Ticketmaster was better than this crap. Rockets charge outrageous fees for tickets

it's overblown...i take my 3 year old son to Minute Maid all the time...i spend a good deal of time in the judicial district in the courthouses...i've never had a problem...i've never witnessed a problem. instead, i've parked for free at meters after 6p.m. and all day on weekends. houstonians who've attended astros games are quite used to it. my firm has season tickets to the astros and we wouldn't even consider paying for parking when it's so accessible and so cheap (sometimes free) just a couple of blocks away.

 

I went to the game last night and was able to park in the garage (sat in club level on my friend's tix). The garage was very, very conveinient, but there is a lot of parking around the building.

The one thing I noticed is that the numbers of vagrants around the Toyota Center was HUGE. Much more than walking to Minute Maid.

There was a whole park right across the street with DOZENS of homeless trying to get money off me...and we were DRIVING by....with one guy snorting up about 15 feet away when we drove by. This is about 25 feet away from the people with families going to the game. There were cops around, but not near as many as around the baseball stadium.

I would suggest a major increase in the amount of police around the arena...at least until folks get used to that part of town.

By the way...the arena was amazing. Tons of staff all over taking care of everything. (Need to get onions out by the relish for hot dogs, rather than having to ask for it...I like to load up).

Also...I hope that PA announcer is temporary for pre-season. He was HORRIBLE. He's some local DJ, right?

Another thing...the restaurant looking area...is that a ticket area, or do you just get reservations?

 

what is the best site to buy rockets game tickets? Plz help................

 

Sure, every other business in the world. Except for the other 28 NBA teams. And the 30 MLB teams. And the 32 NFL teams. And all the NHL teams. And pretty much every major concert venue in the country.

Yep, except for those, no business in the entertainment industry charges service fees for buying tickets on-line or over the phone.

You might be right; in the grand scheme, it may make more sense to roll the price of ticket systems into the price of the ticket. It'd certainly be a simpler system. Somehow, though, having a separate surcharge for the ticket systems has become a standard convention in the business. It might be fun to buck that trend sometime down the road -- food to think about after we finish the mission at hand, which is getting an arena launched and running at full efficiency.

Tim

 

I can understand companies that sports teams contract to sell their tickets (ticketmaster) charging surcharges as it is their way to make money for the service they provide. But as I understand it, the Rockets now own and control the ticket distribution chain. It just doesn't make sense to me to charge people extra money to buy the very product you are selling. It is like going to the store and Krogers charging you $5 just to checkout and buy their products.

but I appreciate the reply Tim, thanks

 

What I hate about the new system is the fact that when I asked for 2 tickets, it gave me 2 tickets alright- it just gave me 2 tickets in different rows. What the hell is that crap??? Ticketmaster knows that when you want to tickets that two tickets means two tickets together. I am sure my gf will appreciate sitting a few rows behind me.

They do give you a small message when you are buying the tickets that they are not next to one another but it does not stand out.

 

So basically, you can park at meters for free on the weekends, and on the weekdays after six PM?

 

Yes in Downtown all the metered parking is free after 6 PM and the weekends. But just get out early enough to find one and don't worry about parking a few blocks away the walk is not that bad. I do it all the times for Astros games.

 

Anyone know if the handling and convience fees have been reduced for tickets < $20, or when they will be? I checked yesterday, and they were still $7.50 in total.

As much as the "convience" fees suck, they are everywhere you buy tickets on-line. Maybe they should change the name from "convience" fees to "ticket surcharge". I think fans get pissed when they see they are paying for convience when the fan is doing all the work purchasing the tickets on-line.

Regarding parking, Compaq center was the only stadium where you didn't pay for parking (which has been said before). The streets down town are not that bad at all, it's easy to find a $5 lot if you can't find free meter parking.

 

man, i tell yall what. its great to be a rockets fan. even though i doubt ill get to go to a game, its good to see that somebody listens to whats going on on this board. thats top notch service right there. and yeah, online sur-charges might suck, but we can deal with it. its just a fact of life now. going to sporting events is super expensive, from the tickets, to the parking, to the food and drinks at the game. if the online charge is that big of a deal, see what costs more: the online charge or gas to get to and from the box office. whatever costs less, do that one. myself, i'll be enjoying the games from my couch, where the parking is free and the food is cheap.