FAQs – Tickets

aurehsalla · 19-05-2005, 06:02 PM

PLEASE READ THREAD TO SEE IF YOUR QUESTION HAS ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED
IT PROBABLY HAS!

I've tried to divide these up as logically as I could, and some questions may fit under more than one header - if your question isn't answered in this FAQ, you may well find it in another. Links are at the bottom to the other sections.

This thread contains FAQs for:

TICKETS

***IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR TICKET!***

***IMPORTANT! ONCE YOU'VE BOUGHT YOUR TICKET!***

What is the Pre-Sale? How does it work?

When do tickets go on sale? How much are they?

What are these legendary Wednesday Passes?

How quickly do tickets sell out?

BUT THEY'VE ALL SOLD OUT!

So the weekend tickets sell out well before most of the line up is announced?

Is it true you can buy tickets in HMV stores on the high street?

I want to go for the day/weekend with my mates, do we all need to buy our tickets together?

Me and my mates have bought our weekend tickets separately - can we still camp together?

I've got day tickets - can I buy a camping pass?

I've seen Fri-Sun tickets on sale for £145 - are they the same as weekend tickets?

I've seen websites still selling both day and weekend tickets, but the prices are a lot higher - is it safe to buy from them?

How much are tickets on eBay?

I've bought a ticket off eBay - will it still be valid for me even if it's got someone else's name on it?

When will my tickets arrive?

I'm going away on holiday at the beginning of August, and am really worried I won't be at home to receive my tickets!

Help! I've bought my mate/girlfriend/boyfriend a ticket and we've split up/and now s/he doesn't want to go! What do I do?

My ticket looks different to my friend's ticket - is one of them fake?

I've bought a coach package - will my tickets come in the post like everyone elses?

IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT YOU CAN STILL BUY WEEKEND TICKETS ON THE GATE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE ELSE?

aurehsalla · 19-05-2005, 06:02 PM

***IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR TICKET!***

PLEASE RING YOUR BANK BEFORE PAYING FOR YOUR TICKET, SO YOU CAN WARN THEM IN ADVANCE THAT YOU WILL BE SPENDING A LARGE SUM OF MONEY IN ONE GO, AND THAT IT MAY TAKE SEVERAL HOURS FOR THE TICKET SITE TO TAKE THE MONEY OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT.

Some people appear to have had this problem, so i thought it would be wise to warn those of you who have not bought tickets. Festival tickets are alot of money. Buying several tickets at once is really alot of money! Some people have apparently bought their tickets, got the confirmation email, gone to bed, only to wake up in the morning to the horrible news that their bank has declined the transaction during the night, as large sums of money being spent during the early hours can look a bit fishy to them. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let this happen to you. it could be the one thing that stops you getting a ticket, even if you do have enough money in your account.

Ring your bank (yes we realise you shouldn't have to, and it is your bank's fault, not yours or the ticket site's if the transaction gets stopped) and let them know that a large sum of money will be coming out of your account to pay for tickets, but it may take a while. If you warn them, then hopefully they won't stop the transaction.

***IMPORTANT! ONCE YOU'VE BOUGHT YOUR TICKET!***

KEEP HOLD OF YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL. DO NOT DELETE IT OR LOSE IT. PRINT IT OUT, OR MARK IT AS STARRED IN YOUR INBOX - IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT IT GETS TO 16TH AUGUST (7 DAYS BEFORE THE FESTIVAL) AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED YOUR TICKETS, YOU WILL NEED YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL AS PROOF OF PURCHASE.

What is the Pre-Sale? How does it work?

Pre-sale tickets are next years tickets at this years prices. As the price of tickets goes up by about £10 every year, it will save you money - so if you've caught the Reading bug and you know you'll definitely be going next year, it makes more sense to buy tickets as soon as this year's festival finishes. Reading 2007 essentially finished on Monday 27th August, and tickets for Reading 2008 went on sale within a day or 2 after the end of the festival. Pre-sale tickets are only available on the internet (not at the festival itself), and you pay upfront just like you would for any other tickets. Usual ticket rules apply in the sense that there's a limit on how many you can buy etc.

The thing is, after a weekend at Reading, most people are a bit skint, and can't really afford to shell out £150 (or more!) as soon as they get home, and alot of people decide to go to Reading purely on the basis of the line up, so won't buy before they know who's playing, so the sales are very slow and usually take a couple of weeks for that batch to sell out. It might seem like a hefty expense at the time, but you'll avoid the rush (tickets sold out in a few hours for 2008....) and can buy in your own time without the site crashing or taking forever to load up or the worry they're going to run out.

When do tickets go on sale? How much are they?

Tickets will be on sale 31st March at 7pm, and will coincide with announcement of first headliners at 6.45pm. Day tickets go on sale not long after the headliners are announced. Don't bother buying a day ticket until more of the line up is announced, as really (for value for money) you're better off seeing lots of bands that you like all on one day, rather than just two because they were announced first.

Tickets for 2007 were:

WEEKEND TICKETS WERE £145 PLUS BOOKING FEES. (expecting £155 for 2008)
DAY TICKETS WERE £65 PLUS BOOKING FEES. (expecting £70-75 for 2008)

What are these legendary Wednesday Passes?

