USSC Ticket Portal VS FIFA Direct?

Discussion in 'USA Men: World Cup Fans & Travel' started by Petworth Posse, Dec 11, 2013.

  1. Petworth Posse

    Feb 24, 2009
    Club:
    DC United
    Is anyone else confused by the two routes to apply for tickets? Anyone can apply directly through Fifa.com however it show availability for USA tix is not good. Also, you can pay the US Soccer Federation a membership fee and be entitled to apply for tickets throuh their portal (which had bugs until recently). This shows availability for US tickets at all levels, and also allows for conditional purchase of later round matches if the USA advances. All people in your party will need to pay the USSF fee.

    Questions:
    1) Can I apply through FIFA AND through USSC, thus at least doubling my chances of success?
    2) Does one path really have a better chance than the other?
    3) Why does USSF get to do this? It seems like FIFA would not approve.
    4) Does anyone else think it's unfair to have to pay USSF in the event you do have better chances through USSF than via FIFA direct?
    5) What happens if I do win both lotteries and have two sets of tix to the same match with my name on them?
     
  2. wixson7

    wixson7 Member+

    May 12, 2009
    boulder
    I'll take a stab at this... And these faqs answer some of your questions.. http://www.ussoccer.com/tournaments/fifa-world-cup/2014-fifa-world-cup/world-cup-tickets-faq.aspx

    1) technically yes, however you can only buy 4 tix per game and if you get selected for double that amount you risk both applications being canceled.

    2) the ussf path should be easier as i think that theyll fill the ussf tix first and then go to the open fifa site. The path is exponentially easier if you've been a paying ussf member since inception/2009. Membership has its privileges, as they say.

    3) this is all run thru fifa, it is fifas website (pmatickets.fifa.com). The national fed (ussf) is a member of fifa and rightfully so Fifa gives its member nations access to blocks of tickets. The way it should be.

    4) you dont have to pay anything to be a ussf member, click on that "join the club". The stripe level is free. You do have to be a member to access ussf's block, so just sign up for free and use that member ID. As you know, this is a business...charging for access to a product/service is the essence of commerce....

    5) youll want to sign up as someone else to avoid the duplication. Use a different name, credit card, address, etc. make up a different passport number as well. If not you could end up getting both cancelled, or even 2 sets of expensive tickets..


    Hope that helps. Good luck and will see you down there.
     
  3. canchon

    canchon Member

    Aug 22, 2008
    Brooklyn
    Club:
    Sao Paulo FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wixson, thanks for the clarifications.

    My understanding was that you can apply for up to seven games, so if you apply for five (3 US games plus 2 conditional) through the PMA you could still apply for 2 games in the regular lottery or not get the chance of both apps being thrown out?

    I'm just wondering if I run the risk of FIFA cancelling both apps even though I don't go over the 7 ticket limit.

    I'm a USSSC member since 09 so am counting on the fed for tix...and don't want a FIFA screw-up to shut me out.
     
  4. wixson7

    wixson7 Member+

    May 12, 2009
    boulder
    Yep, i think you are right. 4 tix per person per game. 7 games maximum. and they can't be on the same day. USSC since '09...you are a lock brother...a lock.
     
  5. Jimbo

    Jimbo Member

    Dec 17, 1999
    Washington, DC
    I've been a US Supporter's Club member since 2009 but I haven't seen anything that suggests that length of membership provides any higher likelihood of getting tickets through the USSF. The USSF says if the request for tickets exceeds available tickets they'll get back to us about the lottery but they haven't said anything about the criteria they will apply (other than to intimate that having a higher contribution won't provide any advantage over a lower contribution, which doesn't expressly say a paying customer won't have an advantage over a free membership customer).

    On what basis are people saying length of Supporter's Club membership trumps other applicants? In any event, if a long-standing supporter's club membership allows your application to be more heavily weighted it doesn't necessarily followed that it would guarantee tickets. The US plays in stadiums with relatively small capacities -- 42,000 to 44,000 seats. National federations get 8% of the seats. That's about 3,360 to about 3,520 USSF tickets. At an average of 4 tickets per applicant, that's only 840 to 880 applicants that would have their ticket orders filled. There's going to be way more interest in those seats than what the USSF is being allocated.
     
  6. silicus

    silicus Member

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Feb 26, 2008
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Why would you say the average of 4 tix per applicant per game? The max you can apply for is 4 tix and many will be doing less than 4, I know I'm doing just 1. So if I were to guess the avg. I'd say is more like 2.3, so that is more like 1400 applicants getting successful apps. Also many of those fans may pass on the game in Manaus due to the significant extra time/money cost just to get out to the Amazon, so that game may be easier. Also, many USA fans will fly in only for the Group Stage or for a portion of the World Cup and will only apply for a few of the 7 possibly matches, that brings down the demand as well. (I'm just trying to think positively so that I get tickets again. I was able to get all 7 tickets for the 2010 cup, but got refunded the 5th-7th games since we sadly ended our run in Rustenberg).
     
  7. wixson7

    wixson7 Member+

    May 12, 2009
    boulder
    Definitely average should be 2 tickets not 4, no?

    They haven't announced the criteria for allocating the tickets yet so its a lot of assumptions at the moment. We can only assume they wont just make it completely random, so that leads to the only known qualifier, and that is length of membership. No one is guaranteeing anything, only giving high level of confidence that 2009 members should be in a good spot.

    Also of note, 8% is the minimum, if the other feds don't use their full allocation then the US gets the remainder. So technically US can get between 8-16% of stadium capacity. Cant imagine ghana or portugal will max theirs out, maybe germany does but not sure.

