10:55 PM
Shweta Pandey
There are 6.6 million tickets available for sale across 645 sessions for the Olympics in this public ticket offer. Paralympic tickets will go on sale later in the year, so bookmark this Telegraph guide to work out which of the 645 sessions you wish to apply for and which category of seat you can afford.
How do I buy tickets?
You can apply for tickets from between March 15, 2011 to April 26, 2011. Because tickets are not sold on a first-come, first-served basis, the orders can be submitted at any stage during the 42-day period. There is no advantage in applying early.
So what do I do now?
Firstly you need to work out exactly what you want to order, taking into account your budget, the days you might like to focus on and preferred events. We have created a handy interactive tool where you can filter the complex ticketing schedule into days, venues and sports to help make the process easier.
So I have now worked out what I want to see, how do I apply?
You can apply for tickets from March 15 until midnight April 26, 2011. Because tickets are not sold on a first-come, first-served basis, the orders can be submitted at any stage during the 42-day period.
How do I submit my orders?
You can do this online at www.tickets.london2012.com or by filling in a paper form and posting it. Forms will be available from Lloyds TSB banks and through Bank of Scotland in Scotland, from March 15, 2011. In Northern Ireland, the forms will be available from public libraries.
How much will tickets cost?
Ticket prices are listed on the interactive schedule and range from £20 to £725. The top-of-the-range ticket price is £2,012 for a small number of the very best opening ceremony seats. There are also a small number of opening ceremony seats at a price of £20.12.
Do children pay the same prices?
At more than 220 lower-demand sessions the cost of the ticket is the same as the child’s age (up to age 16) on July 27, 2012. There are no free tickets, so a child aged six months will still need a ticket costing a pound. This £16 cap will also be offered to seniors aged 60 and over.
How do I pay?
Online payment is exclusively by VISA debit card, VISA credit card or a virtual prepaid card, which you must apply for beforehand. Paper forms can be paid for by cheque or postal order as well as VISA. Payments will be taken from the VISA accounts of successful applicants between May 10 and June 10.
But my VISA card expires between March 15 and July 31. What now?
This is tricky and annoying, but you may have to order using a prepaid card or by cheque as cards that expire before August won't be accepted by the system. Visa are working on bringing this date forward.
Is there a limit to how many tickets I can apply for?
Yes, each session has a ticket limit. This is shown on the the interactive schedule , the London Olympic website and on the paper order booklet. The most popular sessions, such as the opening ceremony, are limited to four tickets per order. Most sessions have a limit of six, but some sessions have a limit of 20.
What happens if the session I applied for is oversubscribed?
Organisers will conduct a ballot.
Can I have a second chance for my selected session at a different price point if it is oversubscribed?
Yes, you can indicate whether you want to be considered for higher, lower, or both higher and lower price categories, as well as the category being ordered, for every session for which you apply.
Will organisers conduct the ballots from the lowest prices first and move up, or ballot the highest prices first and move down?
Organisers say they have not decided which direction of priority will occur in the ballots at this stage, as they will assess the total number of applications before determining which is the best way.
So how do I maximise my chances of getting a ticket?
Another difficult question because the organisers won’t release details of the specific numbers of tickets available at the sessions, nor the breakdown of tickets available at various price points. So it is unclear which sessions have the most tickets available.
Some popular sessions at smaller venues will have few tickets available. For instance, the night velodrome sessions may have fewer than 3,000 available for the public.
Which tickets will be the most difficult to obtain?
Track cycling, swimming, gymnastics, beach volleyball and weightlifting will be highly sought after, mainly because these sports take place in smaller venues. The opening and closing ceremonies, along with the athletics finals, are also very popular.
Which tickets will be easiest?
Football tickets are cheap and there are a million of them. But the easiest way to see the Olympics is to plan to see the free events.
Free? At the Olympics?
Yes, you can line the routes of the race walks, marathons, road cycling and road cycling time-trial races for free.
Are there any other free events associated with the Olympics?
There will be a host of free “live” sites which will feature bands, big television screens, sponsor products and entertainment across London and the UK. Also look out for the torch relay route details to be announced later this year.
What is included in the ticket price?
As well as the Olympic session, the ticket you purchase includes VAT and also a Travelcard for travel in zones 1-9.
What are my chances of getting tickets in each price category?
Organisers say that each price band has approximately the same number of seats available. Two notable exceptions to this are the opening and closing ceremonies, where the bulk of tickets are in the middle price bands.
Can I return unwanted tickets?
Once you have applied for the tickets you want, you cannot then cherry pick which tickets to keep, and you will be charged for all of the tickets you have been successfully allocated. However, organisers will set up an online ticket exchange next year, where any unwanted tickets can be offered for sale (at face value) to other consumers.
Tickets must only be bought through the officially licensed means detailed here. To deter unauthorised vendors the fine for those convicted of illegally selling-on tickets has been quadrupled to £ 20,000.
Are the tickets available to people outside Britain?
Yes, the tickets and application process will be open to all of the European Union. People in the UK and designated European countries can apply through www.tickets.london2012.com
What if I live outside the EU?
Apply through the national Olympic committee in your home country.
Why aren’t all of the tickets for the Olympics on sale to the public?
The public application process will involve 6.6 million of the total 8.8 million tickets available.
Where have the other 25 per cent of tickets gone?
A chunk of the tickets are reserved for the broadcasters and media. Another large portion of tickets are given to the Olympic sponsors. IOC members and their spouses and invited guests, like heads of state and other politicians, have a special area too. All of the 33 London boroughs have had
access to a special lot to each buy 100 highly sought-after tickets, while the Mayor of London has 2,000 tickets and other government departments can access 9,000 tickets.
What happens if I don’t get the tickets I want?
You may be able to source the tickets from the official online ticket exchange when it is set up later in the year. You can also legally apply for tickets available to the national Olympic committees from other EU countries, however they only have a very small allocation and will be hard to obtain.
Organisers will possibly conduct further ballots, or have tickets released through the ticket exchange as they finalise venue arrangements and unblock seats being held back because of possible sight-line issues.
But surely I can get tickets elsewhere?
Other options are to buy official packages through three companies. The lowest-priced option, and one targeted at UK families, is through short-break holiday packages, including guaranteed seats, on sale through Thomas Cook from £99 to £6,499.
Prestige Ticketing is offering packages of tickets combined with top class hospitality with prices around £500 a head to lesser sports, going up to £5,400 for the most popular sports. However many of these tickets have to be purchased in blocks of 10. Jet Set Sports is packaging ultra high-end deals for overseas market.
More ticketing information is available at www.thomascooksport.com/London-2012-Games and www.tickets.london2012.com
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