A Wednesday Pass costs £10 per person and allows you access to the site from 6pm on the Wednesday - they are valid with weekend tickets, but NOT day tickets (or the Fri-Sun weekend tickets). These can be bought on ticket websites like www.seetickets.co.uk when the main batch of tickets are released. They can be bought separately from Weekend Tickets (so if you've bought a pre-sale weekend ticket, you can still buy a Wednesday pass). For more info, please go to FAQ - Wednesday entrance

How quickly do tickets sell out?

Very quickly. They do release second batches later on, but these are tickets from cards that have been rejected usually sell even quicker! IF YOU WANT A WEEKEND TICKET, DO NOT HESITATE OVER GETTING IT. OR YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY ONE AT A STUPID PRICE ON EBAY.

Day tickets always sell out, but take longer to all go. It depends on who's playing on which day sells out first - some days are more popular than others. The Reading Sunday seems to always sell out first every year.

BUT THEY'VE ALL SOLD OUT!

Yes and no. The pre-release batches and the first batch have sold out. How do I know there will definitely be more tickets? Because it happens every single year. This year will be no different. When? I don't know. You will have to keep an eye on announcements and ticket sites.

So the weekend tickets sell out well before most of the line up is announced?

In short, YES. Still worth buying one, because there will ALWAYS be bands you want to see, and no matter how many or how few of the bands you actually want to see, the music is only half the fun, as the campsites are an experience in themselves! The festival is also a great opportunity to check out bands that you've been told are good, but not yet listened to/have only heard some of their music, and are still undecided on whether to buy their album/go and see them live next time they play near you. We worked out that for a weekend ticket, you pay about £3 per hour, assuming you're seeing bands for the whole time the arena is open over the 3 days. The more bands you see, the better your value for money. In 2004, where else could you pay £4.50 to see Green Day play for 90 mins?

Is it true you can buy tickets in HMV stores on the high street?

It is indeed true. The advantage is that you don't have to pay booking fees and that you'll have a shiny new ticket in hand. In the past it has been possible to buy from any HMV in the UK, but not sure if this is still the case. HMVs in the Reading/Leeds area will be selling tickets, and possibly a few in London. Depending on eBay prices and where you live, a quick trip to Reading town centre might work out cheaper. PLEASE NOTE - THEY WILL NOT TAKE RESERVATIONS BY PHONE - YOU HAVE TO BE THERE IN PERSON AND IT'S FIRST COME FIRST SERVED. THERE ARE LIMITS ON HOW MANY TICKETS YOU CAN BUY (pretty sure it's two per person).

The following stores generally sell tickets. It is unlikely that you'll get tickets at any branches apart from these:

Bath, Basingstoke, Bracknell, Bristol (Broadmead), Guildford, Kingston, Newbury, Oxford, Portsmouth (Commercial Road), Reading (Oracle Centre), Reading (Friar Street), Slough, Southampton, Staines, Swindon, Trocadero Centre, Winchester, Windsor, Woking.

I want to go for the day/weekend with my mates, do we all need to buy our tickets together?

No, you can all buy them individually as and when you like. (providing they're on sale!) A Friday ticket is a Friday ticket whether you buy it in March or July. There are no allotted seats, so its not like you have to worry about all being able to sit together, or only being able to access the arena through certain gates.

Me and my mates have bought our weekend tickets separately - can we still camp together?

Yes you can. A weekend ticket is a weekend ticket no matter when or where you buy it - you are NOT assigned to a particular campsite based on when or where you bought your ticket (unless you have a campervan). You turn up, find a space and pitch your tent(s) - but its much easier to arrive all as one group and pitch your tents together, than to turn up a few at a time and try to reserve space and squeeze in extra tents throughout the day - if you do this, you may find some of your mates will have to camp elsewhere, due to lack of space! For more information on camping, go to FAQ – The Festival Site, Camping and Car Parking

I've got day tickets - can I buy a camping pass?

In short, no. This is some myth that's cropped up from somewhere - there is no such thing as a camping pass. Camping is only included in the price of a WEEKEND TICKET.

aurehsalla · 07-08-2005, 05:15 PM

I've seen Fri-Sun tickets on sale for £145 - are they the same as weekend tickets?

Not quite. These are new for Reading 2007 so I'm afraid we don't know a huge amount about them. On www.seetickets.com it does say:

Please note: The Fri-Sun Weekend ticket is only valid for entry from 8am Friday 24th. Early Entry passes are not valid with these tickets.

The good news however is that it DOES include camping - it looks like Meanfiddler just want to stagger entrance to the site so that you've got people arriving Wednesday, Thursday and now also on Friday.

I've seen websites still selling both day and weekend tickets, but the prices are a lot higher - is it safe to buy from them?

This is a bit of a grey area - some websites are reputable companies who buy a batch of tickets and sell them off at higher prices - they're more expensive, but you will get one. Sadly, others are just rip off merchants - they may profess to be genuine, but they are just a big scam - they have no tickets, they just want your money. You are actually probably safer buying a ticket off eBay.

DO NOT BUY TICKETS FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES, NO MATTER HOW DESPERATE YOU ARE:

www.getmetickets.net
www.clickfortickets.co.uk
www.seesportlive.co.uk
www.double8tickets.com
www.hertsboxoffice.co.uk
www.londonticketshop.co.uk

THESE ARE SITES THAT I'M NOT SURE ABOUT - I WOULD BE CAUTIOUS:

http://www.globalticketservice.com/ - has rather alot of spelling mistakes, and are already selling Reading/Leeds tickets for £275 a pop!
http://www.centraltickets.co.uk/ - selling tickets for "Coldpaly" - how very professional!
http://www.euroteam.info/ - Selling Leeds 2006 tickets for the bargain price of £330..... hmmm.

