As you may recall from the minutes of the last Villa Away Fans Consultation Group meeting, it was requested by members of the group for the club to write to members of the new Villa Away Season Ticket scheme to clear up some misconceptions, that had evidently arisen amongst supporters.
The main assumption had been, that for £40, supporters could join the scheme and have their pick of any away tickets for this season. Even if they didn’t have much previous away booking history from the season before.
The concern from regular away fans was there was a loophole for fans to get preferable criteria access to high demand tickets like Birmingham City and West Brom without regularly attending away matches this season.
While it was not crystal clear in the terms and conditions how the criteria would work for such high demand tickets this season, hopefully the following letter will clear it up for fans.
The below letter (and terms and conditions) was sent out to all members of the scheme and is published here with permission from the club.
Away Season Ticket Membership Information Letter
5th September 2018
Dear <supporter name>,
Re: Fan ID <fan id> – Away Season Ticket Membership Information – Season 2018/19
Thank you for signing up to the away season ticket membership for the 2018/19 season. Your support on the road is massively appreciated by both the club and the players.
We are writing to you to clarify some misconceptions regarding bookings for high profile games as an away season ticket member.
Supporters are to be reminded that the scheme is intended for supporters who go to the majority of EFL Championship games.
The away season ticket is not intended to be used by supporters as a means of guaranteeing themselves tickets solely for high profile away games such as Birmingham City or West Bromwich Albion.
The club is very lucky to have so many dedicated fans who attend most away games. We do not want to see a scenario in which supporters who have attended several fixtures miss out on tickets to people whose sole intention is to only book for the key fixtures.
The club will monitor purchases for these types of games and will, if required, add further criteria to ensure that only away season ticket members who are buying tickets and supporting the team on the road are able to purchase for these games.
Any additional booking criteria will be added only with the approval of the away fans consultation group. You will find a copy of the terms and conditions enclosed with this letter.
Finally, I would like to thank you all once again for your magnificent support on the road, not just this season but in recent years.
Yours Sincerely Lynne O’Reardon
Head of Ticketing Operations
Away Season Ticket Scheme Terms and Conditions – Season 2018/19
The following conditions of issue are accepted upon payment of membership to the Away Season Ticket (AST) scheme.
- In order to be eligible to be part of our 2018/19 Away Season Ticket scheme you must hold a 2018/19 Season Ticket.
- The Club will reserve a ticket for a specified period for every League away game (23 games in total) during season 2018/19. Please note this does not apply to away Cup games.
- An AST holder will have the ability to claim their ticket during a specific period of time ahead of season ticket holders. After which time there can be no guarantee of ticket availability.
- It is the responsibility of the AST holder to ascertain the times of the exclusive sales period for each away league game. The Club has no responsibility for AST holders not purchasing their tickets during the exclusive sales period provided.
- AST holders are only entitled to 1 away ticket per game, which must be used by the AST holder, and cannot claim a second ticket by using their home season ticket.
- The Away Season Ticket Scheme is non-refundable and non-transferable and, for avoidance of doubt, may not be upgraded, downgraded or used by another support to whom the ticket has not been registered.
- While there is no obligation for an AST holder to purchase tickets for a designated number of away games, the number of games attended will be monitored. Supporters found to be misusing the scheme will result in their membership being cancelled without refund. The number of away games attended may have bearing on allocation for future high priority fixtures not covered by the Away Season Ticket Scheme.
- It is the responsibility of the AST holder to purchase tickets at the correct concession for their away ticket. Concessions will vary from club to club and any age-related concessions will be based on the AST holders age at the time of game the tickets relate to.
- All away match ticket sales will be subject to the terms and conditions of the home/issuing club (which can usually be found on the reverse of the ticket).
- The Club does not commit to guaranteeing prime seating and this is not a benefit of the scheme.
- The method by which tickets are sold is at the discretion of the ticket office.
- A transaction fee of 50p per ticket is applicable to all online and telephony debit/credit card transactions. Please note this transaction fee is strictly non-refundable. A postage and fulfillment fee of £1 is applicable to transactions where postage of tickets is request by the supporter. Collection of away tickets from Villa Park will be free of charge.
- The Club reserves the right to limit the total number of Away Season Ticket holders.
- The Club reserves the right to withdraw and cancel membership to the Away Season Ticket Scheme in the event of the member being found involved in any incident of misconduct surrounding any football match.
- The Club reserves the right to make amendments or additions to these Terms and Conditions at any time.
UTV
