Minor things that bother you

[SEWIGuy]

She really hates having to set up usernames and passwords for essentially everything these days. As I pointed out to her, you are the product.

Same.  And I despise having to download apps for things, so I guess I'm shut out of modern ticketing.  Anything beyond pulling up confirmation emails or navigating to a webpage, I don't want to do.

Well your loss then. Honestly I have no idea why people are opposed to this. It's 100 times easier to buy, transfer and store tickets than the paper way.

I bought tickets to a musical for next month and five minutes later they were sitting in my Apple wallet. Way better than waiting for the mail to deliver or standing in line at will call.

[SEWIGuy]

I'm just waiting for the first instance of the ticketing system going down hard in the few hours before a big game.

Mike

Like the airlines, I always figure they'll ask "well, why didn't you print the ticket?" Or, "did anyone print their ticket, we're having problems." (Not that they'd admit the latter.)

...

At some venues, you can't print the ticket. Won't work if you do.

Screenshot > email/text image > find device which sends to peripheral (equally annoying)

The encumbrances of ticketing to eliminate a fractional percentage of the problem so a greater percentage of profits under the disguise of "security", is the damning evidence that we'll just put up with anything to make sure Our Team wins.

Yes. It's less expensive for the venue. No doubt.

Yet tickets are sold and seats are full. So the problem is what exactly?

[formulanone]

I'm just waiting for the first instance of the ticketing system going down hard in the few hours before a big game.

Mike

Like the airlines, I always figure they'll ask "well, why didn't you print the ticket?" Or, "did anyone print their ticket, we're having problems." (Not that they'd admit the latter.)

...

At some venues, you can't print the ticket. Won't work if you do.

Screenshot > email/text image > find device which sends to peripheral (equally annoying)

The encumbrances of ticketing to eliminate a fractional percentage of the problem so a greater percentage of profits under the disguise of "security", is the damning evidence that we'll just put up with anything to make sure Our Team wins.

Yes. It's less expensive for the venue. No doubt.

Yet tickets are sold and seats are full. So the problem is what exactly?

I'm not saying there's an inconvenience for someone who commonly uses an electronic ticket system; I do so with airlines and rental car agencies all the time, and even hotels have electronic "keys" that can be accessed by the app. But I think there's an annoyance when it's some rigmarole for a one-and-done situation in which the application wants much of your information and credit card info for something like a parking space.

And when they work, that's great! Time saved and we all move on to photographing ourselves at said events or maybe bitching about the world on those same devices!

When something doesn't work for the "end user" (a.k.a. the buyer, with the limited rights and remedies, despite becoming the final stage of a transaction), you get the right to just passively watch your money burn as entertainment. Minus all the excitement of pyromania and just stewing in one's own un-vented frustration.

The hope is that these systems work properly and there's a backup method when they may fail. But having that backup method may cost extra to the seller, despite it taking a few extra minutes to count in ticket-holders (QR-code storage-holders?); and then the invariable falling back on "well, they're just $10/hr ticket takers", but it's upper management that failed to provide for a back-up system, and maybe you can call up your credit card company and maybe get something back.

[SEWIGuy]

I'm just waiting for the first instance of the ticketing system going down hard in the few hours before a big game.

Mike

Like the airlines, I always figure they'll ask "well, why didn't you print the ticket?" Or, "did anyone print their ticket, we're having problems." (Not that they'd admit the latter.)

...

At some venues, you can't print the ticket. Won't work if you do.

Screenshot > email/text image > find device which sends to peripheral (equally annoying)

The encumbrances of ticketing to eliminate a fractional percentage of the problem so a greater percentage of profits under the disguise of "security", is the damning evidence that we'll just put up with anything to make sure Our Team wins.

Yes. It's less expensive for the venue. No doubt.

Yet tickets are sold and seats are full. So the problem is what exactly?

I'm not saying there's an inconvenience for someone who commonly uses an electronic ticket system; I do so with airlines and rental car agencies all the time, and even hotels have electronic "keys" that can be accessed by the app. But I think there's an annoyance when it's some rigmarole for a one-and-done situation in which the application wants much of your information and credit card info for something like a parking space.

And when they work, that's great! Time saved and we all move on to photographing ourselves at said events or maybe bitching about the world on those same devices!

When something doesn't work for the "end user" (a.k.a. the buyer, with the limited rights and remedies, despite becoming the final stage of a transaction), you get the right to just passively watch your money burn as entertainment. Minus all the excitement of pyromania and just stewing in one's own un-vented frustration.

The hope is that these systems work properly and there's a backup method when they may fail. But having that backup method may cost extra to the seller, despite it taking a few extra minutes to count in ticket-holders (QR-code storage-holders?); and then the invariable falling back on "well, they're just $10/hr ticket takers", but it's upper management that failed to provide for a back-up system, and maybe you can call up your credit card company and maybe get something back.