If you know for definite that the above sites are genuine, could you please let me know and I'll take them off the 'red' list.

The following are approved and reputable ticket sites:

www.ticketmaster.co.uk
www.ticketweb.co.uk
www.seetickets.com
www.stargreen.com
www.meanfiddler.com

IN THE EVENT THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT A TICKET FROM ONE OF THE E-TOUTS AND NOT RECEIVED IT, AND MYSTERIOUSLY CAN'T GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM, THIS IS THEFT. YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE (NOT 999) AND EXPLAIN WHAT HAS HAPPENED. BBC WATCHDOG LOVE DOING PROGRAMMES ON TICKET TOUTS, SO YOU SHOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM AS WELL.

How much are tickets on eBay?

Depending on who's playing, they can go from anything below face value to £800 for a weekend ticket (As in 2003 when Metallica were headlining). In the weeks before, they can go for well above face value, and in the days before, people will be glad to get shot of them for as much as you're willing to pay, even if it is below face value. Day tickets you can expect to pay up to about £150.

People may tell you that they are trusted reliable ticket sellers with over 1000 positive feedbacks, but if you want a really genuine trusted ticket seller, you really are better off going to the official ticket websites and retailers! (a) you will know your ticket is definitely genuine (b) you know exactly where your money is going (c) you won't get ripped off.

Even if the service charge, handling charge, postage and packaging and random involuntary donation to the Legless Armless Goatless Orphans of Albania Fund does amount to about £10..........

I've bought a ticket off eBay - will it still be valid for me even if it's got someone else's name on it?

Yes it will. Don't forget that there are many young people who go to Reading/Leeds who are not yet old enough to own a Debit/Credit card, and so have to get their parents to buy a ticket for them. For obvious reasons, the package will be addressed to the person who purchased the tickets. Also, one person might buy a ticket for themselves and 3 of their friends so that they haven't got to buy them separately.

When will my tickets arrive?

Most ticket sites do not dispatch tickets until about 2 weeks before the festival itself. This is a fraud prevention measure. If an evil nasty bastardy tout buys a few tickets off the web in April, and then receives them a few days later, he then has about 4 months or so to make some very good copies, and will sell them off at £200 a pop at the festival gates to desperate people, who will then not only be unable to get into the festival, but will also be £200 down and unable to find the aforementioned tout. if they go out 2 weeks before the fest, his copies will not be anywhere near as good.

THERE IS NO GIVEN ORDER IN WHICH TICKETS WILL BE DISPATCHED. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER YOU BOUGHT THEM IN AUGUST LAST YEAR, IN THE LAST BATCH THROUGH NME OR THE 2ND ONE WHEN THEY CAME OUT IN APRIL. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU BOUGHT THEM THROUGH, WHETHER YOU BOUGHT THEM OVER THE PHONE OR THE NET, OR WHETHER YOU PAID BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD - THEY ARE DISPATCHED ENTIRELY AT RANDOM.

All this means is that if, for example, loads of people start saying "I bought mine in the secret batch from NME at the start of May, and mine came today", and you also bought yours in that batch and they haven't yet arrived, IT DOES NOT MEAN YOUR TICKETS AREN'T COMING. They are probably on their way, just like everyone elses tickets that haven't arrived yet! Despatching 160,000 different tickets to the right addresses is a mammoth task and it will take time - don't forget there's the Leeds site as well, and you've got day tickets as well as weekend tickets, wednesday passes and carparking permits. Please be patient, your tickets will come, and pestering everyone on here to ask "when will my tickets come? are you sure they'll come?" will only get you the answer "1 - I don't know, and 2 - yes." or it will provoke more mass hysteria with other people fretting that they're tickets are doomed to never turn up. So long as you've got the confirmation email, you shouldn't need to worry.

For obvious reasons, ticket sites put a limit on the number of tickets you can buy so that touts can't go off and buy 20 tickets to sell on at ridiculous prices.

Also on a more practical point - do you really think you could keep a festival ticket in 'a safe place' in your house for 5 months and NOT lose it?!

I'm going away on holiday at the beginning of August, and am really worried I won't be at home to receive my tickets!

Don't worry - if someone is at home, they can sign for your tickets. If no one is at home, your friendly postman/postwoman/postladyboy will stick a card through your door to say that your tickets are being held at a nearby Post Office. Each card has a special reference number on it, which corresponds to the envelope with your tickets - and when you get back from holiday with your lovely suntan/sunburn, all you have to do is take the card to the Post Office with some proof of identity, and collect them.

Help! I've bought my mate/girlfriend/boyfriend a ticket and we've split up/and now s/he doesn't want to go! What do I do?

DON'T PANIC. Check round all your mates to see if they want to go. If they've already got tickets, see if they know anyone else who needs a ticket, or if someone has a brother/sister/cousin/pet goldfish who didn't get a chance to get a ticket before they sold out (bear in mind that this person will probably have to camp with you and your mates - so choose wisely!). Depending on how much you trust them, if they're skint, but can get the money to you AFTER the festival, let them have the ticket. Then hound them until you get the money.

