don’t care about changing seats you can skip a few paragraphs...

You can use their ‘random’ algorithm to your advantage and simply re-roll to improve your seats. Be aware that this could potentially make your seats worse. If a set of seats come up for you buy and you reject them they go back in the pool for others to get and chance of getting them again is limited so re-roll at your own risk. In order to re-roll simply click the cancel button directly under the ‘Go to Checkout button’ this will cancel your order and bring up the barcode box again. Simply re-paste your copied barcodes and repeat the instructions above. You can do this as many times as you want but be aware that you only have 10 minutes total including checkout time. So leave yourself enough time to check out, unless you want to go to the back of the queue.

The other option you have is to select a bay directly. Unfortunately as far as I can tell this is not accessible to General Admission members (unless you want to pay a seat upgrade fee). We’re stuck with the General Reserved algorithm. But for everyone else after you enter your barcodes instead of selecting ‘best available’ or a specific seat type you can click on your desired bay directly on the map on the left. So for example if you’re a Trident member who normally sits in bay N54 you can actually click on that bay then when you click ‘Next’ it will attempt to put you there. Through pure chance it’s possible you may even end up in your normal seat but the same bay is the best you can guarantee. You can also use this method combined with the aforementioned re-rolling to change your position within a bay if you’re that pedantic. But remember every time you re-roll someone else could buy tickets in that bay and once it sells out you’ll have to find somewhere else.

Selecting a specific bay is the most reliable way to sit near people who are purchasing tickets in a separate transaction, but as I mentioned us in GA would have to re-roll the whole General Reserved section so it would require more luck to get that close. The best you could do is have the 2 transactions happening at the same time, requires some tricky co-ordination with someone else (or a second browser) both re-rolling until you’re in the same bay then both purchasing before time’s up but it can be done.  

... Skip to here

Once you have completed the checkout your tickets should be texted to you but that can be slow or just not work at all. Failing that they will be available in your Ticketek account’s order history. Taking a screenshot on your phone is a safe bet to ensure its easily accessible game day without worry about sketchy internet connections when getting to the ground, but if you like that comforting feel of having paper tickets you can always print out your ticket, it doesn’t have to be on your phone, it will work either way.

Most of these tips can also be followed on a phone but damned if I’m writing tips for every different phone OS. This is already an essay far beyond what I originally planned.

TL;DR:

• Save Barcodes in Notepad for easy copy-paste
• Log in 5min before you’re window opens, keeping login credentials on hand in case you’re logged out
• Once you’ve selected which game, Copy-paste the barcodes and click ‘Unlock Tickets’
• Select your normal valid ticket location
• If you don’t like the seats cancel and re-roll (repeat until happy-ish)
• Checkout before you’re 10 min is up
• Find your tickets in your Ticketek account’s Order history.
• Take a screenshot or print for reliable at ground access.
• Sigh of Relief 

[Wells 11 4,650]

so what your saying is,  its a simple process? 

[daisycutter 28,455]

4 minutes ago, Wells 11 said:

so what your saying is,  its a simple process? 

only when it works and you don't get confused by the interface ?

[praha 10,267]

I pay $600+ per year for AFL membership and also don't get to pick my tickets. I'm also cut off from certain sections of the Members area and can't stand to watch the game behind the glass window in the comfort of the members bar if I so choose. And yet I am endlessly happy that I can attend games at all. NBA games are mostly still played without crowds. EPL fans haven't watched their teams play in almost 2 years. There's a chance the Champions League final will be played behind closed doors. We are envied by sports fans across the globe for simply being able to attend a sports event (let alone go to bars, restaurants etc.)

Seeing people complain about a process as simple as putting a barcode in is becoming quite tiring. You can't get your reserved seat, I know, it's tough. But you've got a seat. Everyone needs to calm tf and enjoy the damn football. I've not once had an issue getting tickets. The times and availabilities are clearly outlined for all to see. 

[Sir Why You Little 34,407]

Nice work Mr Artificial 

[old dee 22,809]

Gee I am glad I am not going that looks harder than winning tattslotto. 

[Grapeviney 8,810]

[old dee 22,809]

9 minutes ago, praha said:

I pay $600+ per year for AFL membership and also don't get to pick my tickets. I'm also cut off from certain sections of the Members area and can't stand to watch the game behind the glass window in the comfort of the members bar if I so choose. And yet I am endlessly happy that I can attend games at all. NBA games are mostly still played without crowds. EPL fans haven't watched their teams play in almost 2 years. There's a chance the Champions League final will be played behind closed doors. We are envied by sports fans across the globe for simply being able to attend a sports event (let alone go to bars, restaurants etc.)