I've never been in a situation where an e-ticket has failed so 🤷🤷🤷

[GaryV]

never been in a situation where an e-ticket has failed so

I've never been in an airplane crash. I guess that means they don't happen, or at least won't happen for me.

[1995hoo]

Screenshot > email/text image > find device which sends to peripheral (equally annoying)

...

Not sure I follow. At venues I've been to recently, a screenshot or an image won't work. Tickets are some sort of NFC system. (Amtrak and airlines do use QR codes, but they have a paper option anyway.) In my experience the NFC tickets work just fine. I'll be interested in hearing how my mother does with it later this week, though, as it'll be the first time she's ever used that sort of ticket (and she is in her late 70s). That was somewhat of the thrust of my original comment. It's all well and good for SEWIGuy to act like SP Cook and say that his experience is the only valid one, but it's hardly unusual for older people who don't often go to sports or the like to be unfamiliar with these things (I mean, look, my mother finally started using electronic bill payments last year, but she only did it after a check got stolen and bleached).

[SEWIGuy]

never been in a situation where an e-ticket has failed so

I've never been in an airplane crash. I guess that means they don't happen, or at least won't happen for me.

A better analogy: even though I know an airplane can crash, I don't avoid air travel because I know it's relatively safe.

[Bruce]

Not sure I follow. At venues I've been to recently, a screenshot or an image won't work. Tickets are some sort of NFC system.

Typically they have either an NFC pass or a barcode that changes every few minutes. With Ticketmaster tickets, I can just use the latter to scan off Google Wallet (which makes the ticket unusable for resale). For secondary providers like Fevo or AXS, they require an extra hoop...and often fail. I've had Fevo fuck up my Mariners tickets several times, to the point that I redeem them before I even leave home just to make sure I can have something that works at the gate.

[vdeane]

Well your loss then. Honestly I have no idea why people are opposed to this. It's 100 times easier to buy, transfer and store tickets than the paper way.

I bought tickets to a musical for next month and five minutes later they were sitting in my Apple wallet. Way better than waiting for the mail to deliver or standing in line at will call.

I really don't get why people are so willing to install apps for everything on their phone.  They take up space and it's a privacy/security nightmare as apps have access to a lot more of your personal data than a website does (especially if you use a browser with tracking and ad blocking, as I do), which is why companies are pushing them to the point where it feels like the web could die in my lifetime and the internet gets increasingly dominated by younger demographics that use phone apps for everything (can't even do online dating without smartphone apps these days...).

Not sure what Apple/Google Wallet has to do with it, but then, all I know about either is that people use them instead of physically presenting their credit cards at stores, which I honestly don't get.  Taking my phone out of my purse is the same effort as taking out my wallet, and getting a card out of my wallet is less effort than punching in my PIN to unlock my phone and opening an app.

[ZLoth]

Not sure what Apple/Google Wallet has to do with it, but then, all I know about either is that people use them instead of physically presenting their credit cards at stores, which I honestly don't get.  Taking my phone out of my purse is the same effort as taking out my wallet, and getting a card out of my wallet is less effort than punching in my PIN to unlock my phone and opening an app.

I don't know about Apple Wallet, but I prefer paying by credit card via Google Wallet instead of using a physical card. For starters, the credit card number that is presented for the transaction is NOT the same number on my credit card. The PIN on my phone makes the card harder to use, and there are apps provided by your financial institution that allow you to lock/unlock your card as well. This is important since the United States still hasn't adopted Chip and PIN like most of the world.

[Scott5114]

The Apple wallet is just as easy as paper.

Like I can afford an iPhone.

[1995hoo]

...

Not sure what Apple/Google Wallet has to do with it, but then, all I know about either is that people use them instead of physically presenting their credit cards at stores, which I honestly don't get.  Taking my phone out of my purse is the same effort as taking out my wallet, and getting a card out of my wallet is less effort than punching in my PIN to unlock my phone and opening an app.

I typically use Apple Pay on my watch rather than pulling out my phone (and I typically use my watch to have my ticket scanned on the Acela as well). Obviously, that's easier than pulling out either my wallet or my phone (and it confounds old ladies who see me do it at the grocery store).

The main place where I use my phone is riding the subway, both in New York and in DC. Using my phone on the turnstiles is less awkward than using my watch, and I'd rather pull out my phone than my wallet in a crowded area like the 7th Avenue IRT entrance at Penn Station. (Using Apple Wallet to pay for the subway does not require unlocking your phone if you designate a card for "Express Transit Card." When your phone detects the OMNY reader, it uses the designated card. If, like DC or San Francisco, the system requires a designated farecard and you have one on your phone, it knows to access that.)

Edited to add: While you can still use a MetroCard in New York, I see no point in doing so when the OMNY readers can just read a tap-to-pay card and also accept Apple Pay. In DC, the advantage to having my SmarTrip card on my phone is that I can add money directly instead of having to go to the fare machines in the stations.

