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ROH to introduce e-ticketing


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Well, this could be very helpful on a lot of occasions.  As long as they have a checkbox if you still want to collect your ticket the "proper" way.  After all, some people like collecting their card tickets, and a piece of paper or an electronic file is just not the same :)

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I think this is a great innovation. I currently receive my boarding passes for air travel in this way and it makes a lot of sense. No more worries about tickets going astray in the post, if you give them to someone else you simply email the file to them so, again, no fear of them being delayed.

 

You don't even have to print them. Just open the file on your iphone or ipad and the barcode can be read in.

 

Just imagine how much the ROH will save on postage, and you never know, they may reduce the price of the tickets, but don't hold your breath.

 

Having said that, I hope they make a better fist of this than when they upgraded the web site for buying tickets.

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Breath duly not being held :) Just think of all those late starts which will be no more because there's no long queue still collecting tickets. Although presumably they'll have to make provision for things like people losing their phones and so on.

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In addition it could stop the practise of forged tickets being sold. It could also stop ticket touts plying their trade outside the theatre although this may be less of a problem outside the ROH but for many other concerts/shows they are a nuisance.

 

As long as the technology is properly tested and it works then it is a win win change.

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Unless you don't have a smartphone....

 

:lol:  Like me, for instance.

 

Even if you do, it is no guarantee that your e-ticket will work.  I went to Bath with a friend, and I purchased tickets on line for something (can't remember what.)  I said I would print the tickets off, but she said there was no need, I should just email the details to her and she would use her smartphone.  When we got there, they told us they didn't have a reader for smartphones.  Which puzzled me, until I saw that they weren't looking at the bar codes, but just examining everyone's printed tickets.  We had to find an internet cafe and print our tickets off. 

 

And I can't remember the last time I flew without printing my own boarding pass first.  But when I was at Faro airport this summer, there was a huge queue at the security gate, because lots of people had their tickets on their phones, but the technology was not reading them properly, so they all had to stand to one side.  I thought there was going to be a riot.  No idea what happened to all these people. 

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Like I said in my post #5 it has got to be tested and it has to work, because there is no going back to the old way.

 

I've never had a problem with e-tickets in any theatre, cinema or concert hall in London, other than once when the reader wouldn't read the bar code and they just went on the basis of the seat number on the ticket.

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Unless you don't have a smartphone....

 

that's not a problem if they have a print-at-home option (like almost every other ballet company in the world!). I've always wondered why it's taken the ROH so long to adopt electronic tickets. Such a song and dance if you book tix for someone else to pick up (which I do a lot). You have to rummage around on the website to find the 3rd-party authorization form, fill it in (in a cumbersome way), send it to the person who will be picking up (who then loses it so you have to go through it all again....)

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They will to start with but long term I expect that will be replaced. Who would have thought some years ago that there would be no ticket offices on the London Underground. All you need now is a prepaid card or your credit card and your journey is calculated automatically so I can imagine something coming along to replace paper tickets.

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The ROH have just tweeted this link with information about e-ticketing:-

 

www.roh.org.uk/news/royal-opera-house-to-introduce-e-tickets-during-2016

 

(Sorry, for some reason I couldn't paste it in as a live link. It's not normally a problem).

 

Postal ticket delivery etc. will still be available, and even better, you don't have to print off the e-tickets; you can just show the email on your phone.

Edited by Balletfanp
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I'm sure I'm behind the times, but I don't like this assumption that nowadays everyone owns a smartphone. Perhaps everyone does. Though I do have an ancient PAYG mobile phone, it certainly doesn't do email! Although I can see how it would be convienient in this case if you do have one.

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I'm sure it's not designed to replace the old system, certainly not for a long while yet. I can imagine it would be useful for those wishing to purchase last minute tickets such as tourists or those visiting London for a few days. It would be possible to buy and gain your tickets without needing to visit the box office or have access to a printer. Much quicker and more appealing to those in a hurry or who haven't planned well. It's good they are catching up with a system that's used by a lot of places as an alternative to paper tickets.

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Great initiative - I can certainly see the attraction. I personally like to collect my tickets from the box office, but have often forgotten to select this option at checkout, ensuing a mad scramble on the night of the performance to find a tiny slip of paper that arrived months in advance.

 

I wouldn't fear that the ROH are replacing physical tickets (I like to collect them myself) - they know their clientele very well, and many senior members of the audience, for both opera and ballet, still prefer to order over telephone.

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  • 4 weeks later...

OK.  I've done my booking this morning.  The default position is delivery of tickets as usual but there is an option to select e-tickets. 

 

The blurb says that e-tickets will be emailed a week before the performance; however, you can access the e-tickets through the "upcoming events" section of your account.  From there you can either view the e-ticket in a web browser ( sor choose to have the e-tickets sent through by email.  The e-ticket is two pages - the first with a summary (looks like a ticket) and ROH info and the second with the e-ticket itself (i.e. with a QR code).  Annoyingly (but not a disaster), if you book two tickets, they both come up on the same e-ticket page (i.e. it will print both tickets on the same piece of paper).

 

I haven't yet tried to put an e-ticket into my iPhone wallet.

 

If you do not select e-tickets, you will not be able to access e-tickets through your "upcoming events".

