Season Ticket Questions

[MHizzle85]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on season tix. Probably not this year, more than likely next year. I would love to hear any feedback from current ST holders if it's worth it, etc.

 

I guess also I'd like to know how the whole process works. Do you pay in full upfront? A deposit? Perks? Benefits?

 

I know I can just e-mail someone at the Sox, but I'd rather have the real deal from you guys. Thanks in advance!

[NorthSideSox72]

I've been part of a group of 4 that shares ST since 2004. We're currently in the front row of the UD, over home plate, 3B side. Been in these seats for a number of years now. 4 seats.

 

I think for one person, full season is tough to justify unless you are a real ballpark addict or have lots of money and time. Depends on your style though - do you like to go alone? If so, if you want a single seat, you can often sneak into better seats than others to help them fill in those blanks. Or are you thinking 2? 4? Four seats is great because you can bring friends, or if you have kids, bring them easily. Overall my suggestion to you is, find a partner or a few partners - just make sure they are people you are cool with, especially if there are more partners than seats.

 

In terms of how to get them, call the ticket office and they give you to a rep, who can tell you what seats are available, prices, etc. Simple from there. There isn't a waiting list nowadays.

 

Price-wise, ST holders get a discount from face value that ranges from 15 to 30%, depending on what seat zone you are in. We are in Premium UD, and it is about 18%. Plus of course, you don't pay ticketbastard fees, etc., so you save even more that way. And there are side benefits, most importantly post-season privileges - different packages carry different postseason bits, so ask about that. There are little things too like discounted parking, some occasional gifts, ST-only events with auto sessions, etc.

 

The key question to ask is, how many tickets won't get used, and what is your plan with them? We do a ticket draft in March, and the remaining 40-50 tickets are left. We sell Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox at a profit, sell a bunch to friends (or on here) at face value, then there are the left-overs - which we list on stub hub (along with the Cubs/Red Sox/Yanks). Important to know - you can go to your tickets on whitesox.com, click to sell them on 3rd party, and it sends your browser to list on stub hub electronically. That is a huge benefit. There are fees taken out, so you'll only get like 85% of your list price back, but that is better than nothing and a lot easier than trying to list paper tickets and send them out manually. In the end, we usually about break-even on our unused games, which is all we really want to do - so we're left with getting a 18% discount on the games we go to, plus all the ST benefits.

 

I could go on (already did), but PM me if you want to know more.

 

[ZoomSlowik]

Northside outline it pretty well. It's just SOOOO many games. When they're good, it's easier to sell excess tickets and you're more willing to go if you can't sell them. That said, we found that we couldn't really handle more than 25 games or so in a year, which leaves a ton to deal with. Luckily we had someone that took half the tickets, but both parties wanted to scale back after a depressing 2013. We're going to try to use Stubhub this year and get better seats for the games we do attend.

 

We didn't have any complaints when we did have tickets. Obviously the postseason tickets were the main reason we did it, which is a huge benefit. Another fun benefit was the box of giveaways we got every year. Yeah, we didn't need all of the stuff, but some of it was pretty cool, especially in 2006 when they were giving out championship related stuff.

 

If you have the disposable income and really like baseball, it can be fun. You have to be prepared to deal with any games you don't plan on attending, otherwise the costs can get steep.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that you will get an invoice for playoff tickets if they're remotely close to contention. That's a pretty sizeable bill that you have to factor in around September (think it was like 33% of our full-season costs). The one plus with that is that any money from unused tickets can be put towards the next season, which should take care of your first installment (if you want the money refunded, you lose your seat priority).

 

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Zoom points out a key factor - the playoff invoices. That's annoying, the team gets a free float of your money basically. You can elect not to pay, but then you lost your account and would need to start over.

 

One other thing - part of the reason we are successful with getting our unused tickets sold for at least our cost (sometimes more overall), is that we have a premium seat location - specifically the FRONT ROW. Row 1 sells dramatically better than row 2. Keep this in mind when the club tells you your location - think in terms of what would sell better in the open market. It took us a few years to get to the front row.

 

The good news is though, if you go UD, especially in a down time like this year, you could get to the front row quickly. Maybe even right away if you get lucky. All the more reason to start things up in a down year.

 

 

[ZoomSlowik]

You can elect not to pay, but then you lost your account and would need to start over.

 

You sure about this? I thought you could opt to not purchase playoff tickets. I thought the only time that happened is if you asked for your money back instead of keeping it in your Sox account. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think we paid for 2012 postseason tickets (lol) and still improved our seats.

Edited March 21, 2014 by ZoomSlowik

[MHizzle85]

Thanks guys for all of the detailed and extremely informative responses.

