Early Bird Renewal Benefits Galore, Sweepstakes Prizes
New for 2009, the A’s are happy to introduce the Season Ticket Holder Sweepstakes! Below you will find details on the Sweepstakes and prizes, plus the return of popular Early Bird benefits. An account must be paid in full by December 5, 2008 to qualify for Early Bird offers.
New in 2009!
SEASON TICKET HOLDER SWEEPSTAKES
Only A’s Season Ticket Holders have the ability to win hundreds of unique and otherwise unavailable prizes. See a list of prizes below. No registration is necessary. All accounts paid in full will automatically be entered in the sweepstakes. Each account will be awarded one entry. In addition, for every $1,000 invested in 2009 Season Tickets, an additional entry will be granted. (For example, a $10,000 ticket package will receive 11 entries in the sweepstakes.)
Grand Prize
ALL-STAR GAME. Trip for two (2) to the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis. Two roundtrip airline tickets from the Bay Area to St. Louis, one hotel room, and two game tickets to the Homerun Derby and All-Star Game July 13-14, 2009 will be awarded to one lucky A’s Season Ticket Holder. Trip presented by Sports Travel and Tours.
First Prize
COOPERSTOWN. Trip for two (2) to the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, New York. Two roundtrip tickets from the Bay Area to New York, one hotel room, and two tickets to the enshrinement ceremony on July 26, 2009. Trip presented by Sports Travel and Tours.
Additional Prizes
GOLF FOURSOME. Winner receives a complimentary foursome in the 2009 A’s Community Golf Fund Tournament. Multiple prizes available.
OWNER’S SUITE OUTING. Winner and 17 guests enjoy an A’s game from the comforts of the Owner’s Suite. A’s pre-determined food, beverage, merchandise included. Multiple prizes available.
PLAYER MEET & GREET. Winner and guest attend a meet and greet with an A’s player. Multiple prizes available.
CEREMONIAL FIRST PITCH. Winner throws out first pitch to mutually agreeable A’s game. Multiple prizes available.
PRE-GAME FIELD VISIT. Winner receives four passes to watch batting practice from the field. Multiple prizes available.
MVP TICKET UPGRADES. Winner upgrades to first row behind visitor’s dugout for mutually agreeable A’s game. Multiple prizes available.
COMPLIMENTARY MEAL IN WESTSIDE CLUB. Winner sent voucher for dinner in Westside Club at Oakland Coliseum. Multiple prizes available.
VIP PARKING PASS. Winner upgraded to park in VIP Parking Lot. Multiple prizes available.
SCOREBOARD MESSAGE. Winner awarded full screen Diamond Vision message during an A’s game. Multiple prizes available.
AUTHENTIC A’s MERCHANDISE. Winner receives A’s merchandise. Multiple prizes available.
AUTOGRAPHED A’s MEMORABILIA. Winner receives autographed A’s memorabilia. Multiple prizes available.
AND MANY MORE PRIZES…
Qualifying amount does not include parking, additional tickets, or handling fees. Current Season Ticket Holders must retain the same number of seats as they had in 2008 in the same or comparable plan to be eligible or qualify for any Early Bird benefits or sweepstakes.
Back By Popular Demand!
FREE TICKETS
All accounts paid in full will receive a complimentary ticket voucher for two (2) Field Infield ticket to an A’s home game at the Coliseum during the months of April and May (excluding April 10, April 13-15, and May 23).
EARLY BIRD SUITE
All accounts with a ticket value of $1,500 and higher qualify for an Early Bird Luxury Suite. The Early Bird Suite includes 18 tickets and is deeply discounted at a price of only $200 (that’s $1,300 off). Limit one suite per account. Qualifying amount does not include parking, additional tickets, or handling fees. Some restrictions apply. All suites must be booked by 7/31/09. Qualifying accounts will receive a suite sign-up sheet in the in the coming months to select a game date.
Qualifying amount does not include parking, additional tickets, or handling fees. Current Season Ticket Holders must retain the same number of seats as they had in 2008 in the same or comparable plan to be eligible or qualify for any Early Bird benefits or sweepstakes.
(Photos Copyright Travis LoDolce)
A's Ticket Services 
Why are new Season Ticket Holders given seat selection priority over existing Season Ticket Holders?
