"Flex" vs "Reserved" Birdland Memberships -- your opinions?

[AdamK]

26 minutes ago, foxfield said:

...
Here is the flyer that came with my package.

Thanks for figuring out how to post it @foxfield! This is super helpful.

 

[MurphDogg]

I like the reserve because I like my seats (2 in the front row of the upper deck directly behind the plate).

I have a 29-game plan and was happy to see that I had my seats for every playoff game and I could get more in a the presale. 

I have long treated my plan as flex anyway, trading on a dollar for dollar basis sitting all over the park for giveaway games and whatever other games I want to go to, but it is nice to have seats where I like them as a fallback.

My tickets also include the 30 percent discount and my two tickets were far less than the $5,000 flex equivalent ($1,685)

Edited September 14, 2023 by MurphDogg

[AdamK]

6 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

I like the reserve because I like my seats (2 in the front row of the upper deck directly behind the plate).

I have a 29-game plan and was happy to see that I had my seats for every playoff game and I could get more in a the presale. 

I have long treated my plan as flex anyway, trading on a dollar for dollar basis sitting all over the park for giveaway games and whatever other games I want to go to, but it is nice to have seats where I like them as a fallback.

My tickets also include the 30 percent discount and my two tickets were far less than the $5,000 flex equivalent ($1,685)

Those are great seats. Front row... king of the world.

Can you tell me more about the "...my two tickets were far less than the $5,000 flex equivalent ($1,685)" part? I don't follow but I feel like this is the kind of calculus someone (read: me) not savvy to multi-level offerings might fall victim to. 

[MurphDogg]

7 minutes ago, AdamK said:

Those are great seats. Front row... king of the world.

Can you tell me more about the "...my two tickets were far less than the $5,000 flex equivalent ($1,685)" part? I don't follow but I feel like this is the kind of calculus someone (read: me) not savvy to multi-level offerings might fall victim to. 

That is how much my 29-game plan cost for 2 tickets ($1,685). I ended up spending more money for additional tickets this year, but I always viewed that amount as my minimum commitment to the Orioles with the knowledge that if they were good, I would go to additional games at the STH price.

When I bring my kids I get seats in the front row of the club level so they don't kick anybody's seats and we have the luxury of a climate controlled concourse in case of meltdowns or lousy weather. Also the Bird always walks through the club level a couple times a game, so easier to catch him than anywhere other than behind the O's dugout.

I will end up going to 45-ish games this year because I also bought the monthly pass for August and September (I walk over when the baby goes to sleep).

[AdamK]

13 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

That is how much my 29-game plan cost for 2 tickets ($1,685). I ended up spending more money for additional tickets this year, but I always viewed that amount as my minimum commitment to the Orioles with the knowledge that if they were good, I would go to additional games at the STH price.

When I bring my kids I get seats in the front row of the club level so they don't kick anybody's seats and we have the luxury of a climate controlled concourse in case of meltdowns or lousy weather. Also the Bird always walks through the club level a couple times a game, so easier to catch him than anywhere other than behind the O's dugout.

I will end up going to 45-ish games this year because I also bought the monthly pass for August and September (I walk over when the baby goes to sleep).

Thanks @MurphDogg. I follow you now. Two front row, homeplate (even in upper deck) for 29 games feels like great value again. Nice job.

In the scenario where you move to club level, are you trading your 2 tix in and paying the difference at the discounted rate?

 

[MurphDogg]

3 minutes ago, AdamK said:

Thanks @MurphDogg. I follow you now. Two front row, homeplate (even in upper deck) for 29 games feels like great value again. Nice job.

In the scenario where you move to club level, are you trading your 2 tix in and paying the difference at the discounted rate?

 

Yep, or trading in more than two tickets.

29-game plan holders also have a dedicated account rep which is nice.

My advice is, if you can afford a 29-game plan in a section that you could tolerate sitting in, at least occasionally, you should get that. 

If you only like really expensive seats that you couldn't afford a 29-game plan for, then go with the flex plan.

[CynBeth]

2 hours ago, AdamK said:

Appreciate it @CynBeth. Can you tell me more about the trading in process? Is it basically a financial equivalent you receive of the 2 tickets you can use towards how ever many else you need?