[Scott5114]

I'm over here feeling quite pleased that my last purchase allowed me to finish off a roll of dimes.

[mgk920]

Then (when) there are about 80K people waiting outside of Lambeau Field for the NFC championship game (after dark in early Feb now?) and the ticketing system goes down hard . . .

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

Then (when) there are about 80K people waiting outside of Lambeau Field for the NFC championship game (after dark in early Feb now?) and the ticketing system goes down hard . . .

Of course. No one ever said they they were perfect.

[hbelkins]

Well your loss then. Honestly I have no idea why people are opposed to this. It's 100 times easier to buy, transfer and store tickets than the paper way.

I bought tickets to a musical for next month and five minutes later they were sitting in my Apple wallet. Way better than waiting for the mail to deliver or standing in line at will call.

I really don't get why people are so willing to install apps for everything on their phone.  They take up space and it's a privacy/security nightmare as apps have access to a lot more of your personal data than a website does (especially if you use a browser with tracking and ad blocking, as I do), which is why companies are pushing them to the point where it feels like the web could die in my lifetime and the internet gets increasingly dominated by younger demographics that use phone apps for everything (can't even do online dating without smartphone apps these days...).

It's been my experience that most mobile apps are just skins for a mobile Web site. The GoodHotelsCheap app is the same as visiting GoodHotelsCheap.com with your mobile Chrome or Firefox browser.

[hbelkins]

Decades ago we normally returned empty glass beer and pop/soda bottles for the deposit.  They were then returned to the bottling works where they were cleaned and refilled.  Date codes on those bottles were often several decades old and they showed normal use wear to match.

These days, plastic bottles are pretty much unrecycleable, with the the only practical use in my mind being as boiler fuel (if burning them in such a way did not produce a very toxic smoke - oh well . . . ).

Time for a retro rethink here.

Mike

For years, Ale-8-One was offered in 12-ounce returnable glass bottles. Although the company later added 12-ounce nonreturnable bottles, the returnable ones remained popular. People swore the beverage in the returnable bottles tasted better.

Earlier this year, Ale-8 quit offering the returnable bottles. There was an issue with the availability of the bottle-washing equipment. The decline of returnable bottles in general with other beverages made the 12-ounce "Green Dragon" longnecks an endangered species, and Ale-8 finally pulled the plug on them.

[US 89]

I always print my airline boarding passes in the event of a flight change or delay, so that I can prove I was on my original flight in case it gets cancelled or the airline decides to move me to another one. It has served me well a number of times.

[Scott5114]

"Las Vegas is a 24-hour-city."

What you think that means: All of the stores and restaurants are open 24 hours to accommodate workers with unusual shifts. People get drunk at 10am.
What it actually means: The landlord sees no problem with remodeling the apartment above you at 7pm.

[SEWIGuy]

I always print my airline boarding passes in the event of a flight change or delay, so that I can prove I was on my original flight in case it gets cancelled or the airline decides to move me to another one. It has served me well a number of times.

You can do the same with an electronic boarding pass.

[JayhawkCO]

I always print my airline boarding passes in the event of a flight change or delay, so that I can prove I was on my original flight in case it gets cancelled or the airline decides to move me to another one. It has served me well a number of times.

I always print mine when I'm traveling with my son as it's way easier to pull those out of my pocket at security and at the gate when he's being wiggly.

[JayhawkCO]

I always print my airline boarding passes in the event of a flight change or delay, so that I can prove I was on my original flight in case it gets cancelled or the airline decides to move me to another one. It has served me well a number of times.

You can do the same with an electronic boarding pass.

If you ever need to retroactively claim points in your frequent flyer program for a flight that didn't credit, often you have to mail in a paper ticket.

[SEWIGuy]

I always print my airline boarding passes in the event of a flight change or delay, so that I can prove I was on my original flight in case it gets cancelled or the airline decides to move me to another one. It has served me well a number of times.

You can do the same with an electronic boarding pass.

If you ever need to retroactively claim points in your frequent flyer program for a flight that didn't credit, often you have to mail in a paper ticket.

Really? On United I just entered the six-digit reservation code and verified a couple things and it was done automatically.

[JayhawkCO]

I always print my airline boarding passes in the event of a flight change or delay, so that I can prove I was on my original flight in case it gets cancelled or the airline decides to move me to another one. It has served me well a number of times.

You can do the same with an electronic boarding pass.

If you ever need to retroactively claim points in your frequent flyer program for a flight that didn't credit, often you have to mail in a paper ticket.

Really? On United I just entered the six-digit reservation code and verified a couple things and it was done automatically.

This especially happens for partner flights. If you fly on another Star Alliance carrier and try to credit to United, very often you'll have to have the paper ticket.

[hbelkins]

When the made-up word "tryna" is used instead of the correct "trying to."