CHECK THESE BOARDS IN THE 'STUFF FOR SALE' SECTION! There will usually be someone on here who needs a ticket, and will happily buy it off you for about £10 more than face value. TAKE THE FIRST OFFER YOU GET - DON'T WAIT FOR SOMEONE WHO WILL GIVE YOU MORE MONEY.

If you have enough time, you may be able to sell the ticket on eBay - stick it on a bit below face value - someone will always buy it.

DO NOT TAKE THE SPARE TICKET TO READING AND SELL IT TO A TOUT - THEY WILL HAVE IT OFF YOU FOR ABOUT £20 AND THEN SELL IT ON FOR £200.

aurehsalla · 18-02-2006, 08:00 AM

My ticket looks different to my friend's ticket - is one of them fake?

Highly unlikely. Different ticket retailers have different designs for their tickets. All tickets will have a hologram on them, and they are incredibly difficult to forge. if it is a ticket off a reel (ie has perforated edges) it should have a serial number on both the ticket and the stub. if it is a paper ticket and has some sort of fancy background, as far as i remember, it should have a water mark (like on paper money), and quite possibly under UV light it will reveal a swirly pattern.

I've bought a coach package - will my tickets come in the post like everyone elses?

Yes and no You'll get a coach pass which come in the post - you collect your actual festival ticket WHEN YOU GET ON THE COACH.

On SeeTickets it says:

THIS IS A TICKET AND COACH PACKAGE, INCLUDING RETURN COACH TRAVEL FROM YOUR TOWN PLUS A WEEKEND TICKET WITH CAMPING.

CUSTOMERS MUST BOARD AND TRAVEL ON THE COACH TO COLLECT THEIR FESTIVAL TICKET.

IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT YOU CAN STILL BUY WEEKEND TICKETS ON THE GATE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE ELSE?

It is indeed true! Meanfiddler deny this every single year, but there will ALWAYS be tickets.

They hold back 3000 weekend tickets, and i presume a large number of day tickets as well. AND as an added bonus, you pay for a ticket at base price, unlike the rest of us who buy them off the net and have to pay about an extra £10 in service charges, handling charges, postage and packaging, delivery charges and whatever else they seem to need money for, so that our tickets arrive on our doorstep in one piece........

The idea is that you pay for a real ticket at the actual price, not at some jumped up price from a dodgy, unshaven man, with no teeth (for some reason they're always covered in paint) for a ticket that might not even be real......

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday. Tickets are restricted to two per person, so if there's 4 of you, you'll need to either all queue up get at least 2 people to queue up. These will be actual tickets. In past years they've sold wristbands and put them on your wrist there and then.

Brand Spanking New Checklist - now in colour!
FAQ – Before the Festival and Getting to the Festival
FAQ – Food and Drink
FAQ - Leaving the Festival and Going Home *sob*
FAQ – Miscellaneous
FAQ – The Festival Site, Camping and Car Parking
FAQ – The Line Up, In the Arena and Seeing Bands
FAQ - Wednesday entrance
FAQ - Tickets
***Festival Maps - A Guide To The Site***
General Festival Advice
The Definitive Tent Guide!
*THE WET FESTIVAL SURVIVAL GUIDE* (How to live in a swamp for a weekend)

needtogo · 13-02-2008, 12:05 PM

I'm having problems finding out about camper van tickets. Is there any info about just these tickets? I assume they go on sale at the same time as the other tickets, but I can't find anything about them. Can anyone help? I know last year you had to put a registration number to order the tickets, but we were planning on hiring one for that weekend.

liz · 13-02-2008, 12:27 PM

No worries..when you get tickets you also order your campervan ones then. It also gives info on reg number at the time..and even if you hiring...

Pezcore · 13-02-2008, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aurehsalla

well it was true - at one point. will fix it.

but was it one per person? two per person? any limit?

Early entry you were given a ticket and it was 2 per person max, knowing this would have been usefull as half of us could have stayed somewhere with the bags rather than everyone lugging them through an extreme crowd in the rain this year

KIERAN!! · 16-02-2008, 06:08 PM

Metalicker mentioned about stargreen over on ORF how long do they take to sell out from their as it seems that will get rid of a lot of stress of getting the from see and ticketmaster. My problem is made even worse by being in Australia or possibly hong kong at the time.

andthegunslinger · 16-02-2008, 06:34 PM

I always use seetickets for tickets. Never let me down.

lala · 16-02-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KIERAN!!

Metalicker mentioned about stargreen over on ORF how long do they take to sell out from their as it seems that will get rid of a lot of stress of getting the from see and ticketmaster. My problem is made even worse by being in Australia or possibly hong kong at the time.

They all sell out on the night generally...

KIERAN!! · 16-02-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lala

They all sell out on the night generally...

Dont say that

smige2 · 24-02-2008, 03:14 PM

Can you still buy pre-sale tickets? Me and some friends are going for the first time this year and I'm a tad confused.

quwonko · 24-02-2008, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smige2

Can you still buy pre-sale tickets? Me and some friends are going for the first time this year and I'm a tad confused.

Presale tickets are only available for a week or so at the begining of september the week before, you will have to wait for mid march sometime when tickets officially go on sale

smige2 · 24-02-2008, 03:19 PM

Oh right, that's a bit crap. I vaguely remember seeing the pre-sale last year, but didn't know if it was a trustworthy website.

