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24FPS
I was at the first concert to use Lucky Dips, and therefore had no wisdom, and paid the price. If you can get LDs, get them. They are indeed significantly cheaper, and really, what the tickets SHOULD cost. You might end up in the pit staring into Keith's nose, but you could also end up with the shittiest seats in the house. (I did).
What I didn't know at the time was that people with crappy seats went to guest services and complained. They very often got better seats. (My original seats were so bad I could only see Ronnie.) I moved on my own, eventually, to a better view, but I still stuck up in the balcony.
If you're going to a stadium show, why bother to get tix ahead of time? My experience is that there are always great seats at the box office the night of. Or from scalpers who are in a mad rush to dump tickets before they're worthless. I got floor seats at face from the box office at Dodger Stadium, night of. At Staples in L.A. I got the Stones personal tickets when they released them to the public through the box office. I was 17th row at the side of the stage. (The band always holds on to a certain amount of seats until the night of.)
I know this is more difficult if you have a skittish lady with you who would freak out at the idea you wouldn't have tickets ahead of time. I had to show that I was pretty good at this before there was confidence in me. I'm just to old, and stubborn to sit on the phone for hours, or stand in line. But, it might be worth it to stay on the phone if you have a chance at Lucky Dips.
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two4fun111Quote
24FPS
I was at the first concert to use Lucky Dips, and therefore had no wisdom, and paid the price. If you can get LDs, get them. They are indeed significantly cheaper, and really, what the tickets SHOULD cost. You might end up in the pit staring into Keith's nose, but you could also end up with the shittiest seats in the house. (I did).
What I didn't know at the time was that people with crappy seats went to guest services and complained. They very often got better seats. (My original seats were so bad I could only see Ronnie.) I moved on my own, eventually, to a better view, but I still stuck up in the balcony.
If you're going to a stadium show, why bother to get tix ahead of time? My experience is that there are always great seats at the box office the night of. Or from scalpers who are in a mad rush to dump tickets before they're worthless. I got floor seats at face from the box office at Dodger Stadium, night of. At Staples in L.A. I got the Stones personal tickets when they released them to the public through the box office. I was 17th row at the side of the stage. (The band always holds on to a certain amount of seats until the night of.)
I know this is more difficult if you have a skittish lady with you who would freak out at the idea you wouldn't have tickets ahead of time. I had to show that I was pretty good at this before there was confidence in me. I'm just to old, and stubborn to sit on the phone for hours, or stand in line. But, it might be worth it to stay on the phone if you have a chance at Lucky Dips.
So you can give guest services your old ticket stub possibly after getting into the stadium? arena? and that's what they take in the exchange from you?
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timbernardis
Yes, you've got to try. And it may vary from venue to venue or even from one customer service desk to another, one staff member to another.
I think that Topi drew bad LD tix at one of the Euro gigs in the spring and he just kept agitating and complaining so much over and over that they put him in pit finally.
Anyone else have experience with getting LDs upgraded?
plexi
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slewanQuote
timbernardis
Yes, you've got to try. And it may vary from venue to venue or even from one customer service desk to another, one staff member to another.
I think that Topi drew bad LD tix at one of the Euro gigs in the spring and he just kept agitating and complaining so much over and over that they put him in pit finally.
Anyone else have experience with getting LDs upgraded?
plexi
it was relatively easy in Europe since there were quite a lot tickets left (remember that new LDs were available for the UK shows a week before the tour kicked off; for Stuttgart prices for regular were significantly lower a few weeks before the show (seats that were 240 Euros were sold for 99 Euros etc)
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PaintMonkeyManBlack
Why complain if you draw bad ld? Its in the game. If you want to be sure to have top tickets pay for them
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treaclefingersQuote
PaintMonkeyManBlack
Why complain if you draw bad ld? Its in the game. If you want to be sure to have top tickets pay for them
I think it's so you can get better seats. Squeakiest wheels get the most oil.
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Shawn20
It's not a LD situation - but our tickets were upgraded from the lower level at the rear of Twickenham Stadium last June due to obstruction of the lighting and sound towers.
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timbernardis
Yes, you've got to try. And it may vary from venue to venue or even from one customer service desk to another, one staff member to another.
I think that Topi drew bad LD tix at one of the Euro gigs in the spring and he just kept agitating and complaining so much over and over that they put him in pit finally.
Anyone else have experience with getting LDs upgraded?
plexi
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slewanQuote
Shawn20
It's not a LD situation - but our tickets were upgraded from the lower level at the rear of Twickenham Stadium last June due to obstruction of the lighting and sound towers.
nearly every venue has some seat held back to meet such situations. Simply because they can't tell before the stage, the videoscreens, the sound towers, the lightning and the cameras have been installed which seats will have obstructed view. Thus the have to have the option to move unlucky people to better seats
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Topi
Timbernardis is referring to my experience in Prague where the venue staff didn't seem to know what LD was. They were giving everybody GA. Hardly random.
Let's say we didn't complain. We closed the deal. After an hour of so of, ahem, negotiations, we got pit tickets.
