RFID tickets

[Abubob]

I noticed on some (Ragged at least) you can use these as your season pass. If this is so what stops you from lending or even renting it to someone else for the day if there is no picture on it or even if there was it is in your pocket...

Evil doers always finds a way

Each of the turnstiles has a monitor attached that is supposed to display the photo associated with the pass - at Ragged anyway. I haven't seen this in used yet -- obviously.

Or they might ask you what your birthday is... wing it.

 

[Smellytele]

Each of the turnstiles has a monitor attached that is supposed to display the photo associated with the pass - at Ragged anyway. I haven't seen this in used yet -- obviously.

Or they might ask you what your birthday is... wing it.

So even on a day pass they have your picture?
DO they send you the card when you order it online or do you have to pick it up at the mountain?

 

[Abubob]

So even on a day pass they have your picture?
DO they send you the card when you order it online or do you have to pick it up at the mountain?

I had to pick up my season's pass at the mountain and they took my picture then. So - I'm guessing here - you pick up at the mountain - they take your picture - even for a day pass. After that you can reload or upgrade the card - either online or at the mountain.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Going to Stowe Saturday as part of a FAM trip for the tour group operator that we book our bus trips through. I am hoping they "comp" us the RIFD cards.

I will report back on how it worked. this will be my first opportunity to use it.

 

[Bumpsis]

I'm a bit less than happy about having to pay the $5 for the RFID at Ragged.

I ski Ragged on day-ski basis and for a family of 4 that's a $ 20 that I will not see again. Having to pay that extra just to subsidize the expense of putting the system in just burns me since I really can't see any benefit to me. Just as it was pointed out by others, the lines will not get any shorter, lift lines that is.

If, at the very least, Ragged would sell 4 hour ski time segments (equivalent of a 1/2 day ticket) that can be started at my convenience, then I could see that I'm getting someting extra out of this. Often, we'll come up for 1/2 day start at noon - it's cheaper and we can still get some decent amount of actual ski time since doing a full day as a family never seems to work out for us.

Being able to start at say, 11 AM and finish at 3:00 would be a really nice option and getting full value for money paid.

As is, the $ 5 is just an extra expense per skier with no benefit to the customer.

I don't have an issue with the technology. I recall using a RFID ticket somewhere out west (Solitude? ) and it worked fine but I don't believe that I had to pay extra for the privilage of using the the RFID there. Not happy

 

[Abubob]

I don't have an issue with the technology. I recall using a RFID ticket somewhere out west (Solitude? ) and it worked fine but I don't believe that I had to pay extra for the privilage of using the the RFID there. Not happy

Is it possible the cards out west were one time use? According to Ragged this is a one time fee. After that you purchase tickets online or with a smartphone which is why the tickets lines won't be as long. (I don't know that I've ever seen a ticket line at Ragged anyway.)

 

[steamboat1]

I'll have to buy another wallet to keep all the different RFID cards in. The one I have now is already full with credit cards.

 

[jimmywilson69]

You need to get one of these

 

[Bumpsis]

Is it possible the cards out west were one time use? According to Ragged this is a one time fee. After that you purchase tickets online or with a smartphone which is why the tickets lines won't be as long. (I don't know that I've ever seen a ticket line at Ragged anyway.)

It is quite possible that those tickets were one day use. I'm fine with that. I wish that Ragged would offer that option for day trippers who don't want to pay for the refillable ticket. Unless, they give some incentive to get that. To me, as it is now, it sure looks like just another way to squeeze extra bucks from customers for nothing.
In other words: rip off.
I couldn't care less about buying the tickets on line or with my phone. It's still the same money. I've never seen a ticket line at Ragged longer than 2-3 people. I can deal with that.

 

[hammer]

I'm a bit less than happy about having to pay the $5 for the RFID at Ragged.

I ski Ragged on day-ski basis and for a family of 4 that's a $ 20 that I will not see again. Having to pay that extra just to subsidize the expense of putting the system in just burns me since I really can't see any benefit to me. Just as it was pointed out by others, the lines will not get any shorter, lift lines that is.

If, at the very least, Ragged would sell 4 hour ski time segments (equivalent of a 1/2 day ticket) that can be started at my convenience, then I could see that I'm getting something extra out of this. Often, we'll come up for 1/2 day start at noon - it's cheaper and we can still get some decent amount of actual ski time since doing a full day as a family never seems to work out for us.

Being able to start at say, 11 AM and finish at 3:00 would be a really nice option and getting full value for money paid.

As is, the $ 5 is just an extra expense per skier with no benefit to the customer.

I don't have an issue with the technology. I recall using a RFID ticket somewhere out west (Solitude? ) and it worked fine but I don't believe that I had to pay extra for the privilege of using the the RFID there. Not happy

What do other ski areas charge for the tickets?

Not too happy about the idea of paying for them either (looking at an extra $20 as well) but with the 2 for 1 special next Sunday I won't complain too much. Would be nice if I could keep it for next season but I don't think it works that way.

 

[mlkrgr]

I'm a bit less than happy about having to pay the $5 for the RFID at Ragged.

I ski Ragged on day-ski basis and for a family of 4 that's a $ 20 that I will not see again. Having to pay that extra just to subsidize the expense of putting the system in just burns me since I really can't see any benefit to me. Just as it was pointed out by others, the lines will not get any shorter, lift lines that is.

If, at the very least, Ragged would sell 4 hour ski time segments (equivalent of a 1/2 day ticket) that can be started at my convenience, then I could see that I'm getting someting extra out of this. Often, we'll come up for 1/2 day start at noon - it's cheaper and we can still get some decent amount of actual ski time since doing a full day as a family never seems to work out for us.