Festival_Virgo · 24-02-2008, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smige2

Can you still buy pre-sale tickets? Me and some friends are going for the first time this year and I'm a tad confused.

No. The pre sale lasts for about 2 weeks after the festival.

You'll have to join the rush with everyone else.

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19-05-2005, 06:02 PM	#1
aurehsalla Free Invisible Squirrel Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Croydonia Posts: 17,713	FAQs – Tickets PLEASE READ THREAD TO SEE IF YOUR QUESTION HAS ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED IT PROBABLY HAS! I've tried to divide these up as logically as I could, and some questions may fit under more than one header - if your question isn't answered in this FAQ, you may well find it in another. Links are at the bottom to the other sections. This thread contains FAQs for: TICKETS *IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR TICKET!* *IMPORTANT! ONCE YOU'VE BOUGHT YOUR TICKET!* What is the Pre-Sale? How does it work? When do tickets go on sale? How much are they? What are these legendary Wednesday Passes? How quickly do tickets sell out? BUT THEY'VE ALL SOLD OUT! So the weekend tickets sell out well before most of the line up is announced? Is it true you can buy tickets in HMV stores on the high street? I want to go for the day/weekend with my mates, do we all need to buy our tickets together? Me and my mates have bought our weekend tickets separately - can we still camp together? I've got day tickets - can I buy a camping pass? I've seen Fri-Sun tickets on sale for £145 - are they the same as weekend tickets? I've seen websites still selling both day and weekend tickets, but the prices are a lot higher - is it safe to buy from them? How much are tickets on eBay? I've bought a ticket off eBay - will it still be valid for me even if it's got someone else's name on it? When will my tickets arrive? I'm going away on holiday at the beginning of August, and am really worried I won't be at home to receive my tickets! Help! I've bought my mate/girlfriend/boyfriend a ticket and we've split up/and now s/he doesn't want to go! What do I do? My ticket looks different to my friend's ticket - is one of them fake? I've bought a coach package - will my tickets come in the post like everyone elses? IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT YOU CAN STILL BUY WEEKEND TICKETS ON THE GATE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE ELSE? Last edited by aurehsalla; 27-01-2008 at 09:51 PM.