 

Basically if you trade in tickets for example let’s say the game you can’t use is a non prime game or whatever it is called and the game you want is prime you have to pay the difference or if reverse you get a credit. I am bad when it comes to technology and it was a while ago but if I remember correctly when trading a few games in and then selecting the few Sundays we had the option to add a 3rd ticket and I think we had to pay a little extra as well. 

[Aglets]

This actually sounds pretty intriguing to me.   

Do I dare put down a deposit for 2024 knowing the Orioles don't officially have a home ballpark to play in right now?   lol

Trying to imagine how that conversation might go........

[ThomasTomasz]

16 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

That is how much my 29-game plan cost for 2 tickets ($1,685). I ended up spending more money for additional tickets this year, but I always viewed that amount as my minimum commitment to the Orioles with the knowledge that if they were good, I would go to additional games at the STH price.

When I bring my kids I get seats in the front row of the club level so they don't kick anybody's seats and we have the luxury of a climate controlled concourse in case of meltdowns or lousy weather. Also the Bird always walks through the club level a couple times a game, so easier to catch him than anywhere other than behind the O's dugout.

I will end up going to 45-ish games this year because I also bought the monthly pass for August and September (I walk over when the baby goes to sleep).

I am thinking i might go back to this, and essentially just trade everything in for credit and go to games I want to attend in the seats I like.  I used to go to 35-40, and I just can’t anymore.  

Curious as to what you think about the lack of rewards/incentives now for membership compared to what we had 10 years ago though.  That is what really got to me, and even has me considering dropping what I already have.  

[AdamK]

5 minutes ago, ThomasTomasz said:

...Curious as to what you think about the lack of rewards/incentives now for membership compared to what we had 10 years ago though.  That is what really got to me, and even has me considering dropping what I already have.  

What do you have right now that you aren't happy with?

[ThomasTomasz]

8 minutes ago, AdamK said:

What do you have right now that you aren't happy with?

Specifically, I’d have to say early access and the season-ticket appreciation event are top of my list.  Also definitely missed club level access before the game, but that has returned this year.  Also, I had my playoff tickets in hand both in 2014 and 2016 before the calendar flipped to September.  

Maybe I am mis-remembering, but the only thing different is the Orioles rewards program?  Always a possibility I am missing something.  

[ThomasTomasz]

They also used to do the social media appreciation event, and other things were you could get earlier access and exclusive time with Orioles players/media personalities, and they cut those out too.  While not STH specific, I always had fun at those.  I still have my O’Day and Davis O-moji shirts.  I think they did one with Beckham too.  

[beantownrefugee]

I've stuck with the Reserved over the last decade for a few reasons:

- Less money upfront

-  This season, there were seats available to almost any game.  So trading in / exchanging tickets is feasible.  And thus it really is a "flex" plan while minimizing the deposit outlay.  So I used my account balance as a gift card, equal to the value of my deposit.  What I did was, before the season started and the games assigned to me were identified, I exchanged all of them for games in September or as late in the season as possible.  Thus I didn't have to worry about an unused ticket.  When I wanted to go to a game as the season went along, I then exchanged one of those "September" tickets dollar for dollar.  I had to add whatever the delta was in additional cash (e.g., say the "September" tickets I'm exchanging were worth $100, and the tickets for the game were $104.  I paid the extra $4).  Keep in mind, this approach completely depends on tickets being available for any game.  If the Orioles make the World Series, that may not be the case next year, due to people signing up for 2024 in order to buy 2023 WS.

-  I still get the concessions / merch discount

- I still get the member discount on additional tickets

The drawbacks:

- the ticket site is only set up to exchange tickets for one game at a time.  So if I wanted to couple, say, "Sept 20" and "Sept 23" tickets to maximize my dollar amount exchanged, I had to phone the Orioles.  Not a big deal.  But I cannot do that after hours or on the weekend, so some planning ahead is required.  Can't decide on Friday at 8 pm that I wanted to do the exchange for the following day's game.

- Because I wanted to minimize my outlay upfront, I bought just one ticket for upper reserved at the Orange level (13 games).  Which was the absolute lowest deposit required.  So for the playoff pre-sale, I am allowed to purchase just one ticket.  What can I say -- I didn't have faith the Orioles would get to the ALDS before the season started.  Oops.  So if you want to ensure you have a certain number of tickets to a playoff game, buy as many season tickets.