OnePigeon Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 It’s not good optics. It’s one thing for badly selling shows to be discounted nearer the time for everyone, but to only offer them to some patrons does indeed make one wonder if they should bother to book too far in advance, or indeed at all. However, if you want to see world class ballet they have you over a barrel really - most of us can’t hop on a plane and take our money elsewhere. I’m not sure they really care if their patrons are miffed though, after all, they’re mainly after new audiences and they know ballet lovers will continue to book because their dancers and (increasingly less) their repertoire are what bring us back. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 1 hour ago, Dawnstar said: I'd like to know how the ROH decides who gets these discount emails. I've been booking with them for only a few months short of 20 years yet never seem to get any. I did buy some stalls tickets a few seasons ago, when prices were lower & package booking still existed, so it's not as if they can look at my ticket purchase history & say "Oh, she's never sat in the stalls so she won't be interested". Given how much prices have gone up for the classics in the last couple of seasons, I'm often having to pay £60+ for a stalls circle bench seat so why do they not think that I might consider paying £60+ for a stalls seat if I was given the opportunity? It's pretty annoying. On the other hand, even if one has never sat in the stalls before, maybe a 40% discount might entice them to do so! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_enthusiast Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 9 minutes ago, Sim said: On the other hand, even if one has never sat in the stalls before, maybe a 40% discount might entice them to do so! I assume so. I wouldn’t call myself a new audience member (as I’ve been going regularly since end of 2021) and I have bought stalls tickets before. I got the offer email, but I won’t be using it as a) I’ve already got a ticket and b) for the other cast I want to see, the top price seats available wouldn’t work for me (can’t sit in 2nd row stalls otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see over anyone’s head given how small I am). If I’d received the offer earlier I may have used it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 32 minutes ago, art_enthusiast said: I got the offer email, but I won’t be using it as a) I’ve already got a ticket and b) for the other cast I want to see, the top price seats available wouldn’t work for me (can’t sit in 2nd row stalls otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see over anyone’s head given how small I am). If I’d received the offer earlier I may have used it. At least you've been given the choice though. What I'm pretty annoyed about is that many of us have not been given that choice, and there seems to be no obvious reason why. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I never get the offers. I have always assumed that it’s because I don’t buy expensive tickets and it doesn’t bother me particularly because even the discounted prices are more than I would generally be prepared to pay but there could be that time, and I do feel that it really isn’t good enough to offer discounts to selected individuals only. They should be offered to all Friends and to everyone else who regularly buys tickets. They have our details, what’s the difficulty here? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Just checking: has anyone who has actually booked received the email? And have all those who haven't actually signed up for offers? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) 15 minutes ago, alison said: And have all those who haven't actually signed up for offers? I had absolutely no idea that one had to sign up for offers. How is one supposed to know that one should sign up? I created my account on the ROH website nearly 20 years ago! I've rummaged around in my account & changed some settings so it'll be interesting to see if any emails now arrive & I'm now wondering how much I've missed over the last 20 years, or however long it is they've had that option. Edited March 2 by Dawnstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 33 minutes ago, alison said: Just checking: has anyone who has actually booked received the email? And have all those who haven't actually signed up for offers? I've booked 2 performances and haven't received the E-mail offer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard LH Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 1 hour ago, alison said: Just checking: has anyone who has actually booked received the email? And have all those who haven't actually signed up for offers? I have also booked and signed up for offers but haven't received an offer as yet. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 The only offer I have ever received was a discount for Cinderella. I did use it and wished I hadn’t bothered. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) 1 hour ago, alison said: Just checking: has anyone who has actually booked received the email? And have all those who haven't actually signed up for offers? I believe at least 2 members who have already booked have received the offer. I have booked, haven’t received the email and I think I have signed up for offers, as I have received similar offers twice before- only for opera and not for ballet. Both offers were useless to me: one on an ASLEF strike day so no trains whatsoever and another for a show I wasn't interested in which was why I didn't book in the first place... duh! I wonder if the discounts are meant not to be used but just to tick some box to say they've attempted to drum up sales..... Edited March 2 by Emeralds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 3 minutes ago, FionaM said: The only offer I have ever received was a discount for Cinderella. I did use it and wished I hadn’t bothered. That's very interesting, @FionaM- do you mean that the seat was bad or you didn't like the new designs or both? (I presume it's the new 2023 production that you're referring to). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnePigeon Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I have booked and just checked that I am signed up for offers, though I rarely get any. I have booked a stalls seat, so guess they wouldn’t offer it to me in this instance as I would return my ticket and re-book with the discount. I would put the saved money towards a stalls seat for each of the Ashtons though, so they wouldn’t really lose out. Fools! 😆 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) 4 hours ago, OnePigeon said: I was given a gift voucher for Xmas which I put towards the cost of a stalls seat as a special treat. I ended up having to swap performances when casting was announced and now wish I hadn’t bothered booking yet - though I never get discount emails, so it’s probably a moot point. It does rather stick in the craw to known I’ll be sitting with people who’ve paid nearly half the cost of my ticket though - it’s not like stalls seats are easy for me to afford. I wonder if it’s worth holding my nerve with the Ashton triples? @OnePigeon, am probably stating the obvious here (or maybe it's only obvious to me?) but if you received the discount code by DM from another member, you could return your ticket and repurchase using the discount. 40% of £100 or more is at least £40 and after deducting the £4 for returning the ticket by clicking it on your account, you still save over £36. Have a read on the terms and conditions but if it's like the other ticket discounts I received for opera there's no reason why it can't be done. I've even used the discount for more than one ticket (and I'm sure they would have been happy for me to buy even more tickets for that opera performance, which was struggling to sell). Paradoxically the ones they actually sent me were useless to me but the discount they sent to another member were useful for me and not for her. I did pay more to use the discount but I liked the new seats and thought they were well worth the extra money paid. I wouldn't have bought the new seats without a discount though. It is indeed baffling how ROH marketing department consistently emails discounts to the wrong people though. It's like someone has searched through our buying history, analysed the choreographers/composers and cast, and picked the shows we would NOT want. Edited March 2 by Emeralds 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 I've booked, I'm signed up for offers (though I never signed up myself, not knowing that these options even existed) and I haven't received the email. I can't recall ever having received an offer email in fact. (A few years ago I stopped receiving even the usual Friends emails, and when I contacted them they said I must have opted out of them. Which of course I hadn't.) So it doesn't seem to make much difference whether or not you're signed up for offers. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 1 hour ago, Emeralds said: That's very interesting, @FionaM- do you mean that the seat was bad or you didn't like the new designs or both? (I presume it's the new 2023 production that you're referring to). Not a problem with the seat and yes the discount was for the latest production which wasn’t selling well. I don’t like the new garish designs of the costumes. I don’t like the way the story is told. I don’t like most of the choreography (especially the season fairies, unnecessary fiddly and therefore ugly) and I really don’t like the pantomime dame stepsisters. I find the production to be vulgar. I do like the ballroom pdd and that is worth seeing … loved Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball in it. I fear a lot of RB full length ballets are looking like ‘West End musicals’ and it’s a trend that is not for me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 (edited) I’ve booked but not received any offers. Had no idea that you could or how to sign up for offers….as otherwise why wouldn’t you? Edited March 3 by LinMM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 It's under your preferences in your account. So it seems that people who've booked haven't received the offer, which is what I would have expected. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnzi5 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 (edited) 21 hours ago, Scheherezade said: I never get the offers. I have always assumed that it’s because I don’t buy expensive tickets and it doesn’t bother me particularly because even the discounted prices are more than I would generally be prepared to pay but there could be that time, and I do feel that it really isn’t good enough to offer discounts to selected individuals only. They should be offered to all Friends and to everyone else who regularly buys tickets. They have our details, what’s the difficulty here? I have had offers - though I get a lot more for opera performances, which, even with 40% off of the original ticket value, are still very, very expensive (compared to my stalls ballet tickets). Though I do like opera, ballet is my passion and I choose to spend my money on that. Edited March 3 by Linnzi5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnzi5 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 2 hours ago, alison said: It's under your preferences in your account. So it seems that people who've booked haven't received the offer, which is what I would have expected. Yes. Though I have had offers for ballets where I have booked other performances. As I buy stalls tickets, I suppose they think I might buy on impulse, which, to be fair, is often true. 