 

You guys really put it into perspective for me. I never really thought about how many games of the 81 I'd actually go to. Let along partnering up with friends/trouble selling tickets that I wouldn't use.

 

I guess my plan now would be to wait until next offeseason and to decide if it makes sense. There are some great perks, but not sure if it's enough to pull the trigger after having all of this info though.

 

Thanks again, guys!

[NorthSideSox72]

You sure about this? I thought you could opt to not purchase playoff tickets. I thought the only time that happened is if you asked for your money back instead of keeping it in your Sox account. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think we paid for 2012 postseason tickets (lol) and still improved our seats.

Maybe that changed then? I thought it was always that way, but maybe they stopped doing it that way. It would be worth asking.

 

[Pants Rowland]

You sure about this? I thought you could opt to not purchase playoff tickets. I thought the only time that happened is if you asked for your money back instead of keeping it in your Sox account. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think we paid for 2012 postseason tickets (lol) and still improved our seats.

 

I believe you are correct.

 

On another note, I also split seats with a handful of people (two seats right behind the Scout Seats). Basically 8 shares of 10 games a piece. Seats are selected via a snake draft just before the season starts. We sometimes have someone flake out at the beginning of the season over whether they want to reup or not. I can keep you in mind if you are interested in trying it on a partial basis. I find 10 games is plenty for me. PM me and I will keep it archived for next year if you are interested. Thanks.

[NorthSideSox72]

I believe you are correct.

 

On another note, I also split seats with a handful of people (two seats right behind the Scout Seats). Basically 8 shares of 10 games a piece. Seats are selected via a snake draft just before the season starts. We sometimes have someone flake out at the beginning of the season over whether they want to reup or not. I can keep you in mind if you are interested in trying it on a partial basis. I find 10 games is plenty for me. PM me and I will keep it archived for next year if you are interested. Thanks.

With a large group like that, what do you do if the team makes the playoffs?

 

[Dick Allen]

Maybe that changed then? I thought it was always that way, but maybe they stopped doing it that way. It would be worth asking.

It is how it's always been. If you don't purchase playoff tickets, you don't lose your seniority. The only way you lose it is to purchase them and then get a refund for unused tickets instead of a credit to your account.

[RockRaines]

Thanks guys for all of the detailed and extremely informative responses.

 

You guys really put it into perspective for me. I never really thought about how many games of the 81 I'd actually go to. Let along partnering up with friends/trouble selling tickets that I wouldn't use.

 

I guess my plan now would be to wait until next offeseason and to decide if it makes sense. There are some great perks, but not sure if it's enough to pull the trigger after having all of this info though.

 

Thanks again, guys!

I did a 27 game weekend plan for years, it was a great investment. Got me to the world series as well.

[ewokpelts]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on season tix. Probably not this year, more than likely next year. I would love to hear any feedback from current ST holders if it's worth it, etc.

 

I guess also I'd like to know how the whole process works. Do you pay in full upfront? A deposit? Perks? Benefits?

 

I know I can just e-mail someone at the Sox, but I'd rather have the real deal from you guys. Thanks in advance!

The questions I ask people when they express interest are:

 

1. What's your budget?

 

2. Where do you want to sit?

 

3. Who's going with you?

 

4. Does price beat location in your preference?

 

 

 

You can, right now, get a 7 game package for $56 that includes opening day and lower level access. BUT, those tix are all sundays aside from od, and all upstairs. If you want to dip your toes in the Sox STH world, I suggest that.

 

In 2012, the sox offered ALDS tickets to all STH package holders, even the 7 game ones. And that was after the 27 and 81 plan holders got their normal allotment.

 

Plus, pretty much all STH get grinder bash and other small goodies.

[MHizzle85]

I believe you are correct.

 

On another note, I also split seats with a handful of people (two seats right behind the Scout Seats). Basically 8 shares of 10 games a piece. Seats are selected via a snake draft just before the season starts. We sometimes have someone flake out at the beginning of the season over whether they want to reup or not. I can keep you in mind if you are interested in trying it on a partial basis. I find 10 games is plenty for me. PM me and I will keep it archived for next year if you are interested. Thanks.

 

I'll shoot you a PM.

 

 

I did a 27 game weekend plan for years, it was a great investment. Got me to the world series as well.

 

I'm thinking if anything, I'll go this route.

 

 

The questions I ask people when they express interest are:

 

1. What's your budget?

 

2. Where do you want to sit?

 

3. Who's going with you?

 

4. Does price beat location in your preference?

 

 

 

You can, right now, get a 7 game package for $56 that includes opening day and lower level access. BUT, those tix are all sundays aside from od, and all upstairs. If you want to dip your toes in the Sox STH world, I suggest that.

