Farce-track

[TheMan]

I stated my moral preference about 4 or 5 times which is not to have FT, I was just pointing out the market (the consumer) bizarrely demand such options and theme parks are not going to lead a social revolution (well maybe the macks )

I think I more meant that they aren't really comparable bar for banks, and even those often have a separate service completely. It's almost like paying to visit a far quieter theme park, rather than queue jumping.

Healthcare, provided by private - not jumping NHS queue. Banking, separate call centre, First Class, different flight experience (still arrives at the same time) - M6, completely different route that arguably in a business sense actually saves companies money. Also, people paying to use the M6 toll actually REDUCES the queues on the normal M6, so therefore is beneficial to people who use the normal motorway.

Usually, a completely separate service is offered for a premium - not simply skipping of a queue. Possibly the personal shopper thing - but then that is going to the shops, rather than something far more rare.

Take the Champagne Bar in a place I used to work. It had someone there to work in it specifically, and the area was cordoned off, only for those who wanted champagne. It didn't affect the rest of the customers who wanted a beer. It was a separate service. Many times, premium experiences are paid for almost like a separate business model, with a separate product entirely - not coming at the expense of normal customers, which is what Fast Track does.

I am sure there are good examples else where, but generally, I don't think any have been provided so far.

 

[Dave]

I stated my moral preference about 4 or 5 times which is not to have FT, I was just pointing out the market (the consumer) bizarrely demand such options and theme parks are not going to lead a social revolution (well maybe the macks )

I think I more meant that they aren't really comparable bar for banks, and even those often have a separate service completely. It's almost like paying to visit a far quieter theme park, rather than queue jumping.

Healthcare, provided by private - not jumping NHS queue. Banking, separate call centre, First Class, different flight experience (still arrives at the same time) - M6, completely different route.

M6 toll begins and ends on the M6 jut skips Birmingham.

And you really think private care is not provided in NHS hospitals? You pay to skip the wait, indeed when waiting times where longer people would see an NHS consultant but pay private for a scan as it sped up the process even though their consultations and treatments where NHS.

speedy boarding on Ryan air, pay to get on the same plane with the same service as others quicker.

And I bet the person answering g the phones at the bank answers calls from everyone, they just speed up premium customers.

The champagne bar is different, your paying for a different product, it is segregation but to a different degree.

 

[John]

I was trying to find the individual ride FT prices at Towers for my post in the Thorpe Park thread the other day and found an interesting discussion on digital spy about fastrack at Towers.

One poster stated that they didn't like FT as they considered it a form of queue jumping, but other posters couldn't understand what the problem was, or how fastrack makes the main queue worse.

 

[TheMan]

M6 toll begins and ends on the M6 jut skips Birmingham.

And you really think private care is not provided in NHS hospitals? You pay to skip the wait, indeed when waiting times where longer people would see an NHS consultant but pay private for a scan as it sped up the process even though their consultations and treatments where NHS.

speedy boarding on Ryan air, pay to get on the same plane with the same service as others quicker.

And I bet the person answering g the phones at the bank answers calls from everyone, they just speed up premium customers.

I can't comment on the Ryan Air thing, but ultimately, same plane, same destination, same arrival time - you do miss some queues I suppose before hand, but it's not really comparable I don't feel.

M6, this one definitely actually benefits the M6 users as it takes traffic (queues) away from the main Motorway. Living in Birmingham, I am very pleased the toll road exists and have never used it lol!!

Pretty sure the banking services have separate workers, and yes consultants do private work outside of their NHS hours. This is a more difficult one I guess, and to be honest, is probably more worthy of debate lol!!

 

[Dave]

M6 toll begins and ends on the M6 jut skips Birmingham.

And you really think private care is not provided in NHS hospitals? You pay to skip the wait, indeed when waiting times where longer people would see an NHS consultant but pay private for a scan as it sped up the process even though their consultations and treatments where NHS.

speedy boarding on Ryan air, pay to get on the same plane with the same service as others quicker.

And I bet the person answering g the phones at the bank answers calls from everyone, they just speed up premium customers.

I can't comment on the Ryan Air thing, but ultimately, same plane, same destination, same arrival time - you do miss some queues I suppose before hand, but it's not really comparable I don't feel.

M6, this one definitely actually benefits the M6 users as it takes traffic (queues) away from the main Motorway. Living in Birmingham, I am very pleased the toll road exists and have never used it lol!!

