26 Apr 2011

Deadline looms for London 2012 Olympic tickets

Olympic organisers say the 2012 ticket website is experiencing a last-minute surge just hours before the window for applications closes.

Prices range from £20 to £2,012 for a seat at the opening ceremony and up to £725 for the showpiece 100m sprint event

The London 2012 website is experiencing a last-minute surge as the final deadline for Olympic ticket applications approaches.

The six-week window to apply for the 6.6 million public tickets closes at 11.59pm on Tuesday. The organisers say entering the ballot for a ticket is the best chance of getting a seat at the sporting event at your choice.

More than 2.5 million people had already signed up to the official ticket sales website http://www.tickets.london2012.com before sales began on March 15.

But there is no advantage to having submitted your application on the first day or the last day. For sessions where demand for tickets exceeds supply, the organisers will use an automated random selection process to allocate tickets.

There are 650 sessions across 26 sports and 17 days. People will be limited to a maximum of 20 events each, falling to four tickets per person for the most popular events including the men’s 100 metres final.

Prices range from £20 to £2,012 for a seat at the opening ceremony and up to £725 for the showpiece 100m sprint event.

Online applications are open to UK residents or people from 30 designated European countries with a Visa card and an email address.

London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton said applications had “hit the roof” this week, but the Games website has so far been working without any technical hitches, as Channel 4 News confirmed when we made a test purchase.

There was embarrassment for London 2012 last month when the clock installed in Trafalgar Square to count down to the start of the Games stopped after just one day. And some customers were baffled when they found that their online applications for tickets had failed because VISA cards due to expire before August were rejected.

Mr Deighton said: “The system has actually worked faultlessly and with a process of this scale and complexity that is extraordinary.

“Applications have been steady but at a high level, which is in line with operational expectations – but this week it has hit the roof.

“Every day we have got a massive number of orders, which is not surprising, because people have taken on board that it’s not a first-come, first-served system. They have sat down with their families to decide what they want.

“Since last Friday, we have seen a high level go to a really high level. Every day is different, but also in the last week we have been getting three or four times the applications above and beyond what was coming in for the previous five weeks – and the sky’s the limit based on the pattern that I am seeing at the moment.”

Payment will be taken between 10 May and 10 June 2011. But fans will have to wait until June 24 to find out whether or not they have secured tickets.

The online application period is not the last opportunity to get tickets – any that remain unsold will become available for sale online and by phone later this year on a first come, first served basis.

But Mr Deighton said the early application process was “the best chance probably by a long, long way to get the tickets that you actually want”.

He added: “There will be a number of tickets left over. It was always the plan.

“If you are clear about what kind of tickets you desire, apply for them now. You will only regret it if you do not get around to it, and it will be much more difficult if you leave it.”

London 2012 needs to get 25 per cent of its revenue from ticket sales – part of the £2 billion it needs to raise from the private sector to stage the Games.

Applications for Paralympic Games tickets open on September 9.

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