Seeing people complain about a process as simple as putting a barcode in is becoming quite tiring. You can't get your reserved seat, I know, it's tough. But you've got a seat. Everyone needs to calm tf and enjoy the damn football. I've not once had an issue getting tickets. The times and availabilities are clearly outlined for all to see. 

How old are you Praha? I suggest a lot of MFC members who are in the older groups barely have a mobile phone. Their only hope would a kind child or grand child to do it for them. 

[ArtificialWisdom 3,844]

8 minutes ago, praha said:

Seeing people complain about a process as simple as putting a barcode in is becoming quite tiring. You can't get your reserved seat, I know, it's tough. But you've got a seat. Everyone needs to calm tf and enjoy the damn football. I've not once had an issue getting tickets. The times and availabilities are clearly outlined for all to see. 

To a point I agree. Me complaining about where I get to sit is the pinnacle of a first world problem.

But to be clear it's not as simple as putting in a barcode. Ticketek's got a number of flaws that make that hard to some to understand. The 3 big ones for me is. Showing All tickets as $0 when they aren't, logging you out even when you say never to and using the words 'Allocation Exhausted' for level 4 instead of 'Closed' or 'Unavailable'. 

Form a technical perspective I understand why some of these problems are there. But for those less familiar with the web good [censored] luck navigating through these little traps.

[praha 10,267]

7 minutes ago, old dee said:

How old are you Praha? I suggest a lot of MFC members who are in the older groups barely have a mobile phone. Their only hope would a kind child or grand child to do it for them. 

I'm 34. But that's beside the point. It is no different for finals. How do older members get tickets for finals? Do they send in a mail order form? There's also ticketek vendors that can do the ticketting for you. If anyone regardless of age seriously expected to just be able to stroll up and find a seat on game day in the midst of a pandemic well then I'm sorry but anyone that dense probably deserves to get the short end of the ticketing stick. Ticketek really ain't a complex system.

[old dee 22,809]

3 minutes ago, praha said:

I'm 34. But that's beside the point. It is no different for finals. How do older members get tickets for finals? Do they send in a mail order form? There's also ticketek vendors that can do the ticketting for you. If anyone regardless of age seriously expected to just be able to stroll up and find a seat on game day in the midst of a pandemic well then I'm sorry but anyone that dense probably deserves to get the short end of the ticketing stick. Ticketek really ain't a complex system.

I am not suggesting they should but a large number of members are not anywhere as tech savvy as you. Some won't have computers. I don't know how they exist in 2021. But don't fling them aside. If they feel un wanted they just might stop buying memberships.

[DistrACTION Jackson 6,389]

I don't really find the process that difficult to be honest and it is almost identical to when we booked finals tickets in 2018.

As Dees fans though you would be forgiven for not really remembering what's involved with booking finals tickets, seeing as it is so rare.

One tip - if you are a premium member make sure to click the drop down and choose the better option as it automatically give you general admission tickets if you don't. 

I've been making sure I get second level tickets near the forward 50 line at either end of the ground and it's a great spot to watch from!

[BDA 19,978]

30 minutes ago, praha said:

I'm 34. But that's beside the point. It is no different for finals. How do older members get tickets for finals? Do they send in a mail order form? There's also ticketek vendors that can do the ticketting for you. If anyone regardless of age seriously expected to just be able to stroll up and find a seat on game day in the midst of a pandemic well then I'm sorry but anyone that dense probably deserves to get the short end of the ticketing stick. Ticketek really ain't a complex system.

Good for you that you can work it out so easily Praha.

There are those of an older demographic less tech savvy who just can’t get the hang of it. My mother-in-law, God love her, couldn’t figure it out if her life depended on it. I’m sure our kids will have a chuckle at our expense when we reach a ripe old age but hopefully they will be a little more forgiving than your good self.

Thank you AW. You’ve done a good service here.

[praha 10,267]

6 hours ago, Better days ahead said:

Good for you that you can work it out so easily Praha.

There are those of an older demographic less tech savvy who just can’t get the hang of it. My mother-in-law, God love her, couldn’t figure it out if her life depended on it. I’m sure our kids will have a chuckle at our expense when we reach a ripe old age but hopefully they will be a little more forgiving than your good self.