19-05-2005, 06:02 PM	#2
aurehsalla Free Invisible Squirrel Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Croydonia Posts: 17,713	*IMPORTANT! BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR TICKET!* PLEASE RING YOUR BANK BEFORE PAYING FOR YOUR TICKET, SO YOU CAN WARN THEM IN ADVANCE THAT YOU WILL BE SPENDING A LARGE SUM OF MONEY IN ONE GO, AND THAT IT MAY TAKE SEVERAL HOURS FOR THE TICKET SITE TO TAKE THE MONEY OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT. Some people appear to have had this problem, so i thought it would be wise to warn those of you who have not bought tickets. Festival tickets are alot of money. Buying several tickets at once is really alot of money! Some people have apparently bought their tickets, got the confirmation email, gone to bed, only to wake up in the morning to the horrible news that their bank has declined the transaction during the night, as large sums of money being spent during the early hours can look a bit fishy to them. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let this happen to you. it could be the one thing that stops you getting a ticket, even if you do have enough money in your account. Ring your bank (yes we realise you shouldn't have to, and it is your bank's fault, not yours or the ticket site's if the transaction gets stopped) and let them know that a large sum of money will be coming out of your account to pay for tickets, but it may take a while. If you warn them, then hopefully they won't stop the transaction. *IMPORTANT! ONCE YOU'VE BOUGHT YOUR TICKET!* KEEP HOLD OF YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL. DO NOT DELETE IT OR LOSE IT. PRINT IT OUT, OR MARK IT AS STARRED IN YOUR INBOX - IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT IT GETS TO 16TH AUGUST (7 DAYS BEFORE THE FESTIVAL) AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED YOUR TICKETS, YOU WILL NEED YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL AS PROOF OF PURCHASE. What is the Pre-Sale? How does it work? Pre-sale tickets are next years tickets at this years prices. As the price of tickets goes up by about £10 every year, it will save you money - so if you've caught the Reading bug and you know you'll definitely be going next year, it makes more sense to buy tickets as soon as this year's festival finishes. Reading 2007 essentially finished on Monday 27th August, and tickets for Reading 2008 went on sale within a day or 2 after the end of the festival. Pre-sale tickets are only available on the internet (not at the festival itself), and you pay upfront just like you would for any other tickets. Usual ticket rules apply in the sense that there's a limit on how many you can buy etc. The thing is, after a weekend at Reading, most people are a bit skint, and can't really afford to shell out £150 (or more!) as soon as they get home, and alot of people decide to go to Reading purely on the basis of the line up, so won't buy before they know who's playing, so the sales are very slow and usually take a couple of weeks for that batch to sell out. It might seem like a hefty expense at the time, but you'll avoid the rush (tickets sold out in a few hours for 2008....) and can buy in your own time without the site crashing or taking forever to load up or the worry they're going to run out. When do tickets go on sale? How much are they? Tickets will be on sale 31st March at 7pm, and will coincide with announcement of first headliners at 6.45pm. Day tickets go on sale not long after the headliners are announced. Don't bother buying a day ticket until more of the line up is announced, as really (for value for money) you're better off seeing lots of bands that you like all on one day, rather than just two because they were announced first. Tickets for 2007 were: WEEKEND TICKETS WERE £145 PLUS BOOKING FEES. (expecting £155 for 2008) DAY TICKETS WERE £65 PLUS BOOKING FEES. (expecting £70-75 for 2008) What are these legendary Wednesday Passes? A Wednesday Pass costs £10 per person and allows you access to the site from 6pm on the Wednesday - they are valid with weekend tickets, but NOT day tickets (or the Fri-Sun weekend tickets). These can be bought on ticket websites like www.seetickets.co.uk when the main batch of tickets are released. They can be bought separately from Weekend Tickets (so if you've bought a pre-sale weekend ticket, you can still buy a Wednesday pass). For more info, please go to FAQ - Wednesday entrance How quickly do tickets sell out? Very quickly. They do release second batches later on, but these are tickets from cards that have been rejected usually sell even quicker! IF YOU WANT A WEEKEND TICKET, DO NOT HESITATE OVER GETTING IT. OR YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY ONE AT A STUPID PRICE ON EBAY. Day tickets always sell out, but take longer to all go. It depends on who's playing on which day sells out first - some days are more popular than others. The Reading Sunday seems to always sell out first every year. BUT THEY'VE ALL SOLD OUT! Yes and no. The pre-release batches and the first batch have sold out. How do I know there will definitely be more tickets? Because it happens every single year. This year will be no different. When? I don't know. You will have to keep an eye on announcements and ticket sites. So the weekend tickets sell out well before most of the line up is announced? In short, YES. Still worth buying one, because there will ALWAYS be bands you want to see, and no matter how many or how few of the bands you actually want to see, the music is only half the fun, as the campsites are an experience in themselves! The festival is also a great opportunity to check out bands that you've been told are good, but not yet listened to/have only heard some of their music, and are still undecided on whether to buy their album/go and see them live next time they play near you. We worked out that for a weekend ticket, you pay about £3 per hour, assuming you're seeing bands for the whole time the arena is open over the 3 days. The more bands you see, the better your value for money. In 2004, where else could you pay £4.50 to see Green Day play for 90 mins? Is it true you can buy tickets in HMV stores on the high street? It is indeed true. The advantage is that you don't have to pay booking fees and that you'll have a shiny new ticket in hand. In the past it has been possible to buy from any HMV in the UK, but not sure if this is still the case. HMVs in the Reading/Leeds area will be selling tickets, and possibly a few in London. Depending on eBay prices and where you live, a quick trip to Reading town centre might work out cheaper. PLEASE NOTE - THEY WILL NOT TAKE RESERVATIONS BY PHONE - YOU HAVE TO BE THERE IN PERSON AND IT'S FIRST COME FIRST SERVED. THERE ARE LIMITS ON HOW MANY TICKETS YOU CAN BUY (pretty sure it's two per person). The following stores generally sell tickets. It is unlikely that you'll get tickets at any branches apart from these: Bath, Basingstoke, Bracknell, Bristol (Broadmead), Guildford, Kingston, Newbury, Oxford, Portsmouth (Commercial Road), Reading (Oracle Centre), Reading (Friar Street), Slough, Southampton, Staines, Swindon, Trocadero Centre, Winchester, Windsor, Woking. I want to go for the day/weekend with my mates, do we all need to buy our tickets together? No, you can all buy them individually as and when you like. (providing they're on sale!) A Friday ticket is a Friday ticket whether you buy it in March or July. There are no allotted seats, so its not like you have to worry about all being able to sit together, or only being able to access the arena through certain gates. Me and my mates have bought our weekend tickets separately - can we still camp together? Yes you can. A weekend ticket is a weekend ticket no matter when or where you buy it - you are NOT assigned to a particular campsite based on when or where you bought your ticket (unless you have a campervan). You turn up, find a space and pitch your tent(s) - but its much easier to arrive all as one group and pitch your tents together, than to turn up a few at a time and try to reserve space and squeeze in extra tents throughout the day - if you do this, you may find some of your mates will have to camp elsewhere, due to lack of space! For more information on camping, go to FAQ – The Festival Site, Camping and Car Parking I've got day tickets - can I buy a camping pass? In short, no. This is some myth that's cropped up from somewhere - there is no such thing as a camping pass. Camping is only included in the price of a WEEKEND TICKET. Last edited by aurehsalla; 05-04-2008 at 05:45 PM.

