Ten Top Tips to Secure Your Dream Olympic Tickets

There's just over twelve months until the greatest sporting event comes to London, in the form of the 2012 Olympic Games.

But will you be there? Here are some top tips if you are looking to bag yourself some tickets to this once in a lifetime event.

1. Register Your Interest - Sign up at the Olympic site to keep in the loop with the latest news and details about the application process and events you want to see.

2. Plan Ahead - With 6.6m tickets available across 645 sessions for 26 sports at 34 venues on 19 days at six price points, the key is in the preparation.

It’s not first come first served so you have time to talk through plans with friends and families and decide exactly what it is you want to see.

3. Check Capacities - While the number of tickets available for each session has not been announced you can get a good idea by checking the capacity of each venue.

With the exception of the opening and closing ceremonies the bigger the venue the greater the chances you have of securing a cheap seat.

4. Know Your Budget - Tickets start from just £20 rising to a jaw-dropping £2012 for seats at the opening ceremony.

Once you’ve made your application you are committed to buying all the tickets you win so it’s worth totting up the total before you apply to ensure you can afford it.

Only apply for the tickets you can afford.  Even though the application process for tickets is a raffle, you will be expected to pay for all the tickets that you secure, so while it’s easy to apply for lots of the tickets on the assumption you won’t get every ticket, you could be end up with a much bigger bill than expected. 

Payment will be taken between 10th May and 10th June, so make sure have sufficient funds in your account over these dates to pay for these tickets.

5. Devise a Strategy - If you’re keen to see a particular sport you should apply across a range of sessions including the heats, where as if you want to see as much as possible it’s better to apply across a range of venues and disciplines to maximise chances.

For those desperate to see a specific final, you should apply for as many tickets across the different price ranges - just make sure you can afford it first.

6. Book as a Group - Since the rules of the ballot mean that you either get all or none of your tickets for each session, if you’re planning on going in a group make sure you apply for your tickets together on the same form to avoid getting split up.

7. Get Discount Tickets - More than 220 of the lower demand sessions will have special discounted tickets available for children and OAPS. The price of the ticket will be the same as the child’s age (up to age 16). This £16 cap will also be offered to seniors aged 60 or over.

8. Avoid Fraudsters - Tickets will be available online from tickets.london2012.com with packages at Thomas Cook, Prestige Ticketing and Jet Set Sports.

To help people avoid bogus organisations the Olympic Committee are planning to launch a website checker available for users to find out whether ticket sites are genuine or not.

9. Go For Free - Soak up the Olympic atmosphere for less by taking advantage of one of the free events.

Choose from the men’s and women’s marathon, cycling road race and time trail, walking races and triathlon cycling.

10. Get a Visa Card - Online applications will only be accepted by Visa Card.  If you don’t have a Visa card, you will still be able to apply for tickets but you will need to use ticket application form in the Official Ticketing Guide. 

These can be collected from branches of Lloyds TSB or Bank of Scotland in Scotland.  In these instances payment by cheque or a postal order will be accepted.

and finally...

Don’t Get Your Hopes Up - Try and keep your expectations in proportion, while 6.6 million sounds like a lot of tickets, it’s not even enough for everyone in London to get one.

Top tips provided by VoucherCodes.co.uk