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  • 1 year later...

Incidentally, is anyone else finding that the system is sending you e-tickets even when you booked a cardboard one and have it sitting around in your tickets folder at home?  I've been printing the darned things off and then finding that I already had a hard copy!

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5 hours ago, alison said:

Incidentally, is anyone else finding that the system is sending you e-tickets even when you booked a cardboard one and have it sitting around in your tickets folder at home?  I've been printing the darned things off and then finding that I already had a hard copy!

 

I don't think so, but certainly if I later buy another ticket at short notice for a performance for which I already had one (for example, if I'm Friday Rushing on behalf of a friend when I already have one for myself), then the e-ticket I receive shows every ticket I possess for that performance.

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On 1/16/2016 at 14:19, Beryl H said:

I don't have or want a printer or Smartphone but I'm sure the Box Office will post tickets as well.

I have a mobile, no printer, and call me "old fashioned" much prefer to have the old style tickets!!  I sometimes send e tickets to work email and print off there, but I dont really want an A4 piece of paper as my ticket!!!  There can be problems when showing ticket booking on phone as on a couple of occasions have been at venues, where there is no reception and one is unable to show the booking on phone! Progress is not always for the better !!!!

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Living at a distance from the ROH and having had family illness problems I find e-tickets a huge boon as if they have to be returned (or I subsequently see better seats and want an upgrade) all I have to do is email the box office. None of that cumbersome having to post tickets back and hope they've arrived. Also if I want to re-sell to a friend or on the Forum it's so much easier. My only problem is when I book tickets on first day of public booking I always seem to forget to select the e-ticket option in my hurry and then have to email them asking for them as e-tickets as the default is always printed tickets! However, they've always got back to me very promptly and sent them as e-tickets.

 

I do have a smart phone but am not very good with it and would never want to rely solely on it as I'm always afraid it won't work or the battery will die on me or something. Our printer hasn't been working lately so I just go along to my local library and print out e-ticket, hotel accommodation voucher, train ticket etc there. There's never a problem and it is a way of supporting your local library.

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Fashionista, can you save a screen grab on a smartphone?  I thought from what I'd read that you could, but since I don't have one I don't know for sure.

 

jmhopton, I certainly agree with the convenience of e-tickets for the reasons you give.  But I do like keeping my tickets - although the other day I picked up one of my old Picturehouse Bolshoi screening tickets and found it had faded so far as to be illegible, so I chucked it - that shouldn't happen with ROH tickets, I trust.

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4 hours ago, jmhopton said:

Living at a distance from the ROH and having had family illness problems I find e-tickets a huge boon as if they have to be returned (or I subsequently see better seats and want an upgrade) all I have to do is email the box office. None of that cumbersome having to post tickets back and hope they've arrived. Also if I want to re-sell to a friend or on the Forum it's so much easier. My only problem is when I book tickets on first day of public booking I always seem to forget to select the e-ticket option in my hurry and then have to email them asking for them as e-tickets as the default is always printed tickets! However, they've always got back to me very promptly and sent them as e-tickets.

 

I do have a smart phone but am not very good with it and would never want to rely solely on it as I'm always afraid it won't work or the battery will die on me or something. Our printer hasn't been working lately so I just go along to my local library and print out e-ticket, hotel accommodation voucher, train ticket etc there. There's never a problem and it is a way of supporting your local library.

You can also return printed tickets by email as well. This from the ROH site:

 

Returned tickets will only be offered for resale at the management's discretion. The original purchaser may place tickets for resale by sending an email (including Order Number and ticket details) to BoxOffice@roh.org.uk no later than two hours prior to the start of the performance. In person the original purchaser may place tickets for resale at the Box Office no later than 30 minutes prior to the start of the performance.

 

I returned some tickets on Monday and it worked like a charm.

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Alison - yes, you can get a screenshot of the webpage (or app) you are looking at, on your smart phone. I didn't start using this feature on my phone until last autumn, but do it so often now. For instance, if I see something someone else would be interested in (eg free eye test at Specsavers), I will take that screenshot and then send it to the recipient using a messenger thingy like WhatsApp.

 

I always choose the e-tickets and print them at home whenever it's offere; strangely, Cadogan Hall don't offer a "print at home" option, and still insist on posting paper tickets even in 2018! I personally find it more convenient this way, but do appreciate that some people want to keep a physical ticket.

 

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2 hours ago, sanj2000 said:

I always choose the e-tickets and print them at home whenever it's offere; strangely, Cadogan Hall don't offer a "print at home" option, and still insist on posting paper tickets even in 2018! I personally find it more convenient this way, but do appreciate that some people want to keep a physical ticket.

 

Perversely, given the above, they do however email you the order confirmation and receipt even when you book a paper ticket in person and collect it there and then!

 

(I always book Cadogan tickets in person as it's ten minutes' walk from my office, and I find the booking fees extortionate considering that I am almost always only booking one, cheap ticket in any given transaction.)

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  • 9 months later...

Am I missing something? I can't print my two tickets (mine + my wife's) in a neat and tidy way on one sheet of paper. I don't want to print a full colour picture of the Rolex ad, I just want one ticket at the top of the page and one at the bottom. 

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