Cheap Tickets....But Not the Commission Fee

Recently the Kings had a President's Day sale for the home games in February. 44% off a limited number of tickets for these games. How American of them! I jumped at the chance to get such a great deal and called my ticket box office guy. A year or two ago he converted me from a "search-stub-hub-ebay-ticketmaster-look-for-the-best-possible-deal" fan into a "buying-from-the-box-office" gal with the selling point that I would only have to pay $5 per order as opposed to a higher fee per ticket at other places. I was sold.


I called him last week to buy tickets to this Saturday's game versus the Oilers since there was nothing I wanted to do more than drag my fiance to a Kings game on Valentine's Day. Since it's an afternoon game he can still take me out to a nice dinner at night. It's a win-win-win situation! My ticket guy said the tickets were $20 each and since he was in such a rush that was pretty much all I got out of him. Total expected cost for two tickets: $45

I was quite surprised (and pissed) when I checked my credit card statement earlier this week and found out I had been charged $51.44. I know, it's only $6.44 more than I had anticipated, but still, WTF?! I just called him and politely mentioned that I wanted to verify the charges. He said the tickets were $20.77 and the commission fee was $10. I tried to act surprise and said, "wow, so that's a huge increase over last year....why, it's almost not even worth it buying tickets from you." What I really wanted to say was, "Why didn't you mention the increase in commission when I purchased the tickets? I don't appreciate being lied to so you can bet that I will no longer be buying tickets from you." He quickly mentioned that he could usually waive the fee but that management had instructed the sales team to charge the higher fee for the ticket package. Aha!! You bastards! (read: Kings owners/management/AEG, etc) Market a huge ticket promotion and kick everyone in the balls with a commission fee twice the normal amount. I feel like such a pansy ass that just bought into a huge scam. Screw you and your fees! Now I'm going to stick it to the Kings and revert back to my usual bargain hunting ways.

x-posted to Purple Crushed Velvet

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Game Plan for Purchasing Tickets

All last season I bitched about how the Kings mini-game plans totally sucked because you couldn't choose which games you wanted to attend. The mini plans that were offered last season always included games on weekdays (resulting in an ultra long commute from work) and there were definitely games against opponents that I did not want to see (such as Anaheim and Detroit).

This season the Kings are offering three (3) new 10-game ticket plans: Big Game (against high marquee opponents), Weekend, and Flex. Last season I definitely could have use the Weekend plan. However, I will soon be working just blocks from Staples Center so now I can attend weekday games without wanting to stab myself in the eye with a pencil during my entire commute just to detract my pain away from sitting in ungodly ridiculous traffic, especially in the segment where the freeway drops down to 3 lanes in each direction. 3 LANES!! The INSANITY! But that is a thing of the past. Now, I have the need for the Flex Plan in which I can select any 10 games I want to attend. The only drawback of selecting the Flex Plan over the other two plans is that the Flex Plan offers fewer benefits. For the seats that I'll be buying, I'll be paying $80 more total than the Weekend Plan, I won't be guaranteed the same seat for every game, and I won't be able to take advantage of the Ticket Exchange program.


The reason why I don't want to purchase the Weekend Plan, despite better benefits, is because I don't care to see Calgary, St. Louis, Colorado, Columbus, Minnesota (twice! and without Pavol), New Jersey, or Phoenix. Basically, there are only 2 games in the Weekend Plan that I care about: home opener against San Jose (*vomit*) and a game against Edmonton Oilers (Lubo, I miss you!).

Upon first thought of purchasing the Flex Plan I figured I would have a terrible time trying to meticulously analyze which games I would attend because I assumed it would be difficult to pick only 10 games. However, upon further review of the Kings '08-'09 schedule I came to the surprising conclusion that I was encountering difficulty because there were less than 10 games I had a burning desire to attend. I was stunned. How could I not even find 10 games I would be willing to pay to see? In Episode 1.8 of Kings World Podcast, I confessed to Connie my somewhat embarrassing realization. I was prepared to hear her call me a pathetic useless common fan, not worth of blogging and podcasting about the Kings. On the contrary Connie talked me through my dilemma and pointed out some games that should be exciting to see. After more thought I decided I wouldn't mind seeing the following 10-games:

1. Sun Oct 12 v. SJ
2. Tues Nov 11 v. Dallas
3. Thu Nov 20 v. Wash
4. Sat Nov 29 v. Chi
5. Mon Dec 1 v. Tor
6. Fri Dec 5 v. Edm
7. Wed Dec 17 v. NYR
8. Sat Jan 3 v. Phi
9. Mon Jan 12 v. Tampa
10. Sat Apr 11 v. SJ

I'm slightly annoyed that the last game of the season is once again versus a Pacific Division rival, but I don't think I have ever attended the last home game of a season and I'm willing to put aside my hatred of watching games against the Ducks or Sharks in order to bid my Kings adieu.

But then, I thought about it more. I'm planning on purchasing tickets close to Connie and AJ, which would place me in the Upper Center section, therefore, only providing me a $10 discount compared to purchasing 10 tickets individually, or rather, a measley $1 per game discount. Do I really want to fork over $360/10 games or do I want to only select a few games that I'm dying to see in person and save money by not attending more games. It's not that I can't afford $360 worth of tickets, it's just that I have so many freakin' "necessary" expenses right now I'm not sure if overall it would be worth it to purchase the 10-game Flex Plan. Or rather, the big issue at stake is do I want to commit to 10 games right now only to find out that I can't attend one or more all for saving $1 per game? I don't know what my Thanksgiving plans are and it's very possible that I may go out of town. I will definitely be out of town to celebrate New Year's and I can see myself coming home on taking a couple extra days off and coming home on Sunday, ergo missing the Philly game. The more I think about the flex plan, the more I'm talking myself out of it. How ironic that after all my complaining about wanting a flexible ticket plan, when I'm finally given the option I still complain about it and refuse to purchase it because the benefits are not great enough to commit to 10 games.

x-posted to Purple Crushed Velvet

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