Berlin tix in

[mike renfro]

Yay, hurray Actually, they have arrived at the home of the guy who ordered the tix for our group (10). According to him, no individual tickets for each day, just a pass for the whole meet. I guess losing the pass would be a really bad idea :shock: Public transportation is included (ala Stuttgart and Edmonton).

Guess it's really time to hit the Michels for real, no more just skimming.

[gh]

Same kind of "pass" they used in Seville for the ’99 WC, as far as I know. Which means coding built into the card that is read when you come to the stadium each day. Also means one can expect what happens with any such bit of digital technology. The data can get wiped through no fault of your own.

[Rineanna]

They're super efficient in dispatching the tickets. I ordered mine in two batches, and received them within a couple of days.

[mike renfro]

Tickets in hand (envelope, actually). Garry, where does the TFN tours get their plastic thingies with a cord to carry tickets around one's neck? The passes are incredibly flimsy and losing (or tearing) your pass would be a disaster.

[Alan Shank]

The public transportation is not as liberal as Edmonton's - good for two hours before first event until two hours after finish of last. In Edmonton, a ticket to the meet was good for all public transportation, any time, for the duration of the meet.

I ordered these tickets as soon as they went on sale (early April, 2008). Originally, they were to be mailed in September. I got a letter in September saying they didn't have their sponsors lined up and the tickets would be mailed in April. Somebody who is trying to sell his tickets got them in mid-April. For some reason, I still hadn't received mine by mid-May, and was becoming worried. I e-mailed the Berlin organizers, and they said tix would be mailed week 18 and received week 20. Week 22, I still hadn't received them. I e-mailed again, they said they were mailed May 19 via DHL. I tried to track the shipment, but the number they gave me didn't turn up anything. I finally received the tix on June 8, so DHL took three weeks! Efficient?

In addition, the website to buy the tickets failed to come up for about three hours after the tickets went on sale. I was trying to log in about one minute after the opening of the sale, intent on getting our favorite seats, across from finish line. After about an hour of the website crashing, I called Germany and the guy told me the website was having problems, but should be up "momentarily". After another hour or so, I started trying to call the ticket office in Germany, but got busy signals. I finally reached somebody about three hours after the tickets went on sale, and no seats were available in our preferred section/sub-section. Bummer!

For Osaka, the website worked perfectly, but you couldn't select specific seats, so we ended up about above the 1500 start.

We are in N3, which, as near as I can tell, is mid-backstretch, fairly high up, not a bad location in any case.

Cheers,
Alan Shank
Woodland, CA

[az2004]

don't forget the system in berlin is the honor system, so have your ticket and you're fine...

[mike renfro]

Alan, as we discussed before and the previoius poster pointed out, it's the honor system. Stuttgart had the roughtly the same limits, some time before and after the meet. But I don't think we ever got checked for our tix there. I also can't remember if we got checked at Edmonton. I will scout Target and Office Depot for something which will hold (and protect) the tickets. Time to hit the Michelin guides

[tandfman]

Same kind of "pass" they used in Seville for the ’99 WC, as far as I know. Which means coding built into the card that is read when you come to the stadium each day. Also means one can expect what happens with any such bit of digital technology. The data can get wiped through no fault of your own.

I don't know if it happens to cards like that, but I do know that if you have one of those plastic cards that serve as a hotel room key, you can sometimes wipe out the coding by putting it in your pocket next to your cell phone. Bummer, but I suppose a minor inconvenience compared to having your stadium ticket voided.

[Alan Shank]

Same kind of "pass" they used in Seville for the ’99 WC, as far as I know. Which means coding built into the card that is read when you come to the stadium each day. Also means one can expect what happens with any such bit of digital technology. The data can get wiped through no fault of your own.

I don't know if it happens to cards like that, but I do know that if you have one of those plastic cards that serve as a hotel room key, you can sometimes wipe out the coding by putting it in your pocket next to your cell phone. Bummer, but I suppose a minor inconvenience compared to having your stadium ticket voided.

These tickets have a "bar code". I don't think there's anything electronic about them. The bar code needs to be readable, i.e. don't get the damn thing wet! We get these "25-cents off" coupons on gasoline from Raley's markets; you put the bar code beneath a scanner built into the pump and it reads it. I got one wet - no dice!
Cheers,
Alan Shank

[tandfman]

If it's a bar code, it should be ok and not easily erased.

[az2004]

even if erased, i think the presence of a ticket and a quick detour to a ticket office gets it easily replaced...meaning they replace the card with the replacement...and the same bar code?? so you sit in the same place...

honor system in the usa... are you kidding me....who would obey it...

the penalty would have to be steep, far steeper than germany