07-08-2005, 05:15 PM	#3
aurehsalla Free Invisible Squirrel Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Croydonia Posts: 17,713	I've seen Fri-Sun tickets on sale for £145 - are they the same as weekend tickets? Not quite. These are new for Reading 2007 so I'm afraid we don't know a huge amount about them. On www.seetickets.com it does say: Please note: The Fri-Sun Weekend ticket is only valid for entry from 8am Friday 24th. Early Entry passes are not valid with these tickets. The good news however is that it DOES include camping - it looks like Meanfiddler just want to stagger entrance to the site so that you've got people arriving Wednesday, Thursday and now also on Friday. I've seen websites still selling both day and weekend tickets, but the prices are a lot higher - is it safe to buy from them? This is a bit of a grey area - some websites are reputable companies who buy a batch of tickets and sell them off at higher prices - they're more expensive, but you will get one. Sadly, others are just rip off merchants - they may profess to be genuine, but they are just a big scam - they have no tickets, they just want your money. You are actually probably safer buying a ticket off eBay. DO NOT BUY TICKETS FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES, NO MATTER HOW DESPERATE YOU ARE: www.getmetickets.net www.clickfortickets.co.uk www.seesportlive.co.uk www.double8tickets.com www.hertsboxoffice.co.uk www.londonticketshop.co.uk THESE ARE SITES THAT I'M NOT SURE ABOUT - I WOULD BE CAUTIOUS: http://www.globalticketservice.com/ - has rather alot of spelling mistakes, and are already selling Reading/Leeds tickets for £275 a pop! http://www.centraltickets.co.uk/ - selling tickets for "Coldpaly" - how very professional! http://www.euroteam.info/ - Selling Leeds 2006 tickets for the bargain price of £330..... hmmm. If you know for definite that the above sites are genuine, could you please let me know and I'll take them off the 'red' list. The following are approved and reputable ticket sites: www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.ticketweb.co.uk www.seetickets.com www.stargreen.com www.meanfiddler.com IN THE EVENT THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT A TICKET FROM ONE OF THE E-TOUTS AND NOT RECEIVED IT, AND MYSTERIOUSLY CAN'T GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM, THIS IS THEFT. YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE (NOT 999) AND EXPLAIN WHAT HAS HAPPENED. BBC WATCHDOG LOVE DOING PROGRAMMES ON TICKET TOUTS, SO YOU SHOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM AS WELL. How much are tickets on eBay? Depending on who's playing, they can go from anything below face value to £800 for a weekend ticket (As in 2003 when Metallica were headlining). In the weeks before, they can go for well above face value, and in the days before, people will be glad to get shot of them for as much as you're willing to pay, even if it is below face value. Day tickets you can expect to pay up to about £150. People may tell you that they are trusted reliable ticket sellers with over 1000 positive feedbacks, but if you want a really genuine trusted ticket seller, you really are better off going to the official ticket websites and retailers! (a) you will know your ticket is definitely genuine (b) you know exactly where your money is going (c) you won't get ripped off. Even if the service charge, handling charge, postage and packaging and random involuntary donation to the Legless Armless Goatless Orphans of Albania Fund does amount to about £10.......... I've bought a ticket off eBay - will it still be valid for me even if it's got someone else's name on it? Yes it will. Don't forget that there are many young people who go to Reading/Leeds who are not yet old enough to own a Debit/Credit card, and so have to get their parents to buy a ticket for them. For obvious reasons, the package will be addressed to the person who purchased the tickets. Also, one person might buy a ticket for themselves and 3 of their friends so that they haven't got to buy them separately. When will my tickets arrive? Most ticket sites do not dispatch tickets until about 2 weeks before the festival itself. This is a fraud prevention measure. If an evil nasty bastardy tout buys a few tickets off the web in April, and then receives them a few days later, he then has about 4 months or so to make some very good copies, and will sell them off at £200 a pop at the festival gates to desperate people, who will then not only be unable to get into the festival, but will also be £200 down and unable to find the aforementioned tout. if they go out 2 weeks before the fest, his copies will not be anywhere near as good. THERE IS NO GIVEN ORDER IN WHICH TICKETS WILL BE DISPATCHED. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER YOU BOUGHT THEM IN AUGUST LAST YEAR, IN THE LAST BATCH THROUGH NME OR THE 2ND ONE WHEN THEY CAME OUT IN APRIL. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU BOUGHT THEM THROUGH, WHETHER YOU BOUGHT THEM OVER THE PHONE OR THE NET, OR WHETHER YOU PAID BY CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD - THEY ARE DISPATCHED ENTIRELY AT RANDOM. All this means is that if, for example, loads of people start saying "I bought mine in the secret batch from NME at the start of May, and mine came today", and you also bought yours in that batch and they haven't yet arrived, IT DOES NOT MEAN YOUR TICKETS AREN'T COMING. They are probably on their way, just like everyone elses tickets that haven't arrived yet! Despatching 160,000 different tickets to the right addresses is a mammoth task and it will take time - don't forget there's the Leeds site as well, and you've got day tickets as well as weekend tickets, wednesday passes and carparking permits. Please be patient, your tickets will come, and pestering everyone on here to ask "when will my tickets come? are you sure they'll come?" will only get you the answer "1 - I don't know, and 2 - yes." or it will provoke more mass hysteria with other people fretting that they're tickets are doomed to never turn up. So long as you've got the confirmation email, you shouldn't need to worry. For obvious reasons, ticket sites put a limit on the number of tickets you can buy so that touts can't go off and buy 20 tickets to sell on at ridiculous prices. Also on a more practical point - do you really think you could keep a festival ticket in 'a safe place' in your house for 5 months and NOT lose it?! I'm going away on holiday at the beginning of August, and am really worried I won't be at home to receive my tickets! Don't worry - if someone is at home, they can sign for your tickets. If no one is at home, your friendly postman/postwoman/postladyboy will stick a card through your door to say that your tickets are being held at a nearby Post Office. Each card has a special reference number on it, which corresponds to the envelope with your tickets - and when you get back from holiday with your lovely suntan/sunburn, all you have to do is take the card to the Post Office with some proof of identity, and collect them. Help! I've bought my mate/girlfriend/boyfriend a ticket and we've split up/and now s/he doesn't want to go! What do I do? DON'T PANIC. Check round all your mates to see if they want to go. If they've already got tickets, see if they know anyone else who needs a ticket, or if someone has a brother/sister/cousin/pet goldfish who didn't get a chance to get a ticket before they sold out (bear in mind that this person will probably have to camp with you and your mates - so choose wisely!). Depending on how much you trust them, if they're skint, but can get the money to you AFTER the festival, let them have the ticket. Then hound them until you get the money. CHECK THESE BOARDS IN THE 'STUFF FOR SALE' SECTION! There will usually be someone on here who needs a ticket, and will happily buy it off you for about £10 more than face value. TAKE THE FIRST OFFER YOU GET - DON'T WAIT FOR SOMEONE WHO WILL GIVE YOU MORE MONEY. If you have enough time, you may be able to sell the ticket on eBay - stick it on a bit below face value - someone will always buy it. DO NOT TAKE THE SPARE TICKET TO READING AND SELL IT TO A TOUT - THEY WILL HAVE IT OFF YOU FOR ABOUT £20 AND THEN SELL IT ON FOR £200. Last edited by aurehsalla; 26-03-2007 at 08:21 PM.

