Last week, Cardiff University’s Students’ Union imposed a new system requiring students to buy timed entry tickets in an attempt to mitigate long queues for their weekly Wednesday student night, YOLO. However, despite good intentions, the first use of the system did not go as planned on the Monday, with technical issues leaving many students unable to access tickets.
Following criticism from students regarding the original plan to charge £2 per time slot, the Union U-turned the charge by the time the first tickets went on sale at 4 PM on Monday, 5th October.
The Y Plas Instagram page stated that students must arrive within their chosen time slot. Students who fail to obtain a timed entry ticket are required to join the queue as normal from 9:30 PM onwards, at which point they will be granted entry based on the capacity inside the SU. Students who wish to enter from 10 PM onwards will be charged an entry fee. The amount has not been disclosed on Y Plas’ Instagram page, but in previous years, entry after 10 PM has cost £8 per person.
The system of obtaining a ticket, unfortunately, proved to be less than straightforward for many. A waiting room was operated for students to be entered at random into a virtual queue, after which they would be redirected to sales on the Ticketmaster site.
However, the system of allocating students a slot in the virtual queue at random meant that students who entered the waiting room first were not guaranteed tickets over someone who may have entered two minutes before ticket sales began.
One Cardiff University student stated that they entered the queue at 3:10 PM, 50 minutes before ticket sales started, only to be placed at the back of the queue which meant that the tickets were sold out before they reached the front.
Others claimed that the links provided on the Y Plas Instagram stories did not work, with Ticketmaster showing a screen telling students that the “event was over” while tickets were still on sale and providing no way to buy tickets.
The statement suggests that this is a “three-week trial during one of YOLO’s busiest periods”, and that the new policy will be reviewed after each event. Societies that have arranged sponsored social bookings with YOLO entry will be exempt from this policy.
One anonymous student stated to Gair Rhydd that they felt the new system was “jeopardising potential new members joining [their] society”, and voiced concerns that the changes could pose risks to freshers’ safety, as they may be separated from friends or older students within their society.
Many people on Y Plas’ Instagram account also reacted to the initial announcement with similar concerns that many societies who usually attend together will be split up, leaving freshers who are less experienced with student nights to navigate the queueing system alone or wait inside the venue alone. The statement added that the recommendation for students facing this situation is to “coordinate your booking [with friends] so you choose the same arrival slot, subject to availability” or “alternatively, set a meeting point in Y Plas and reunite after phased entry”.
However, with tickets selling out just 20 minutes after sales began, and technical difficulties rendering some unable to access tickets, it is likely that many students will be forced to choose the second option. This new system may also be driving business away from the SU, as one fresher told Gair Rhydd that they and their friends found the new system “overwhelming” and had therefore chosen not to go to YOLO and to go out in Cardiff city centre instead.
The Students’ Union also appear to be placing heavy sanctions on individuals found to be reselling entry-slot tickets, with Y Plas stating that “if you attempt to resell your ticket for a profit, your ticket will be cancelled and any future access to tickets removed”, claiming they have “already cancelled tickets of some identified ticket scalpers”. Students are also warned “do not purchase scalped tickets from resellers”, suggesting that students who missed out on tickets who attempt to buy them second-hand may also be punished.
Meanwhile, the Students’ Union President, Joshua Tandy, claimed in a post on the Facebook group ‘Overheard’ that SU sabbatical officers are “not in charge of SU operations”, seemingly suggesting he and other VPs had limited influence in the decision to begin ticketed time-slot entry to YOLO. While Y Plas maintains that safety is “always [their] number one priority” and was the main motivator behind these changes, questions continue to be raised.
Will this system solve the ageold queueing crisis, or could it risk isolating Cardiff University students from their official SU club night and jeopardise the safety of students by forcing individuals to become separated from their societies, clubs, and friends?