 

In 2012, the sox offered ALDS tickets to all STH package holders, even the 7 game ones. And that was after the 27 and 81 plan holders got their normal allotment.

 

Plus, pretty much all STH get grinder bash and other small goodies.

 

They definitely changed it then, I had I wanna say it was the 13 game package in '05 & '06 and I didn't get a shot at postseason tickets in '05.

[ewokpelts]

I'll shoot you a PM.

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking if anything, I'll go this route.

 

 

 

 

They definitely changed it then, I had I wanna say it was the 13 game package in '05 & '06 and I didn't get a shot at postseason tickets in '05.

Ozzie plan holders had ALDS rights in 05. I know because I had one in addition to my 27 game plan. BUT, I had to twist my rep's arm to make sure i got the tix. They were real sloppy that year in regard to invoicing 13 gamers. 2006, Ozzie plan holders had EITHER ALDS or ALCS.(Sox were low on ALDS inventory, as 27 gamers get all 3 games, so they offered 13 gamers rights to ALCS which they had a larger pot to work with.)

 

But the Ozzie plan did not have postseason rights from 2007-2011.

 

The Pick 14 "offically" has a pre-sale for postseason tix, while the 7's official stance is no postseason tix. But basing off 2012, and the fact that the ST base is so low right now, I wouldn't be surprised if they offer a 7 gamer playoff options(but only ALDS).

 

If you are looking at a plan, hit my rep Reynel up at rpenn@chisox.com.

 

If you do decide to get a plan, you may be able to get a free patio party out of it, as they offer new customers a patio party in april.

 

[TheTruth05]

Ozzie plan holders had ALDS rights in 05. I know because I had one in addition to my 27 game plan. BUT, I had to twist my rep's arm to make sure i got the tix. They were real sloppy that year in regard to invoicing 13 gamers. 2006, Ozzie plan holders had EITHER ALDS or ALCS.(Sox were low on ALDS inventory, as 27 gamers get all 3 games, so they offered 13 gamers rights to ALCS which they had a larger pot to work with.)

 

But the Ozzie plan did not have postseason rights from 2007-2011.

 

The Pick 14 "offically" has a pre-sale for postseason tix, while the 7's official stance is no postseason tix. But basing off 2012, and the fact that the ST base is so low right now, I wouldn't be surprised if they offer a 7 gamer playoff options(but only ALDS).

 

If you are looking at a plan, hit my rep Reynel up at rpenn@chisox.com.

 

If you do decide to get a plan, you may be able to get a free patio party out of it, as they offer new customers a patio party in april.

 

I been in and out this thread because I'm pretty sure I'm getting a 7 game plan, is there any difference to opening up the plan up through a rep or online in your opinion?

[NorthSideSox72]

I been in and out this thread because I'm pretty sure I'm getting a 7 game plan, is there any difference to opening up the plan up through a rep or online in your opinion?

Reps can be very helpful, and starting a relationship with one has benefits. They can tell you things the online site may not yet know. And in the future, they can help you out.

 

[TheTruth05]

Reps can be very helpful, and starting a relationship with one has benefits. They can tell you things the online site may not yet know. And in the future, they can help you out.

 

Thanks, I figured since they know the ins and outs of the process they'd probably be able to offer some insight

Edited March 26, 2014 by TheTruth05

[My_Sox_Summer]

I use a rep too, Alexa.

 

She is a great rep, very helpful.

 

ALEXA@CHISOX.COM

 

http://whitesox.info-mlb.com/season/avaicaitis

 

 

[TheTruth05]

Thanks for the feedback fellas,all very useful

[ewokpelts]

I been in and out this thread because I'm pretty sure I'm getting a 7 game plan, is there any difference to opening up the plan up through a rep or online in your opinion?

If you like paying fees, go online.

 

if you like not paying fees, call a rep.

 

 

 

[ewokpelts]

Reps can be very helpful, and starting a relationship with one has benefits. They can tell you things the online site may not yet know. And in the future, they can help you out.

Working through a rep makes things easier. From better locations than what tm/best available offers, to help with extra seats or parking. My two previous guys, Brian(who i worked with on season and group tix) and Reynel(who's now in groups), made sure to get me low row aisle seats(uppers) for my 7 and 14 game plans. And when I accidentally sen tin rain out tickets with my exchange seats, reynel sent me vouchers to a 2014 game so that i still got the rainout benefit.

 

[Dick Allen]

Season ticketholders now get a 10% discount at Sports Depot and whatever they are calling Bacardi at the Park. It might not be much, but it is better than a kick in the jimmy.