Pretty sure the banking services have separate workers, and yes consultants do private work outside of their NHS hours. This is a more difficult one I guess, and to be honest, is probably more worthy of debate lol!!

Fast track... Same ride, avoids queues.... So fairly similar I would hazard to Ryan Air.

a friend used a premium banking service for a while when it worked cheaper for some travel insurance.... They never got any different service from the guys on the end of the phone but the phone was answered a lot quicker apparently. It's why they kept the premium service .

Anyway this is getting way off topic, point is the market exists for these products, I'm not a fan but it explains the reason most theme parks offer the service. As much as we despair

 

[TheMan]

Anyway this is getting way off topic, point is the market exists for these products, I'm not a fan but it explains the reason most theme parks offer the service. As much as we despair

Agree lol! I think we are of pretty similar opinions on this, bar the disagreements on operational protocols of businesses we don't actually work at hahaha!!

;D

I also, for the record, do not expect Merlin to suddenly become a Bastian of morality and shun capitalist opportunity. Just manage it better basically! In some ways it gives people choice, I don't mind queuing a bit longer for one ride, when I know I don't have to queue so long for another - it does balance up in the long run when managed properly. I'd love to get my hands on the figures of how many are sold and how much it makes mind you, and find out exactly how much it does affect queue times by rather than all this conjecture!

Now that WOULD make for an interesting debating point.

Now... I am off to contact Anon to see if they will join our crusade ;D

 

[IanB]

Deletes posts, and breaths

The ethics of Fast Track is an interesting topic, and one where the negative affects have a minimal impact in the grand scheme of things. I think everyone agrees some of the things Alton Towers do is wrong, and should be stopped.

I think John raised an interesting point about some visitors to the park, not appreciating the negative effect it has on the main queue, and this is something the park is not going to highlight.

As TheMan says, Seeing some real sales figures, and where the money goes (Paying Back Interest, Profit, or re-invested), would be very fascinating.

Ian

 

[Shockadelica]

I'll just stick my twopence worth in...

A couple of weeks ago, I went to AT on a coach trip that someone had organised.

I usually avoid this time of year like the plague, but it was only a tenner for the coach and let's face it, any opportunity to go to AT shouldn't be turned down. Especially as it meant I could finally ride The Smiler after the disaster of my previous visit.

Anyhoo, knowing that it'd be extremely busy, I opted for the Silver Fastrack package for the four of us and went for it. Especially given that one of our party had never been to AT so I wanted him to experience as much as possible.

Now I have to say, Fastrack is something that I've always been against, probably for all the reasons posted on this thread. But seeing as I'm fortunate enough to be able to normally visit during off-season and so therefore don't generally have to queue so long, I've never needed it.

But boy, was I glad I took the option on this occasion.

Queueing for less than ten minutes for Rita, Th13teen et al, as opposed to the full hour or so was a Godsend, but I have to say I did find it hard to look at people in the main queue in the face (despite the voices in my head telling me to flick the V up to them as an act of anarchy).
That said, the other voice was telling me that I'd be taking a place in the queue anyway, so at some point there would still be that same amount of people in the queue behind me, it's just that I achieved that place quicker than if I'd spent an hour queueing before it instead.
So basically, I'm holding the queue up by one person (me) whether I'm in it from the back or cutting into it a few minutes from the front. Or am I?

For The Smiler however, we didn't get the Fastrack and queued 80mins for it instead. To be fair, I didn't mind for my first ever ride, as it did give me the full 'experience' of the first-time ride. The build-up and then relief as you finally hit the station, as well as the anticipation of seeing the trains rush around the track over your head (and the endless worry that it'd break down just before you got on it, which is part of the experience of The Smiler too )
So when we got near the front of the queue and saw the Fastrackers arrive, I almost felt that they'd missed out.

But going back to being a first-time Fastracker myself...

I have kind of confused myself over my own morals now I've used it once. If I go to the fireworks or any other known busy day, you can certainly bet that I'll be getting Fastrack and still feeling the same slight mix of guilt but overbearing feeling of having a better day for using it. I'll feel dirty, but liberated at the same time.
But to be fair, I've paid for the privilege, so it's not as if I'm getting the extra as a free cheat. And let's face it, it's not like Alton Towers is full of people without any money. As a visitor to AT, you must have some form of disposable income that you're spending on what is a premium day out anyway.