18-02-2006, 08:00 AM	#4
aurehsalla Free Invisible Squirrel Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Croydonia Posts: 17,713	My ticket looks different to my friend's ticket - is one of them fake? Highly unlikely. Different ticket retailers have different designs for their tickets. All tickets will have a hologram on them, and they are incredibly difficult to forge. if it is a ticket off a reel (ie has perforated edges) it should have a serial number on both the ticket and the stub. if it is a paper ticket and has some sort of fancy background, as far as i remember, it should have a water mark (like on paper money), and quite possibly under UV light it will reveal a swirly pattern. I've bought a coach package - will my tickets come in the post like everyone elses? Yes and no You'll get a coach pass which come in the post - you collect your actual festival ticket WHEN YOU GET ON THE COACH. On SeeTickets it says: THIS IS A TICKET AND COACH PACKAGE, INCLUDING RETURN COACH TRAVEL FROM YOUR TOWN PLUS A WEEKEND TICKET WITH CAMPING. CUSTOMERS MUST BOARD AND TRAVEL ON THE COACH TO COLLECT THEIR FESTIVAL TICKET. IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT YOU CAN STILL BUY WEEKEND TICKETS ON THE GATE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE SOLD OUT EVERYWHERE ELSE? It is indeed true! Meanfiddler deny this every single year, but there will ALWAYS be tickets. They hold back 3000 weekend tickets, and i presume a large number of day tickets as well. AND as an added bonus, you pay for a ticket at base price, unlike the rest of us who buy them off the net and have to pay about an extra £10 in service charges, handling charges, postage and packaging, delivery charges and whatever else they seem to need money for, so that our tickets arrive on our doorstep in one piece........ The idea is that you pay for a real ticket at the actual price, not at some jumped up price from a dodgy, unshaven man, with no teeth (for some reason they're always covered in paint) for a ticket that might not even be real...... Tickets go on sale on Wednesday. Tickets are restricted to two per person, so if there's 4 of you, you'll need to either all queue up get at least 2 people to queue up. These will be actual tickets. In past years they've sold wristbands and put them on your wrist there and then. Brand Spanking New Checklist - now in colour! FAQ – Before the Festival and Getting to the Festival FAQ – Food and Drink FAQ - Leaving the Festival and Going Home sob FAQ – Miscellaneous FAQ – The Festival Site, Camping and Car Parking FAQ – The Line Up, In the Arena and Seeing Bands FAQ - Wednesday entrance FAQ - Tickets *Festival Maps - A Guide To The Site* General Festival Advice The Definitive Tent Guide! THE WET FESTIVAL SURVIVAL GUIDE (How to live in a swamp for a weekend) Last edited by aurehsalla; 10-08-2008 at 07:30 PM.

13-02-2008, 12:05 PM	#5
needtogo Virgin Poster Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	I'm having problems finding out about camper van tickets. Is there any info about just these tickets? I assume they go on sale at the same time as the other tickets, but I can't find anything about them. Can anyone help? I know last year you had to put a registration number to order the tickets, but we were planning on hiring one for that weekend.

13-02-2008, 12:27 PM	#6
liz *official RFO granny Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: west cornwall - by the sea Posts: 7,179	No worries..when you get tickets you also order your campervan ones then. It also gives info on reg number at the time..and even if you hiring... __________________ the music has left.... http://www.myspace.com/its__liz

16-02-2008, 06:08 PM	#8
KIERAN!! I Have way too much free time Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 894	Metalicker mentioned about stargreen over on ORF how long do they take to sell out from their as it seems that will get rid of a lot of stress of getting the from see and ticketmaster. My problem is made even worse by being in Australia or possibly hong kong at the time. __________________

16-02-2008, 06:34 PM	#9
andthegunslinger ROAR! Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Nottzingham. Posts: 13,097	I always use seetickets for tickets. Never let me down.

24-02-2008, 03:14 PM	#12
smige2 Experienced Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 148	Can you still buy pre-sale tickets? Me and some friends are going for the first time this year and I'm a tad confused.

24-02-2008, 03:19 PM	#14
smige2 Experienced Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 148	Oh right, that's a bit crap. I vaguely remember seeing the pre-sale last year, but didn't know if it was a trustworthy website.

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