If anyone gets in the queue...

[Norrette]

can they post here - I still get the busy page

[jbareham]

Just got in at position 3400!

[Norrette]

Now in a couple of hundred behind you. A slight improvement - but who got the first 2500 at 9 on the dot I wonder?

[Stephen Smith]

Got in about 2 mins ago** -2037 in the queue. Now 1775.
I'm not IT skilled, but instead of refreshing on the page with "busy" in the web page address, I am cut and pasted the "www.Royal.....com" address into a new tab of the browser each time I tried (I tried repeatedly. I did this because I didn't want my browser, Chrome, to go to the same "busy" page whatever was going on on the main page of the RaH.
Best of luck. If there is a time limit to complete - make sure you get on with paying etc (if the R Opera booking site is experience to go by, that is a point where crashes can also occur - a quick in and out is recommended.

[jbareham]

Pretty much the same as last year, should get to buy tickets around 10.15. Wonder if it would be better if they did the bookings for concerts such as Paloma Faith on a different date?

[Norrette]

I remember doing it on paper and the note that if you booked more than 1 ticket at price 'A' you got priority. I wonder if I get any of my planner proms tickets this year.

[Dave2002]

I noticed the behaviour on the RAH site at almost exactly 9am by accident. We were poised ready to activate Proms planners etc., but I was listening to Beethoven Violin concerto before 9am. Around 8.55am I thought to check whether anyone is playing that at the 2014 Proms, so did a few web searches to find out. At almost exactly 9am I noticed that the site was redirecting to the Waiting Room - I think it fills up almost instantaneously. The site becomes just about unusable for any purpose after that, though I think we've got another browser window open which is in the queue.

One of our lines tends to drop out quite frequently, so that would be a complete waste of time for this exercise.

[Stephen Smith]

Remember to check the Terms & C box on the payment page (or card details go blank).

The seat plan pop up is useless. This one is better:-

http://www.royalalberthall.com/visit/seating-plan/default.aspx

Open it up on a further tab once you are in (Now I am out, I am getting a website busy page).

Got seats in the stalls near the stage, even for the BPO St Matthew (although for that one, on the less prefered Violin section side. Far less hassle to my blood pressure than R Opera H booking though).

[jbareham]

Got all my tickets and reasonable seats as well. Another year negotiated!

[Norrette]

Last year I waited 3 hours and could get only 1 prom out of 5. This year just over an hour to get all 4 proms and seats in the magic H & M areas - result!

[PhilipT]

My experience was similar to jbareham's. I got in at position 4396 or so at 9:17, and had to wait just over an hour. When I logged out and refreshed the queue length was nearer 6900.

[Dave2002]

This is just absolutely ruining our morning.

1. Use a laptop, but the battery settings kick in, so lose place in queue - down around 2000.

2. Put on power, set up so that won't turn off - still lose place in queue - down around 2000 - now back to 4843 - after reaching the 3000s.

3. Seems you have to actually sit there, watching the **** thing, and keep touching the trackpad or mouse so it doesn't think you've gone away. What a **** waste of time.

4. Also, if you have a dubious internet connection, the techhnology can just drop you, and leave you -2000 in the queue.

5. If you have a choice of providers, make sure that the links are set permanently to the most likely to be reliable one.

6. If you are a Windows user turn off any auto updating!

I think the people who design systems like this - as per the 2012 Olympics, should be dealt with ....

[Nick Armstrong]

Remember Dave - the idea is fine, it's just the implementation!

[amateur51]

This is just absolutely ruining our morning.

1. Use a laptop, but the battery settings kick in, so lose place in queue - down around 2000.

2. Put on power, set up so that won't turn off - still lose place in queue - down around 2000 - now back to 4843 - after reaching the 3000s.

3. Seems you have to actually sit there, watching the **** thing, and keep touching the trackpad or mouse so it doesn't think you've gone away. What a **** waste of time.

4. Also, if you have a dubious internet connection, the techhnology can just drop you, and leave you -2000 in the queue.

5. If you have a choice of providers, make sure that the links are set permanently to the most likely to be reliable one.

6. If you are a Windows user turn off any auto updating!

I think the people who design systems like this - as per the 2012 Olympics, should be dealt with ....

Sounds like this booking arrangement isn't your thing, Dave2002.

Why not order a case or two of summery wines and listen to the concerts from the comfort of your own home?

Alternatively, write down what worked for you in any given year, and next year review it and then devote the entire day the following year to doing the booking.

There are over 50 other Saturday mornings in the year that don't get wasted in this way.

[Ferretfancy]

I was relieved that Season Ticket applications were hived off separately this year, but this should have made the process easier for individual bookings, and it appears to be just as bad. I took the precaution this year of checking my credit card verification details in advance, as I've come unstuck on that one before.