Thank you AW. You’ve done a good service here.

Yes, I worked it out 20 years ago.

Online ticketing has been a thing for 20 years. I bought tickets to Eminem at Rod Laver Arena (then Melbourne Park) in 2002 as a 16 year old, online via a website that today wouldn't even be compatible on current browsers.

How old was your mother in law 20 years ago? Surely young enough to be across contemporary technology? My wife's 78 year old grandfather runs an ecommerce Amazon shop from regional France, selling bicycle parts. He also blogs weekly and video chats with us frequently. He is self taught. This is not generational. It's individual. It is no secret that certain cross sections of particular demongraphics are unwilling to embrace technology and now it's too late for them.

I don't mean to be so condescending but we are not talking about new, revolutionary, innovative technology here. It is not rocket science. This is not a matter of being "tech savvy". It's such a horse [censored] term. It's more a matter of being unwilling to adapt, because technology that exists today is mostly tech that has existed for 2 decades, having merely evolved and improved. It's like when someone says "I don't know how to use an iphone". What you're saying is that over the past 15 years you have been completely and utterly oblivious to the world around you. The same is with buying tickets on a website. It is not new. If you can't do it in 2021 then I seriously wonder how the hell they've survived for the past decade. And if they live beyond the next decade, then I truly worry about their wellbeing. Because we are very quickly moving into a digital-only landscape. It will happen. If you can't buy tickets on a website in 2021 then you have little hope. i could understand someone in 2002 struggling. But in 2021? You've had 20 years to start paying attention.

 

[Chook 14,389]

I just switch over to my pinned Kayo tab and press the refresh button.

After that I just worry if I've got enough beer in the fridge.
Seems easier.

[In Harmes Way 7,477]

Thousands of people go to the footy each week who seemed to have worked it out.

[DubDee 20,338]

Planning to go to my first game this weekend.  ANY chance I can just buy a ticket at the ground??

CBF'd with all this online BS

potential of 75K at a stadium and they want contact tracing?  bah!

[Demon Dynasty 15,203]

9 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Planning to go to my first game this weekend.  ANY chance I can just buy a ticket at the ground??

CBF'd with all this online BS

potential of 75K at a stadium and they want contact tracing?  bah!

So you're a gambling man DD!?

[kev martin 8,829]

Many are so scared of pressing the wrong button as it may break the internet.

It is individual, though those who are a different generation experienced the introduction of so much technology. Some of it a bit fragile and temperamental.

Some hated fiddling with it, some used to give it a good bash to tune it up. 

Takes all types.

Possibly, those who don't like it, were humiliated or punished when attempting to be savvy with the electronics or other explorations. 

The non curious, who don't like to discover stuff or don't get it, have as much right to be able to acquire tickets and have equal access to community activities. 

There is a technical divide in our society, even if it is self inflicted in some cases.

Ticketec and other groups know this.

You can probably phone them or go to their offices and get assistance. 

 

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,089]

I’m in my 50s and not particularly tech savvy and I’ve had no problem getting tickets quickly for both home games so far.

The only issue I’ve had is selecting your bay (not seat). The club sent an email saying this is available to premium members. I selected my bay and ended up on the exact opposite side of the ground. Still decent seats so didn’t bother trying a 2nd time.

[BDA 19,978]

10 hours ago, praha said:

Yes, I worked it out 20 years ago.

Online ticketing has been a thing for 20 years. I bought tickets to Eminem at Rod Laver Arena (then Melbourne Park) in 2002 as a 16 year old, online via a website that today wouldn't even be compatible on current browsers.

How old was your mother in law 20 years ago? Surely young enough to be across contemporary technology? My wife's 78 year old grandfather runs an ecommerce Amazon shop from regional France, selling bicycle parts. He also blogs weekly and video chats with us frequently. He is self taught. This is not generational. It's individual. It is no secret that certain cross sections of particular demongraphics are unwilling to embrace technology and now it's too late for them.

I don't mean to be so condescending but we are not talking about new, revolutionary, innovative technology here. It is not rocket science. This is not a matter of being "tech savvy". It's such a horse [censored] term. It's more a matter of being unwilling to adapt, because technology that exists today is mostly tech that has existed for 2 decades, having merely evolved and improved. It's like when someone says "I don't know how to use an iphone". What you're saying is that over the past 15 years you have been completely and utterly oblivious to the world around you. The same is with buying tickets on a website. It is not new. If you can't do it in 2021 then I seriously wonder how the hell they've survived for the past decade. And if they live beyond the next decade, then I truly worry about their wellbeing. Because we are very quickly moving into a digital-only landscape. It will happen. If you can't buy tickets on a website in 2021 then you have little hope. i could understand someone in 2002 struggling. But in 2021? You've had 20 years to start paying attention.

