Understanding away membership and tickets.

Finnish supporter here. So, me and a couple of friends are planning to come and watch a game sometime this fall. Now, we are rather lazy, so we figure that the easiest (and cheapest) thing to do would be to catch an away game in London. This would mean catching a flight from Helsinki in the morning, arrive about 10 am at Heathrow, watch the game and fly back the following day (Crystal Palace seems to be a good opportunity). Now, if I understand this correctly, we more or less would need to get the away membership in order to be sure to get tickets, right? The alternative would be to wait until the “general ticket sales” starts, but then I guess there is a slight chance of not getting tickets (at least not if we would like to be seated together)? Or is my fear of not getting tickets exaggerated? Also, if we would like to be seated among the away fans (ie you) the away membership is our only option, right? (I imagine that we are the perfect away membership customers, they will probably sell a lot of these to “one time visitors” that are coimng out to London or Manchester to watch a game).

Also, any Canary friendly places to go drinking after the game other than the Old Red Lion?

BR
J

Hey buddy, yeah it is a tricky one, and really highlights how little they have thought this through. Had this been last season I would have said to contact the ticket office and they would be happy to help you out, but now I'm not so sure. Palace, and most of the London games are an easy one to get to from Norwich, so normally pretty well attended. So, if you want to be sure of tickets it looks like you are backed into a corner, and will have to buy the membership, only saving grace I guess is that the ticket will be capped at £30.

Sorry, no advice on pub, whenever I go to Palace my first thought is getting away from there as soon as possible

Hi morty,
Thanks for your reply! Yeah, I had a look at the attendances figures from last season (https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/crystal-palace/attendances) for Palace and their home games generally seem to be more or less sold out, so waiting for the general ticket option seems a bit risky. Oh well, considering the cost of the trip itself the membership fee is not a deal-breaker, and I guess the money will go to a good cause (Bonus for Teemu after he scores more than 20 goals).
Getting away as fast as possible you say. Well my plan is to make London want to get rid of me as fast as possible

J

Jay, you could buy the membership and still not get tickets, you will need to get online as soon as they go on sale.

And anywhere but Palace chap

J(ay) said:

Or is my fear of not getting tickets exaggerated?

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London games are the most competitive for tickets because of how easy it is to get to London from Norwich compared with anywhere else in the country, lots of Norwich fans like a day out in the capital.

Easiest to get tickets will be bigger grounds that are hard to get to from Norwich..... e.g. St James' Park and probably even the Etihad.

Also... usually easier to get tickets for midweek games than weekend games.

Do easyJet or Ryanair fly into places like Southampton? Better chance of getting a ticket I would have thought. If you’re determined to do a London club then Chelsea is more central. As others have said, Palace really is a dump, if you wanted to go for a few drinks after it would probably be best to go into central London
How many of you are planning to come over ?

Thanks everybody for your answers. Going for a midweek game, or going somewhere a bit more remote seem to be the best option in terms tickets, but then again, the reasons why London games are well attended are exactly the reasons we would like to go there (easy/cheap to get to, weekend in the capital + midweek game would mean two days of from work). From this discussion it is however clear that when booking the flight/hotel it would be a good idea to pay a little extra for the option to cancel the trip in case we do not get tickets.

Regarding the membership, yes I understand that it is not a gaurantee to get tickets, but at least the chances of getting tickets will be a bit greater. We will probably be 2-4 persons.

Again, thanks for all your answers!

If there are 2-4 of you then you definitely need the membership, good luck !
Is Teemu on social media ? Might be worth a try, you never know

Have you considered coming to Carrow Road OP?

Its actually only 1 hour 42 minutes on the fastest trains from London to Norwich, hotel and beer will be cheaper too. Or you could get yourself back in London before 8pm for a night out on the beers.

I mean.... the £50 each you spend on away membership will cover the train fares (which are cheaper the earlier you book them) and your chances of getting a ticket in with Norwich fans and sitting together becomes much better, as the club can do more to help in this regard (Pukki may even let you have a few of his complimentary tickets, used to be 10 per player not sure how many they get now!).

Hi Canaryboy,
Actually, I kind of thought getting tickets to Carrow Road would be even harder? I mean, looked (on the telly at least) like the place was packed last season and now that you are in the Prem...

But going to Norwich would also be a good option I think, seems like a lovely City. What would be the best way getting tickets to a home game, ”home membership” or just calling the ticket office and ask nicely? Actually, I know a guy who used to play with Teemu back in HJK, the season he scored those goals against Schalke... So basically me and Teemu are like best friends, right ?

J(ay) said:

Hi Canaryboy,
Actually, I kind of thought getting tickets to Carrow Road would be even harder? I mean, looked (on the telly at least) like the place was packed last season and now that you are in the Prem...

But going to Norwich would also be a good option I think, seems like a lovely City. What would be the best way getting tickets to a home game, ”home membership” or just calling the ticket office and ask nicely? Actually, I know a guy who used to play with Teemu back in HJK, the season he scored those goals against Schalke... So basically me and Teemu are like best friends, right ?

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I think home tickets will generally be easier than London away games.

There is always crazy demand for the London games.

But yes your only chance of an away ticket for a London game will be the away membership.

I think it could be well worth getting in touch with the club, to see what they can do for you. They have been pretty good in the past helping out people like yourselves who are travelling a long way.

morty said:

I think it could be well worth getting in touch with the club, to see what they can do for you. They have been pretty good in the past helping out people like yourselves who are travelling a long way.

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May even sort Barclay Lower if they promise to bring a Pukki flag haha