    There cant be more than 1,500 or so original founding members paid since 2009, right?
     
  8. hala_m4drid

    hala_m4drid Member

    Jun 24, 2007
    Hilton Head, SC
    Is anyone else having trouble with requesting tickets through USSC? When I click the link under 'schedule' I'm getting a site exception (Error: Error occurred while loading a Visualforce page.Sorry for the inconvenience.). Am I going through the wrong portal?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  9. Gratefulphish41

    Jul 10, 2013
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I've been getting the same...
     
  10. silicus

    silicus Member

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Feb 26, 2008
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've had no issues since I setup an account shortly after the site was made available after the draw. Today had no issues.
     
  11. hala_m4drid

    hala_m4drid Member

    Jun 24, 2007
    Hilton Head, SC
    I don't see why this is so speculative. Is there really no way to tell whether or not we have a higher probability of getting U.S. tickets through the USSC relative to FIFA?
     
  12. Dwbakke

    Dwbakke Member

    Jun 10, 2004
    Arlington, VA
  13. bkn0528

    bkn0528 Member

    Aug 2, 2003
    nyc
    I applied for tickets for USA-Ghana via the regular Fifa random selection draw. Do I really risk Fifa cancelling my tickets if I apply via the PMA portal using the same names/passport numbers/credit cards? I thought they were separate. Anyway, having signed up for the US Soccer supporter's club at least a week ago, I am unable to create an account to try for PMA tickets. When I enter my information the website says 'user not recognized'. Anyone else having this problem?
     
  14. wixson7

    wixson7 Member+

    May 12, 2009
    boulder
    yep, i'm still having the same issues. can't get logged into PMA. Thank goodness it's not first come first serve.. :)

    emailing back and forth with ussoccer and they are resetting it. Whatever that means.

    Website won't let me reset password (says email can't be found)
    Website won't let me register (says user account already setup)

    fun fun.
     
  15. bkn0528

    bkn0528 Member

    Aug 2, 2003
    nyc
    I got it fixed by contacting Fifa. They emailed me asking me for my birthday (a little weird because I had already entered this) and then fixed it. I was surprised how quickly it got fixed (i.e. my email was answered in an hour or two and the whole thing was fixed in a couple of hours).

    edit: or maybe it was US Soccer that fixed it. I don't know. I used the button for 'contact' that was on the page where you are supposed to create an account.
     
  16. bkn0528

    bkn0528 Member

    Aug 2, 2003
    nyc
    does anyone know how many members there are in the US Soccer Supporters Club? Or how many members are likely to apply for PMA tickets for the USA in Brazil? I'm trying to decide whether I have a better chance to get Ghana tickets be applying through the regular Fifa random selection draw or through the USSSC PMA draw, since it seems like I can't do both.
     
  17. wixson7

    wixson7 Member+

    May 12, 2009
    boulder
    #17 wixson7, Dec 19, 2013
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2013
    As of last month there were 7,000 USSC members. Notes:
    - that was before the announcement of the 2014 membership campaign.
    - that was before the opening of the PMA portal.
    - that was after the large increase in enrollment earlier this summer for the US/Mexico ticket allocation.
     
    canchon and bkn0528 repped this.
  18. il_vecchio_signore

    il_vecchio_signore New Member

    Dec 20, 2013
    Club:
    --other--
    Has there been any word from US Soccer regarding the portion of the 8% to which the 3 or 4 planeloads of American Outlaws will be entitled to?
    I'm a pre-C-bus '13 USSOSC member but won't be too optimistic about my chances in any weighted lottery if half of the allotment is already accounted for by those traveling on the American Outlaws package.
     
  19. wixson7

    wixson7 Member+

    May 12, 2009
    boulder
    From what i'm hearing is that USSoccer and AO are working on that currently, it is based on negotiations by both parties....waiting to see who blinks first i guess.

    I think there are 350-500 AO package travellers. So thats approx 10% of the 8% allocation. ( if that makes sense).

    Maybe others have updated info?
     
  20. il_vecchio_signore

    il_vecchio_signore New Member

    Dec 20, 2013
    Club:
    --other--
    Those numbers are very reassuring. I was under the impression the Outlaws had a bunch of jumbo 747's full of members with guaranteed tickets :eek: Two members of my local chapter are on the package tour and even though they only signed up for the US Soccer membership last month (per instruction from US Soccer, according to them) they seem pretty confident their inclusion in the package will somehow guarantee them tickets.
     
  21. Real Corona

    Real Corona Member+

    Jan 19, 2008
    Colorado
    Club:
    FC Metalist Kharkiv
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    It's a fair assumption on their part since all of the past several AO away packages came with tickets. This one was not advertised as coming with a match ticket, so we can only hope they'll have to go through it with everybody else.
     
  22. Real Corona

    Real Corona Member+

    Jan 19, 2008
    Colorado
    Club:
    FC Metalist Kharkiv
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Many of whom were Mexican fans for what that's worth.
     
  23. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Has anyone done this recently? I joined the supporters' club. Does my wife also have to join in order for me to apply for two tickets, or can she join later? I also think, based on what I've read, that she can join at the free level, right? (I paid, not sure if I needed to, but I want the scarf anyway)
     
  24. bkn0528

    bkn0528 Member

    Aug 2, 2003
    nyc
    all your 'guests' must be members as well, so you should sign up your wife if you want two tickets. you can sign her up for the free membership if you wish.
     
    mundial repped this.

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