I don’t disagree with too much of what you’ve said

There is a fear of tech amongst a certain section of senior citizens. I still see older people rummage around for loose change at the supermarket check-out desk. I've been cashless for a few years now. Queuing at the checkout with 2-3 items when they would be quicker to use the self service.

So there is a element of human behaviour involved and a fear of the new and resistance to change.

But we are lucky. We have been immersed in technology from a young age. For those whose jobs have not required it and are retired it’s a lot different. My mother in law is working class, drove taxi’s, waited tables and worked in retail. She has no grasp or aptitude for tech. She can use a mobile, send texts and the like but the ticketek process bested her. I also had to sort out her Kayo subscription.

Where I disagree with you is that anyone can pick up these skills easily. The reality is that people’s skills can become obsolete at anytime and some do not have the capacity (or inclination I admit) for continued learning especially when they reach advanced years. This is just a fact of life. There are plenty who have fallen by the way side because the world went past them. I choose to acknowledge this rather than berate.

As AW has pointed out the ticketek process is not simple and straight forward. It is certainly not [censored] proof.

[Dee Dee 1,040]

17 hours ago, praha said:

I'm 34. But that's beside the point. It is no different for finals. How do older members get tickets for finals? Do they send in a mail order form? There's also ticketek vendors that can do the ticketting for you. If anyone regardless of age seriously expected to just be able to stroll up and find a seat on game day in the midst of a pandemic well then I'm sorry but anyone that dense probably deserves to get the short end of the ticketing stick. Ticketek really ain't a complex system. Saying 

I’m twice your age praha (to put it mildly) and I spent much of my working life working with computers so I really have no fear of modern technology. However having to go onto Ticketek to obtain seats was for me a new experience. It was very frustrating initially, but after a few minutes mucking around on the site I was able to get in and obtain my ticket (I had to join which gave me the sh*** ). The site reminds me in some ways of eBay 20 years ago, somewhat unorganised and not human friendly. The site is there for one reason only and that is to sell tickets and make a profit: if you can’t manipulate the site, someone else can and they get the ticket! Tough luck! An unfriendly, inhuman experience. And while I am used to this sort of technology, the experience of going up to a window at a venue, smiling at the person behind the window and saying “2 tickets please” remains a joy I hope will still be with us into at least the near future!

ps: I still pay cash at the service station?.

[3183 Dee 2,602]

21 hours ago, ArtificialWisdom said:

For GA members like me, for some reason Level 4 despite normally being GA has been closed for us

I feel your pain - we have a family  GA membership, purely because (for us) we prefer the view from L4, next to the MCC Reserve. I don't know why they haven't opened it up - there were people up there during the Freo game - but maybe you can just wander up?? Meanwhile it's behind the goals tomorrow, but at least we're at the footy!

[titan_uranus 22,220]

I agree with both @praha and @ArtificialWisdom.

This is not new technology. The concept of buying a ticket to an event online is not groundbreaking, or a new invention post-pandemic. To the extent tickets have been able to be bought in-person or over the phone in the past is a reflection of the slowness of this particular part of our society to adapt. Even if the pandemic had never happened, moving to a cashless society is an important step forward in the current age and the use of simple online booking forms to obtain tickets is something we should have been doing for years. 

However, I also agree that the Ticketek website is unnecessarily confusing and cumbersome. There are aspects of the ticket purchasing process that make no sense and should be completely fixable. In the same way that this is not new technology for consumers, it is also far from a new experience for Ticketek. That its website continually is incapable of handling the rush of people trying to book when tickets are first opened for sale, that its system crashes repeatedly, that its terminology is difficult to understand even for the "younger" generations, and that it cannot work out how to send the confirmation tickets/QR codes out by email or text message prior to the game starting, are all pretty disgraceful failures for a business that should be well capable of doing better.

[Dante 2,562]

If anyone thinks the Ticketek are efficient then check this out.

I ordered 6 tickets and they were are all to be in the Olympic stand, well I received 12 tickets half in the Olympic Stand and the other half in the Southern stand, unbelievable.