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MisterDDDDQuote
slewanQuote
timbernardis
Yes, you've got to try. And it may vary from venue to venue or even from one customer service desk to another, one staff member to another.
I think that Topi drew bad LD tix at one of the Euro gigs in the spring and he just kept agitating and complaining so much over and over that they put him in pit finally.
Anyone else have experience with getting LDs upgraded?
plexi
it was relatively easy in Europe since there were quite a lot tickets left (remember that new LDs were available for the UK shows a week before the tour kicked off; for Stuttgart prices for regular were significantly lower a few weeks before the show (seats that were 240 Euros were sold for 99 Euros etc)
I have gotten LD's both upgraded and downgraded (traded higher priced seats for GA floor). It may have been a bit easier in Europe due to the number of shows in such close proximity, but the US tour is all stadiums as well, and there will undoubtably be more LD's released before show time(s). I believe the more cheap seats sold the likelier for a better seat via LD.
There are two places where you can negotiate for a better seat.
First is at the box office where you pick them up. Start with shmoozing the person distributing the tix (at the very least it gives you a connection if you go back to ask for an upgrade).. I heard of others getting an upgrade right at the box office last leg, and like I mentioned I had no problem "downgrading" to my preferred ticket in Cardiff, so definitely worth a shot.
The second place is the customer service station at the venue.
Here an upgrade is much more likely in my experience (have been upgraded there a few times over the years). The people working the customer service inside are typically more seasoned full time people who's sole purpose is to make the guest happy. Works best when the reason for the request is a good one (can't climb the stairs that high, can't see the stage, etc.)
People were having such good luck getting pit tickets on the UK tour, (myself included) that I was almost sorry I didn't buy them for all the shows, hopefully the luck will continue..
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BluzDudeQuote
slewanQuote
Shawn20
It's not a LD situation - but our tickets were upgraded from the lower level at the rear of Twickenham Stadium last June due to obstruction of the lighting and sound towers.
nearly every venue has some seat held back to meet such situations. Simply because they can't tell before the stage, the videoscreens, the sound towers, the lightning and the cameras have been installed which seats will have obstructed view. Thus the have to have the option to move unlucky people to better seats
This happened to us back in 1997- Stones at Dodger Stadium. We had seats that were great, and were told they didn't exist. They gave us some upper levels, I said that wasn't acceptable to me but then when we were told we would be refunded 100%, my wife said...we'll take it.....I wasn't in the mood to argue.
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Topi
Timbernardis is referring to my experience in Prague where the venue staff didn't seem to know what LD was. They were giving everybody GA. Hardly random.
Let's say we didn't complain. We closed the deal. After an hour of so of, ahem, negotiations, we got pit tickets.
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timbernardisQuote
BluzDudeQuote
slewanQuote
Shawn20
It's not a LD situation - but our tickets were upgraded from the lower level at the rear of Twickenham Stadium last June due to obstruction of the lighting and sound towers.
nearly every venue has some seat held back to meet such situations. Simply because they can't tell before the stage, the videoscreens, the sound towers, the lightning and the cameras have been installed which seats will have obstructed view. Thus the have to have the option to move unlucky people to better seats
This happened to us back in 1997- Stones at Dodger Stadium. We had seats that were great, and were told they didn't exist. They gave us some upper levels, I said that wasn't acceptable to me but then when we were told we would be refunded 100%, my wife said...we'll take it.....I wasn't in the mood to argue.
Does this mean that the tickets you had were phoney tickets, perhaps bought off a scalper?
plexi
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timbernardisQuote
Topi
Timbernardis is referring to my experience in Prague where the venue staff didn't seem to know what LD was. They were giving everybody GA. Hardly random.
Let's say we didn't complain. We closed the deal. After an hour of so of, ahem, negotiations, we got pit tickets.
you say closed the deal -- does this mean there was some type of consideration (as a judge u know what this term means), whether monetary or otherwise?
plexi
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TopiQuote
timbernardisQuote
Topi
Timbernardis is referring to my experience in Prague where the venue staff didn't seem to know what LD was. They were giving everybody GA. Hardly random.
Let's say we didn't complain. We closed the deal. After an hour of so of, ahem, negotiations, we got pit tickets.
you say closed the deal -- does this mean there was some type of consideration (as a judge u know what this term means), whether monetary or otherwise?
plexi
None whatsoever. All it took was persistence. Basically we just asked for pit (wristbands) and got them.
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MisterDDDDQuote
treaclefingersQuote
PaintMonkeyManBlack
Why complain if you draw bad ld? Its in the game. If you want to be sure to have top tickets pay for them
I think it's so you can get better seats. Squeakiest wheels get the most oil.
It's a fair question..
I think that once word got out (mostly here) that nosebleed LD seats could be exchanged under certain circumstances (behind pillar, can't see part of stage etc) the idea of asking for upgrades became more common as it often worked.
Ultimately, I am more than fine with whatever seats I end up with (got them for six shows this leg).
But, if I get nosebleeds, I will definitely ask as it doesn't take much effort and could pay off nicely.