MONTREAL, QC.– You may have noticed that we do things differently around here. We like it that way. Being a little unconventional and innovative has drawn a raised eyebrow, or worse, from the mainstream folks but the response from you, our readers, tells us that we are on the right path.
We understand that you are interested in two-way communication about hockey. You tell us that you visit All Habs for the wide variety of differing perspectives from our writers and for features you can’t get anywhere else. Prefer a language other than English, then its the Planet Habs section. You would rather listen to narrated articles, then check out All Habs Out Loud.
We regularly hear from hockey fans looking for advice about getting tickets to see the Habs at the Bell Centre. For those who have been to the arena on avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, you know it is the ultimate hockey experience. For some fans, it is a dream to make the pilgrimage to Montreal, the cradle of organized sport.
But finding tickets for a Canadiens game — is it really necessary to part with your first born?
Sure, you can spend an entire Saturday in a virtual lobby staring at your monitor in the hopes of just maybe being lucky enough to step up to the “wicket.” Can you really trust the tickets that are advertised in an online classified list? Do you want to be wandering the cold streets outside the arena looking for scalpers just prior to game-time?
The answer to all of these questions is to find an online ticket re-seller. They, however come with their own set of issues — which one should you use? How do you know you got the best deal?
Once again we get to the doing things differently part.
As a service to our readers, we have partnered with TiqIQ and are pleased to unveil the All Habs Ticket Center for Canadiens games. It is a unique service which aggregates ticket listings from four major online re-sellers including, StubHub, TicketsNow, TicketNetwork and ebay. It’s one-stop shopping — you need not go anywhere else, whether you are interested in Bell Centre tickets or any of the road arenas visited by the Habs.
Here’s a few features and benefits that you can expect from the TiqIQ powered platform:
- Aggregated Listings: All major sellers in the market are aggregated so you can find the best deal.
- TiqZone Categorization: Each venue is divided into TiqZones, which are groupings of sections that we’ve determined are comparable in value.
- TiqIQ Statistics: Find the best deal using data compiled into the IQ rating and TiqIQ Statistics.
- E-Ticket Filter: Want tickets last minute? You can find all the available e-tickets so you can print your tickets from home or the office.
- All-in Pricing Option: Before you complete your sale you’ll be able to tell exactly how much your tickets will cost including all service and shipping fees.
With respect to statistics you have access to what TiqIQ calls ticket-buying intelligence. This means that the All Habs Ticket Center does the research for you to assist with decision-making for the seats you want at the price you want to pay.
Hovering over a ticket, you will be provided with:
- Average price of all tickets in the TiqZone
- Percentage above or below the TiqZone average price
- Percentage above or below the average face value price
- An indicator rating the deal as Good, Neutral or Bad
All of the ticket data also allows us to provide you with summaries of pricing trends throughout the year.
You’ll notice that we’ve added a ‘Tickets’ tab to the navbar and ‘Canadiens Tickets’ widget in the right rail accessible from any page.
The best way to get a sense of the new service is to head over to the All Habs Ticket Center and play with it. We think that you will agree that it is easy-to-use and is loaded with information to help you feel confident about the value of your ticket purchase.
This is just one more way that together we are building a fan-centered website to meet the needs of our Canadiens community.