Once you get into the new Proms booking system, it's swift and simple, especially if you've already set up a 'Proms Plan' of ticket selections. You don't get to pick your exact seats under this system - it's just best available in the given price category. I got all the tickets I wanted, at the price levels (cheapest) I wanted, so I can't complain too much.
The big problem is the time it takes to get there.
At the designated opening hour of 8:00, I couldn't even enter the 'waiting room', let alone buy tickets. I eventually got in five minutes later to find there were around 1,200 people in front of me. I watched the counter tick down for another twenty minutes until I finally entered the site proper and made the quick and painless purchase transaction.
I suspect I was one of the lucky ones. Each time I've looked since, there's been a queue of three thousand or more. Which to go by my earlier experience means waiting an hour or so to book. And no doubt it will get slower as the day goes on, people find their first choices are fully booked, and dither over alternatives.
Is this really the best the BBC and the Royal Albert Hall could manage?