Entertainment organizations (sports, theatre, opera) usually use a process that gives existing season ticket holders the opportunity to upgrade/add to their seat locations before assigning seat locations to new season holders. It?s a way to reward and respect existing holders ? why don?t the A?s do this?
Specifically, during the season, I told Ticket Services I wanted to add 2 additional seats to my plan. I was told this would be ?put in the notes? on my account and I would be given priority when orders for 2009 season tickets were opened. I called at season end looking to add, but was told it wasn?t time yet, but ?it was in the notes.? Last week, a friend of mine called and told me that the A?s had solicited them for 2 front row seats in the Sac Fly plan ? exactly the seats I had requested ?in the notes?? I called about these seats and was told that the rep could only sell them to ?new season ticket holders?, and anyway they had been sold ?10 minutes ago.?
Despite all the good work that Ticket Service does, and the best ticket exchange policies in sports, this felt a bit like a kick in the pants.
Hello bleacherdave,
When you have an opportunity please reach out to the Ticket Services crew at (510) 568-5600, not the Sales staff. We left a voicemail for you today and can certainly assist you with seats. Current Season Ticket Holders are of highest priority and from the sound of it we may have the type of seats you desire.
Wow!
I thank Adam and the Ticket Services Office for taking care of me so quickly and graciously in response to my previous post.
I had specified “in the notes” that I wanted to update my Sac Fly plan to full season, but had not requested additional seats in the Sac Fly plan. This is why I was not contacted with respect to other Row 1 Sac Fly seats that had been offered to New Season Ticket Holders.
Adam called me, offered me additional Sac Fly plan seats in Row 1 of my existing section, revised my invoice, and took care of my very courteously and professionally.
Great Service. Well Done.
Wave ‘Em High!
Shiver me tmberis, them’s some great information.
A couple of things that would be a huge help for those of us who choose the Fielder’s Choice pkg, and probably other season ticket holders as well:
– Get the promotional schedule out early – makes it easier to pick the games I want
– Enhance the online ticket management to include turning in (or exchanging) tickets, not just transferring or selling on stubhub. It’s clearly possible since you allow turning in tix online for StubHub sales. That would be MUCH easier than goig to ticket services or mailing them – not to mention less cost for the A’s since less human handling.
Thank you for you post georgehyman,
You make two very valid requests. You?re certainly not the first person to ask for an earlier promotional schedule. We do our collective best to set the promotional schedule as soon as accurately possible. There’s a lot of thought and detail involved in securing the promo schedule, some involving the promo sponsors. Once settled and secured, to the point where changes are at the very best limited, we release it. We?re not there yet, but soon. The good news is that Fielder’s Choice ticket holders could purchase their plan and wait to select games while still qualifying for the Early Bird benefits. The Early Bird deadline has now passed, but Fielder’s Choice plan holders can still select game dates at any time- we recommend picking popular games and/or games you’d most like to attend- then later exchanging any tickets into the non-blackout games to complete your game desires.
Regarding the exchange of tickets online, it’s something we wish could occur now. Not that we want to avoid personal interactions, but we, like you, see the benefits to fans to exchange tickets any time of day from the comforts of home. The available technology is not quite ready to handle such transactions. The My Tickets system is unable to designate account credit from a ticket “exchanged” online and it also does not complete a game and ticket selection as a one-for-one exchange. Certainly something to hope for, but as of now the Ticket Services Office (open M-F 10am-4pm, extended hours home game days) and the mail are the best ways to exchange tickets. The Ticket Services’ Season Ticket Holder Hotline is open M-F 8am-5pm to answer questions or provide any additional assistance.
Many thanks and keep the comments and suggestions rolling in.
I have been a long time fan of the A’s for 30+ years and only recently could afford to be a season ticket holder. Sadly, I will not renew for this season for a variety of reasons, from player personnel decisions to the food concessions at an indifferent ballpark.
With the latter, trying to move this team to Fremont or some other eastbay city would be a huge undoing of something that’s good for Oakland. It’s like management doesn’t care about giving the fans decent service for their attendance, regardless of how the A’s are playing: long concession lines, barely warm hot dogs, no ice cream sundaes to name a few.
Dismantling our pitching staff at the All-Star break seemed as though the post season was no longer a goal.
I’m sure the A’s will compete as always and I will watch when televised, but the recent roster moves will not a post season make.