2012 San Jose Seat Assignments

[waxel1]

Has anyone been called yet? An email I received yesterday states Mike will start calling soon "in the order deposits were received". I think my deposit was #50 (or was that #15?), anyhow I'm still waiting by the phone .

[MacMadame]

Deposit were $50. Now we have to pay 50% of the remainder to really get the seat.

Crap. I just realized that because I left my phone at home, I might miss my call!

So does anyone have any opinions on where the best seats are and what I should request?

[MacMadame]

I just got my call!

I was able to get front row seats in section 116. It's across from the judges on the Kiss 'n Cry side. (I like to be able to see the skaters waiting and reacting to their marks.) I have two packages so if no one in my family or among my friends are interested in attending, I may be selling the second seat.

[euterpe]

I got the email but no call yet. I'm so afraid I'll be out when they call!

[chipso1]

Does anyone know how many the arena seats for a skating event? I'm contemplating going, but should I send in a reservation form now or just wait until tickets go on sale?

[sk9tingfan]

I just got my call!

I was able to get front row seats in section 116. It's across from the judges on the Kiss 'n Cry side..

I'm either in section 114 or 116 in the front row as well. My friend couldn't remember which.

[IceAlisa]

Sittin' by the phone, drummin' my fingernails...

[AxelAnnie]

Who did you call? Where did you give money?
HELP!

[waxel1]

Oh, MacMadame, I'm so envious. What a perfect location! I need 8 seats, but still no call.

Please, contact me if you ever need to sell that extra one. I know several people who'd be very interested .

[LadyNit]

I am beyond irritated. I was at work when Mike called. gaaaaah. Why are they doing this 2 days before Christmas? How could anyone think this was a good idea or a fair way to treat the people who were first to put down their money? People are working. People are frantically shopping. Or packing for travel. Or cleaning and getting in groceries for house guests. Or hosting or attending a party. Or whatever.

Of course Mike left a message. He'll call me back on Tuesday. Great. I'll be flying home from Christmas with family that day. So I'm screwed again.

[BittyBug]

LadyNit - Does your land line have a call forwarding feature that you could use to forward the call to your cell phone? If it doesn't, is it a feature you could add for just this month? Or perhaps you could change your message on that day to be expressly for Mike, "If you're Mike calling about Nat'ls tix, please reserve me seats in [describe your preference] and call me back tomorrow for my credit card."

[acraven]

I'm also in the front row of Section 116; we can have an FSU party! Top price, incidentally, is $649.

I missed Mike's initial call late on Wednesday. He called back at about 10:30 AM California time (1:30 PM my time) on Thursday. At that point he had seats available in Row 4 of the center section (115) across from the judges--which may be the first row being sold in that section, because there's an ice-level camera blocking some seats there and part of the central section is sometimes held for official use. Because of the camera, I decided to go with the front row in one of the neighboring sections, where I think the camera won't block too much of my view. (If you sit a good bit higher up, the camera is less significant, no matter whether you're behind it or off to the side.)

Mike mentioned that there's an aisle running down the middle of Section 114; I don't think the same is true of Section 116. Aisle-seat lovers, take note.

I agree that the timing of the seat-selection process is unfortunate, but for most Nationals we have had no opportunity to select anything other than the price category of our seats, and I'm relieved that at least this is not happening during Greensboro Nationals.

[TanithandBenFan]

For those who've spoken to Mike, do you know around which sections the Kiss & Cry will be located? I'm hoping (and expecting) he'll have a booth in Greensboro where I can buy tickets. I didn't put down the $50 deposit. Has anyone inquired about hotels? I called their information line last month and the person I talked to (it may have been Mike) had no time frame for when hotel information would be released. I'm used to making my reservations over a year in advance for Nats.

[acraven]

For those who've spoken to Mike, do you know around which sections the Kiss & Cry will be located? ... Has anyone inquired about hotels?

The initial email from Mike Nieves included an arena seating diagram modified to show price ranges, the Kiss & Cry, etc. I hope this works for everyone. The earthlink URL is related to my ISP, I assume.

http://webmail.earthlink.net/wam/Msg...BOX&x=49866216

If the link doesn't work for others, someone with the ability to post the diagram in an accessible place can PM me with an email address, and I'll forward Mike's email with the attachment. I'll be away from my computer from shortly after noon till about 8 or 9 PM EST, though.

