11 Comments

Overseas fans complain about the pricing of tickets

Overseas Hammers fans have been forced to pay up to £199 per person to attend West Ham games through an official partner of the club. Fans from outside the U.K say their options of buying West Ham tickets for the London Stadium is limited if they want to purchase in advance so are often forced to buy tickets from Thomas Cook Sport.

Tickets for the Manchester United in February are £199 per person including a hotel and the Manchester City game in April is also priced at £199 per person. Thomas Cook became the official match breaks supplier of West Ham in 2016

“It’s fantastic that our fans from all over the world will have the opportunity to experience the club,” said West Ham vice chairman Karren Brady in 2016 when the partnership was announced. “Expertly organised by Thomas Cook Sport, fans can sample the famous West Ham United atmosphere in our iconic new home.” added Brady

A couple originally from the East End now living in Australia contacted Claret and Hugh to complain about the high prices charged by Thomas Cook for West Ham tickets. “We just want to watch West Ham when we visit the U.K  but we can’t afford the prices charged and we don’t need a hotel”

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

11 comments on “Overseas fans complain about the pricing of tickets

  1. Dear Sean,

    Please let me know when an overseas fan wants a ticket because I and my friends usually have a ticket or two available, can’t guarantee but if I have their contact details I can let them know if one or two are available.

  2. seriously? A hotel in London costs £150 on average plus ticket, that aint a bad deal. There are a lot of people in London who want to see WestHam.

    Also tell me one thing why can’t season ticket holder not buy additional tickets? Last few games there were so many empty seats but I could not buy any extra tickets. Everyone looses, the supporter who can’t sell and another supporter who can’t buy.

    • Every game is sold officially, overseas fans want to buy tickets in advance and not take the chance of buying one on ticket exchange at the last minute. Others stay with relatives and do not want hotels. With 52,000 season ticket holders and 3,000 away fans only 2,000 tickets are available for each PL game which go to Claret Members ina ballet. Again these are only 6 weeks before the game.

      Thomas Cook get special access to ticket to sell packages months in advance which others know get access to. Overseas fans just want to get the opportunity to get the same access to tickets in advance

  3. Hotels in Stratford are usually £100 or under such Holiday Inn Express or Travel Lodge sometimes as cheap as £50 depending on the dates

  4. There is no issue here. Either way what they advertise for a package or organise what you need yourself individually. TWITTER is FULL of great west ham fans willing to lend a ticket out for FV.

  5. £200 to get to a game is outrageous. Many overseas fans come from the area and have relatives close by. They don’t need a hotel room and shouldn’t be forced into buying one. What they need is to be able to buy a ticket well in advance so that they can buy reasonably priced air tickets to get here without the risk of wasting a trip when they don’t get a ticket.

    It’s not rocket science, if the club really cares about its fans it shouldn’t be too difficult to make some tickets available in advance. It’s situations like this where the club can and should demonstrate that it cares for its fans. I know quite a few fans overseas who like to come to one or a few games per season and most of them are former season ticket holders. Even foreign fans these days don’t need overpriced packages, they are quite capable of shopping around for hotels in their price range without the likes of Thomas Cook taking a cut.

    Gold and Sullivan, do you really care about these fans? Do you remember our working class heritage? Show it, life is about more than making every last penny that can be wrung out of every situation.

  6. Thomas Cook also do package holidays – I wouldn’t dream of telling them that I only want the flight and not the hotel. Some fan sites allow you to ask for and to sell tickets to fellow fans as long as they are club price. I’ve just been on http://www.ticketbis.net and there are hundreds of tickets for the Burnley game. No sympathy from me. Christ, some people blame the club for everything. Get off your backside and search for a ticket if you’re that much of a fan.

  7. If you where in london you would use the internet
    in tim buck two or north Boneo its the same two hundred quid is cheap
    if you realy want your wallet pulled through your plums look for mank tickets
    on stub hub or seat wave

  8. I tried to buy my mate two tickets against Man U for his birthday, £190 each and no hotel!

  9. As an overseas fan i call this bs. Tickets are not a problem, in reality you can always get one, especially for homegames. Theres plenty on ticket trader if you care to check the ticketing website.
    Tickets are usually the easiest and cheapest part.

    As is hotel. Last new year 2 adults, and 2 U16, 3 nights, family room at Premier Inn Stratford £280.

    Worst thing, and the REAL problem for overseas fans is Sky/Cups moving the fixtures, so that you cant buy flights in advance. Or you can, but you risk missing the game. Because it was moved 3 weeks before, like Tottenham game on new year.

  10. Tickets! Hotel! I can’t even afford to get to my major rail station or airport lol

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