Stress free ticketing for a change

[MalJutley]

Just wanted to say thanks to Ian and the team for the least most stressful ticketing system / experience I've had!. Compared to last year and trying to get tickets for FrightFest Glasgow this was a breeze. Yes demand seemed to be pretty high and that's a testament to the growth of FrightFest but the fact i was able to go in, find the seats i want, select, confirm, pay and done all inside 3 minutes i was very happy. Yes i think there seemed to be issues for some and you can;t legislate for people selecting lots and changing their mind, the system needs time to refresh and put them back so to speak but that's a risk we all run. I know lots of people that went in 30 mins or so later and were able to get seats fairly quickly.
All in all i think it was a success simply because browsers didn't crash, the payment system didn't fail and you had it all done within a few clicks.
Trying to get tickets for a music concert is far more stressful, especially anything that is in huge demand so this in comparison was nowhere near as stressful.

For those of you that didn't get tickets do keep an eye on the forum, twitter and on Facebook. I've seen posts on twitter and Facebook where people have had passes for sale. It's a tough job for the organisers to do and its grown so much since the days of being at The Prince Charles Cinema, keeping us all happy is a tough task (why no Greasy Strangler? lol) but at least we have FrightFest to go to and I to sympathise with those that couldn't get tickets

See you there

Mal

[thatcambridgebird]

I agree wholeheartedly, and it's nice to see someone acknowledge this in a separate thread.

I totally get that it's stressful to buy a ticket, but within a few minutes of sales starting, every year, there's a wave of "The system is TERRIBLE, I hate the organisers, why have they done this to us, I'm never going again" posts from folks who are frustrated because some other folks have, for want of a better phrase, fannied around on the system either with 30 browser windows open, or reserved seats not paid for, or whatever. Thankfully we're only going as a couple so we knew what we needed, chose our preferred screen and back up in case the preferred wasn't available, and off we went. I guess there's no harm in groups organising themselves a day or so before, confirming everyone can still attend, checking any special seat requests and so on, so that seats aren't frozen within the system for such a long time while pals confirm details with each other.

I was also in and out in 5 minutes. I got the seats I wanted for Saturday in Horror, and had to go for some second-best seats on Sunday in Arrow, but I'm just happy I have them.

I personally think the system worked the best it ever has this year and hope it's rolled out for future years as the system the guys stick with.

[ArghZombies]

It was certainly an impressive system. I experienced no issues at all buying my ticket.

I wouldn't say 'stress free' though - watching all those seat lights blinking out in a matter of miliseconds as I tried to scan the layout to find a seat I wanted was terrifying!

[HeadOnAStick]

I just had a couple of gazumpings before I got through to pay. No real complaints though, the whole process probably took five minutes, it just seemed like my heart was pounding for much much longer. For the old timers I'd say it was actually 'Three Minutes of Torture', but felt like 'Casshern'

[zappa fan]

Three minutes of Torture - I was there for that short. And it was indeed.

[HeadOnAStick]

Of course I'd never have even heard of it without Frightfest. It's the only time of the year I let other people pick my movies for me. Not all of them have been great, but there are so many I'd have missed without the festival.

[MalJutley]

Agree on the posts above and thanks for concurring. Buying tickets online for any in demand event is tough enough and they can't please everyone.
It does help to have done some homework in advance, for example i had a look on the Vue site of the screen layout so i had a 2 or 3 rows in mind i was happy to sit at and just went for them when i saw them.

FYI - I'll be sat in the Horror Channel Screen, Row K seat 8,9 or 10 there are three of us, i'm the indian chap in glasses :P

Mal