Being able to start at say, 11 AM and finish at 3:00 would be a really nice option and getting full value for money paid.

As is, the $ 5 is just an extra expense per skier with no benefit to the customer.

I don't have an issue with the technology. I recall using a RFID ticket somewhere out west (Solitude? ) and it worked fine but I don't believe that I had to pay extra for the privilage of using the the RFID there. Not happy

Agreed; at their current pricing, I'd just as well go to one of the bigger mountains unless they were running a deal. In fact, at $62 for midweek and $71 weekend, I can do better elsewhere anyday with the $5 card fee or even after the 15% reload discount for a mountain comparable or better all in.

 

[billski]

Stowe charges five bucks but will refund the five bucks at day's end if you ask. they make that clear to you when you get your ticket. Good policy.

 

[mlkrgr]

Stowe charges five bucks but will refund the five bucks at day's end if you ask. they make that clear to you when you get your ticket. Good policy.

Wonder if you can turn in a group card like that. But I won't try since they'd probably know as I wouldn't imagine it'd be applicable to groups.

 

[Cheese]

These and bar code scanners are for surveys and marketing. I fail to understand why I need to be inconvenienced so that they can gather data about where my travels took me all day. What's the inconvenience?

Stand in line in the morning to pay $5 or the RFID ticket and then stand in line again at the end of the day to turn in the ticket to receive the $5 refund.

I understand that mountains don't want people riding the chair lifts for free, but this goes way beyond that. If they were truly interested in "theft of service" they would place the ticket checker at the summit. That way the thief is guilty as soon as they ski off the lift. Put them back on the lift, send them down and have the authorities meet them at the bottom with a summons.

 

[Geoff]

These and bar code scanners are for surveys and marketing. I fail to understand why I need to be inconvenienced so that they can gather data about where my travels took me all day. What's the inconvenience?

Stand in line in the morning to pay $5 or the RFID ticket and then stand in line again at the end of the day to turn in the ticket to receive the $5 refund.

I understand that mountains don't want people riding the chair lifts for free, but this goes way beyond that. If they were truly interested in "theft of service" they would place the ticket checker at the summit. That way the thief is guilty as soon as they ski off the lift. Put them back on the lift, send them down and have the authorities meet them at the bottom with a summons.

Labor is the biggest expense at any ski area. The point of RFID is that it allows them to mostly automate ticket checking. The last thing any ski area wants to do is put an extra employee at the top checking tickets and pissing off customers.

 

[riverc0il]

Labor is the biggest expense at any ski area. The point of RFID is that it allows them to mostly automate ticket checking. The last thing any ski area wants to do is put an extra employee at the top checking tickets and pissing off customers.

I agree lift checking at the top would piss off customers. Checks at the bottom are no problem because you're already waiting in a line. And for ski on days without a line, I don't mind waiting a second at the top but I want to ski ASAP after being on a cold lift. Besides, checking tickets at the top would be a safety issue. You need to move away from the unloading area ASAP.

But let's be honest, scanners and RFID don't require any less labor and sometimes require more. With RFID, they still have an associate dedicated to standing at the turn stiles ready in case there is a problem. Scanners usually require two people on high speed lifts because they can't hit every ticket with only one person. Whereas a visual inspection of tickets can be done as allowed by the person controlling the lift line (might not get everyone, every run... but will eventually usually check most tickets eventually).

The real reason for RFID is bundling services, attaching a credit card to the RFID card for other resort services, and using it as a loyalty card.

However, on three occasions now I've seen folks booted out of line due to RFID. Two of those instances were folks that bought beginner tickets and tried to use upper mountain lifts (whether by intent or accident I can't say).

I do agree that consumers shouldn't have to get hit with an add on to pay for the tech. But consumers are going to pay for it one way or the other.

 

[Geoff]

The real reason for RFID is bundling services, attaching a credit card to the RFID card for other resort services, and using it as a loyalty card.

Not really. I don't have RFID on any of my credit cards or my ATM card and they work just fine. My pass has a bar code. All the cash registers have a bar code scanner. Works just as well as at the grocery store.

RFID saves labor. Every employee you don't have to pay goes right to your bottom line.

 

[Cheese]

The point of RFID is that it allows them to mostly automate ticket checking.

If it was to automate ticket checking why the need for it to be storing data to a marketing data base? They're taking your every scan and determining:

what days of the week you like to ski
what type of weather you like to ski in
which lifts you most frequently ride
if you've taken a lesson
if you've visited the mountain ski shop
what you purchased in the ski shop

I'm sure there is a lot more they're gathering but this short list serves as an example.

The last thing any ski area wants to do is put an extra employee at the top checking tickets and pissing off customers.

I'm not suggesting adding an employee, I'm suggesting they move the employee. At the bottom of the mountain no law has been broken. This in merely an attempt to steal services and violators are ejected from the line before committing a crime. At the top of the mountain, they are GUILTY.

 

[dropKickMurphy]

I used it at Jay this year and had zero problems. I've also used them at Alta and Solitude. I've skied Alta 15 days in the last 3 years and I don't think I had a single misread.

Had a few misreads at Soli. It may be a slightly older system, it seems a bit more sensitive. Once I realized where the sensor was, I made sure to stand where the card would be near it and it worked fine.

I'm 100% in favor of these. They seem to really improve the loading process.I find that the process of lining up at the gates tends to organize the groups for the chairs. I also like the convenience being able to reload them online.

The hand held scanners often work poorly, and the bored employees who get stuck with the scanning job end up interfering with the loading process.


My guess is that areas invested significant $$$ a few years ago for the hand held scanning system, and they're looking to recoup that investment before investing in the newer and far superior RFID system.

 

[billski]

Blue Hills, Mass. went RFID this year.