😳 (Divorce could be in my near future! 😱🤭) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Having changed my account settings to sign up for emails I had hoped that I might get the offer for the MacMillan triple bill. No such luck. All I've had so far have been 2 emails exhorting me to buy tickets or items in the ROH shop for Mother's Day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 24 minutes ago, Dawnstar said: Having changed my account settings to sign up for emails I had hoped that I might get the offer for the MacMillan triple bill. No such luck. All I've had so far have been 2 emails exhorting me to buy tickets or items in the ROH shop for Mother's Day. I doubt you’d receive any emails that have already been sent out unless it was decided to repeat the offer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 38 minutes ago, Dawnstar said: Having changed my account settings to sign up for emails I had hoped that I might get the offer for the MacMillan triple bill. No such luck. All I've had so far have been 2 emails exhorting me to buy tickets or items in the ROH shop for Mother's Day. I was just going to say I've had emails re Mother's Day ... opera, opera, opera, opera, gift shop, gift shop, gift shop ... not a single mention of ballet! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 When I looked into my account I found I’d already signed up for offers etc.🙄 It’s just I’ve never had any from the ROH only emails inviting me to spend more money whilst in the ROH at the ballet to enhance my experience! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 44 minutes ago, PeterS said: I doubt you’d receive any emails that have already been sent out unless it was decided to repeat the offer. I hoped they might repeat the offer, since there still look to be pleny of tickets available. 30 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: I was just going to say I've had emails re Mother's Day ... opera, opera, opera, opera, gift shop, gift shop, gift shop ... not a single mention of ballet! The email I got today mentioned ballet on the ROH stream but no live performances. I mean, I get Different Drummer isn't exactly a great plot for Mother's Day but then I don't think Madame Butterfly is either! (Personally I'm giving my mother her ticket for Friday's Manon for Mother's Day, as it's only 2 days beforehand.) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 In other news, any thoughts on who might be dancing in the General Rehearsal (Swan Lake) tomorrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said: I was just going to say I've had emails re Mother's Day ... opera, opera, opera, opera, gift shop, gift shop, gift shop ... not a single mention of ballet! Me too. I cannot remember the last time I got an email with an offer in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 33 minutes ago, Blossom said: In other news, any thoughts on who might be dancing in the General Rehearsal (Swan Lake) tomorrow? It will be Matthew Ball, he always dances in rehearsals when I go. Which is nice of him. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 6 minutes ago, Mary said: It will be Matthew Ball, he always dances in rehearsals when I go. Which is nice of him. But not tomorrow 🤫 The cast sheet will be out very early 😊 as the rehearsal starts at 11.30am. The RB dancers are having an overly busy time. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 5 minutes ago, capybara said: But not tomorrow 🤫 The cast sheet will be out very early 😊 as the rehearsal starts at 11.30am. The RB dancers are having an overly busy time. My guess is Fumi/Will. Close enough but not too close to opening night. Or possibly Anna Rose/Marcelino 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silke H Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 On 02/03/2024 at 16:15, Dawnstar said: I had absolutely no idea that one had to sign up for offers. How is one supposed to know that one should sign up? I created my account on the ROH website nearly 20 years ago! I've rummaged around in my account & changed some settings so it'll be interesting to see if any emails now arrive & I'm now wondering how much I've missed over the last 20 years, or however long it is they've had that option. I have had the 'offers' option selected in my profile for a long time and haven't received those emails. I'd be interested to know if it works for you going forward. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 @Silke H So will I! Though given they only seem to resort to offers occasionally it may take some time to find out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swan Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 11 hours ago, Blossom said: In other news, any thoughts on who might be dancing in the General Rehearsal (Swan Lake) tomorrow? I’m very excited and looking forward to seeing who is dancing Benno etc. I know it’s highly unlikely but I would love to see Magri/Corrales…. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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