Test ticket $420?

Press, 23 September 1980, Page 6

Test ticket $420?

PA Auckland Tickets for the AU Blacks-Wales centennial test at Cardiff Arms Park were being sold for the equivalent of $420 by a London firm, Obtainables, Ltd, said an Auckland man yesterday. Mr Haydn Davies said he had replied to an advertisement by the ticket agency placed in British Airways’ booklet on London. In it, the agency said it was able to procure tickets for pop shows, concerts, and any big sporting

events,” he said. “So, wanting a ticket for a friend in the United Kingdom, I thought, as someone living outside the country, 1 might have a better chance of picking one up.” Mr Davies said the agency had written back saying that it could oblige but that the tickets were “very expensive.” If he sent a cheque for £155 (about $365) plus the value-added tax, a total of £172.50 ($420), it would send a ticket for a covered seat at the test.

“I replied in a much nicer way than I really wanted to and declined the offer as the face valuve of the ticket is only about $2B to $30.” said Mr Davies. “I would have been prepared to go to two or perhaps three times the value but this is ridiculous. “It makes you wonder what the price would have been for an Englishman and, even worse, just what the touts will get outside the ground an hour before kick-off.”