Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Tickets for April, May games on sale Saturday, Dec. 12th

Once again, the Red Sox are putting tickets on sale for select April and May games this Saturday, December 12th at 10 a.m. The tickets will be made available online at redsox.com or by calling their automated phone ticketing system at 888-REDSOX6. Simultaneously, lucky fans who were selected through an online lottery will be able to purchase tickets in person at Fenway Park during their 7th annual "Christmas at Fenway" event.

The tickets being put on sale are the following: 6 series in April and May against the Rays, Rangers, Orioles, Angels, Blue Jays, and Twins, with the Rays (April 16-18) and the Orioles (April 23-25) series being the only weekend games available. In addition, Sox Pax will be available. Sox Pax are 4-game ticket packages which allow you to buy up to 4 tickets for each game (16 total tickets). These are highly sought-after as 7 of the 10 Sox Pax offerings include a game against the Yankees, and the other 3 Sox Pax include only weekend games. The games in the Sox Pax are scattered throughout the season (not just April and May). For specific information about Sox Pax, go to this page on the Red Sox Web site.

Getting tickets during a general Red Sox onsale date is notoriously hard, whether it be this Saturday or the last Saturday in January, when tickets for June through September games go on sale. You are battling the hundreds of thousands of Red Sox fans in New England and across the country, as well as many ticket resellers who attack the ticketing system from as many angles as possible.

Your strategy for getting tickets: There are basically two things you can do.

1) Go to redsox.com a few minutes before 10 a.m. and click on the order tickets button until it says you are in the Virtual Waiting Room. From there it is a waiting game. The page will refresh every 30 seconds, so you will know you are still in the waiting room. You may be in the waiting room for up to 12 hours before you are offered the chance to buy tickets. Sadly, if you have to wait that long, there is likely to only be scattered single tickets available. You don't have to sit by your computer when you are in the waiting room. You can move around the house and check back every 10 minutes or so. (In the first hour you should check more frequently in case you are lucky enough to be offered tickets). To increase your chances of getting out of the waiting room faster and being offered tickets, set up as many computers as you have in the house side by side so you can monitor them.

2) In addition to having your Web browser open and being in the Virtual Waiting Room, you should try to get through to the telephone automated ticketing system. The number to call is 888-RED-SOX6 (888-733-7696). This requires much more patience and perseverance than the online system, due to the constant redialing. Most people can only bear that redialing for 20 to 30 minutes before they give up. If you are going to call the phone system, you should do it in the morning, so at least if you get through you will get pretty good tickets. To alleviate the boredom of redialing you can watch a movie to pass the time.

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