A better booking system?

Putting this year’s IT issue to one side, the Club is right that the problem of pitch contention is limited to only a few sites, so does it matter? Perhaps not, if it is accepted that these pitches go to the first able to grab them, by whatever means.

The current process is a kind of lottery in itself, except that it is unfair:

• Those who are lucky enough to get through by phone enjoy more than one ‘stab’ at a time, whilst those on-line only get one.
• Some members are unable to access either system at the time the process opens and miss any chance of getting one of the most popular pitches.

I propose a fairer process:

Introduce a brief preliminary bidding period one week before Frenzy Day. This should be at least 24 hours long to give members a fair chance of access.

During that time each member has the opportunity to make one preferred bid for a stay at any site and have the option of a second conditional bid in the event that their first is unsuccessful.

At the end of the bidding period, convert those pitches for which there is no contention into bookings and allocate oversubscribed pitches. The allocation process could be random but I’d first exclude any members who had already booked that site in the previous year, to give others an opportunity to visit.

Repeat the process for second chances, where anyone has been unsuccessful with their preferred bid.

At the end of this process a member may have one booking somewhere. Those who bid for less contentious pitches can be pretty certain of getting what they want but some members may be completely unlucky even though they placed a second chance bid. That will happen if their second bid is for another of the most popular pitches. Second chance bids will have a smaller window of opportunity because many pitches will have already been allocated.

The results should be available for all to view ahead of the normal booking routine opening. It is assumed that, after one round, all contentious sites will have been allocated and members could see that it would be fruitless to compete for them any more.

Benefits:

• All members get a decent chance to bid and they don’t all need to queue up at opening time. This will be fairer to those having to earn a living and unable to take time off to book.
• Systems should be under less strain as the heightened part of booking will be spread over a longer time. There is no need for anyone to rush to be first.
• The Club could gain extra revenue if it decided to charge for using this facility (say £1 per night allocated, as a non-refundable deposit).
• Frenzy Day should be less frantic. Some will already have what they want. Everyone can see, beforehand, where sites are already full and be less tempted to choke the process when it opens for conventional booking.