But I'll still weakly glance at the people in the main queue as I walk past and hope they don't throw stones.

I have no idea what my point is here. Maybe it's just that there is no definitive answer as to whether Fastrack is right or wrong.

Alton Towers offer it. A percentage of guests will buy it, and they will have a better day out for using it. Some people won't or can't buy it and will have to queue the full time that they're in the park. Some people would give their right arm to be able to afford a trip to Alton Towers in the first place, so even if you are standing in that queue, you're still better off than them.

So is the Fastrack debate at an expensive theme park just a case of people with disposable income getting slightly less than people with a bit more disposable income?

 

[PeteA]

If people want to use fasttrack fine. Its the company that promotes it is the problem.

If you have a controlled fastrack and not used for commerical gain then fine. ie you sell enough tracks to allow for a steady flow of guests then fine. Its when it goes the other way and parks sell fast tracks to the detriment of normal queue.. Thats the problem.....

Alton and Thorpe are guilty of this. I have been to other parks and bought fastrack, but its been the q-bot type and thats fine. It takes the queue length and gives you a time. No problem with that. Alton and Thorpe, hey well give you a time, just turn up whatever...

Thats the problem.

When I am in a park thats not my local, I will buy fastrack... I went to Movie Park Germany last Halloween and if we hadnt bought fastrack we would not have experienced the mazes.

However I wont be ripped off, which is why Merlin can kiss my backside.

 

[alee298]

If AT ran their fastracks like thorpe park are starting to do now. Using time slots ect It would be fine. But they seem to be less careful about the amount they sell and timings of them.

 

[TheMan]

If AT ran their fastracks like thorpe park are starting to do now. Using time slots ect It would be fine. But they seem to be less careful about the amount they sell and timings of them.

Did I read that right Alee mate?
;D

 

[alee298]

If AT ran their fastracks like thorpe park are starting to do now. Using time slots ect It would be fine. But they seem to be less careful about the amount they sell and timings of them.

Did I read that right Alee mate?
;D

I was there yesterday. There were timeslots and everything! Also they dealt with lightning strikes well too!

 

[John]

Timeslots are a good idea all round as they manage the rate of use - normally people buy fastrack in the morning and use them whenever the queues are longest, concentrating the entire day's allocation into just a few hours. Timeslots mean that (in theory) the number of people using fastrack at any one time is never too high.

It's not perfect though, and will fail if a ride breaks down in the morning and people are allowed to use their tickets later in the day. There's also a slight drawback to users in that you might get a ticket for a time when the main queue isn't particularly long, in which case you've wasted your money.

 

[alee298]

Just thpught I'd put this here. I was in the tavern and this ad popped up at the bottom of the page. :I

 

[Amy]

If AT ran their fastracks like thorpe park are starting to do now. Using time slots ect It would be fine. But they seem to be less careful about the amount they sell and timings of them.

I don't normally bother with fastracks, but have been to AT a couple of times recently with people who haven't been before. I've used them for The Smiler and Air, and both have had time slots. We haven't really been able to choose the time slot, they've just told us the earliest they had available. So I guess AT are using this sort of system.

 

[Alastair]

Just thpught I'd put this here. I was in the tavern and this ad popped up at the bottom of the page. :I

I looked at that for a good minute before realising what you meant. Shows how much my brain filters out the adverts

 

[code-red]

Considering on Monday the most popular fastrack options had sold out, there was very minimal fastrack queues when compared to last year. It's clear the quotas have dropped significantly and they ARE attempting to manage fastrack better.

 

[Scott]

The only time the system (this season) seems to totally fail is when offline tickets are issued, it's sold outside of ride entrances or masses of people are given exit passes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[BigAl]

Just thpught I'd put this here. I was in the tavern and this ad popped up at the bottom of the page. :I

All they mean with that is if you book your tickets online you don't need to faff around on the day queuing up to buy them. If there's a big queue, it can take a while to get in. Their fast track isn't the same and there aren't any attractions that use the same system that theme parks use.

 

[GaryH]

I personally dont have a problem with FastTrack and I use it on busy days. Everything in life will have a priority queue etc. What I do have an issue with though is when they sell too many FastTracks and I think this is what the issue is here. There must be a limited number sold, and perhaps where time slots dont work, maybe introduce a PM or AM fasttrack so at least the queues can be managed in the mornings/afternoons a bit better.