The Kiss and Cry is in front of Section 123. The skater entry area is between the Kiss & Cry and Section 121; there is no Section 122. Those areas are more or less in the middle of the end zone. There are no top-price seats shown in Sections 123-127. I don't know whether there are just railings (vs. a solid wall) between the K&C area and the lower-row mid-priced seats in Section 123. Similarly, some of the seats in Section 121 might have a good view of the skater entry area, but not if there's a solid wall there, obviously. It appears from the diagram that seats in Section 116 would have a clear view of the entry area and the K&C (across the corner of the rink).

I haven't heard anything about hotels yet. I think it's pretty common for the hotel info to become available only 10-12 months before the event, though some LOCs have been set up to take reservations a bit earlier.

I overlooked a message Mike sent earlier this week, presumably to all those who had made ticket deposits. It provides a bit more info about the timing of the seat-selection phone calls: "Just to clarify, the seat selection process will most likely be a 2-3 week process since calls will be made Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm west coast time and the Holiday schedule will be taken into consideration. So if you placed your deposit early (late 2009, early 2010) you will most likely get the call within the next 1-2 weeks. If you placed your deposit later (mid 2010-present), you will most likely be called in 2-3 weeks."

The laws of the universe being what they are, I bet those calls will take longer than anticipated.

[MacMadame]

I'm also in the front row of Section 116; we can have an FSU party!

Squee!! I was thinking of you when I picked front row seats because I know you always get them.

Of course Mike left a message. He'll call me back on Tuesday. Great. I'll be flying home from Christmas with family that day. So I'm screwed again.

According to the mass email sent out, if you miss the second call, you can call them back and not wait for a third one. There is also an email address for Mike. My suggestion is to email him with a time and number he should call you.

When I got the first email, I have to admit my reaction was:

But I have to say that from all the Nationals and Worlds in the US that I have ordered tickets from where I got my order form faxed in the morning of the day they went on sale, I have NEVER gotten front row seats before. I think that's because they use a formula to automatically assign them and that formula doesn't have the same seat picking values I do.

[acraven]

But I have to say that from all the Nationals and Worlds in the US that I have ordered tickets from where I got my order form faxed in the morning of the day they went on sale, I have NEVER gotten front row seats before. I think that's because they use a formula to automatically assign them and that formula doesn't have the same seat picking values I do.

Yes, I have often suspected that they filling up all the top-priced seats in the most central section and only then move to the next-most-central section, etc. Or else they dole out seats in Row 1 all the way around the rink, including the end zones, and then move up to Row 2. And handling of the tour-group blocks varies from year to year; sometimes they seem to get the prime seats, but not always.

Front row is great, especially if you're a photographer, but for me it's more important to be reasonably near the center of the rink rather than down toward the end. I once ended up in the front row of the end zone and had to arrange a swap to a higher row near the middle once I got to the event. I simply cannot see from one end of the rink to the other.

I love being able to pick what's best for me out of the seats available at the time, but it's a very time-consuming process for the venue. On the other hand, they only have to do it once for however many sessions the all-event ticket covers, so I don't think it's unreasonable for us fans to expect that this process be used at future Nationals. (USFS, please note.)

[ebayj]

Does anyone know how many the arena seats for a skating event? I'm contemplating going, but should I send in a reservation form now or just wait until tickets go on sale?

Compaq seats up to 19,000, but I suspect the available sales seating will be much less than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Center_at_San_Jose

[TanithandBenFan]

Here's the link to the seating chart.

Usually the VIP-level price is only for the first five rows or so, but they've extended it up quite a few rows here. Over $600 is pretty steep for a fifteenth row seat in Secs 114-116. And over $100 for an exhibition ticket for those same seats.

[MacMadame]

And over $100 for an exhibition ticket for those same seats.

Yeah, that got to me.

I love being able to pick what's best for me out of the seats available at the time, but it's a very time-consuming process for the venue.

Yes, I was quite shocked that they are doing it this way. I wonder if it will turn out to be so much work that they never do it again?

[Carolla5501]

Another sign of the 'caring manner' that nationals are done with....

Doesn't make me sorry I didn't bother to do this "downpayment"