Getting in with someone else's ticket.

[Matt42]

I’ve worked on the gates before checking tickets. The festival hires people to try and go in with fake tickets, they use it to measure the performance of the gate staff.

If someone stops you or is overly critical please don’t take it personally - if a person on the gate let’s in a planted fake they get a firm slap on the wrist from Glasto HQ.

[Acid Loafers]

Better hope it's an early coach, as you're more likely to be checked a bit more thoroughly when the queue quiets down (thoroughly as in they actually look at your face for 2 seconds). 

The coach will most likely just shout the name & you just say "yep" & pick up the envelope. 

[Radi0Head]

19 hours ago, jonnyisRFC said:

A friend of a friend got in in 2019 on someone else’s ticket, it looked absolutely nothing like them. I think it depends on who you get at the gate, I bet there’s a few that really don’t care and just want to finish their shift. 

As someone who works on many gates I can attest to this. It’s a mix of people trying really hard to do their job but then getting bored and giving up the further you go through the festival.

[JoeyT]

Whatever happens please can you give us an update post festival on how you got on?

More twix references the better.

[BambooShanks]

I've heard (and seen myself) more stories of people getting in on other people's tickets than I've heard stories of the opposite.

If you're arriving at a busy time, then you'll be fine as the busier the gates are, the less time/inclination they will have to scrutinise your ticket and just want to keep the queue moving.

 

[Leyrulion]

1 hour ago, bennyboi said:

It can be done, I’ve done it more than once using a re-entry/pass out & I’ve got a mate whose done it on first entry looking nothing like the guy. 

Be happy, friendly & confident. 
If all else fails drop the bag n show them a clean pair of heels. 

One of the things they stress at Oxfam is you're not security staff, so you really shouldn't be chasing any runners. 

Obviously you hear stories of super keen volunteers doing it sometimes but if I was on the gate I certainly wouldn't be doing any running. I wouldn't know what to do if I caught up to them. 🤣

[Crumbleflaps]

Plastic surgery? Or maybe some face paint.

[bennyboi]

21 hours ago, ringRiff said:

I've bought a coach ticket from someone who looks relatively like me and can no longer go. How heavy are the ID checks on the gate + coach? Is there anything I can do to better increase the likelihood that I get in?

Are you a dude? 
How much of a beard can you grow in 2 weeks 

 

also get something believable made up with your pic, three deets…..

https://www.fakeid.co.uk

[Mezhyp1]

i think you'll have a bit of wiggle room this year with the 'pandemic hasn't been kind to' excuse. Make sure you're well versed and confident, take an ID and don't hesitate and I think you'll be fine

[Lycra]

19 hours ago, Joshuwarr said:

I've had coach drivers in the past where they have just read the name on the ticket and then you say if that's you and they've just handed it out

Them there are coach drivers who scrutinise every ticket and act like traffic wardens. It's luck of the draw.

[Lycra]

21 hours ago, ringRiff said:

I've bought a coach ticket from someone who looks relatively like me and can no longer go. How heavy are the ID checks on the gate + coach? Is there anything I can do to better increase the likelihood that I get in?

One of our crew been volunteering at the fest for the last decade and has done gate entry. From her recounts they seem to catch a significant number of people falsely trying to get in.

At the end of the day though it's all down to luck of the draw but with  a very high chance you could end up stranded outside the gates. If you do get pulled up be prepared to be taken to an area where you will be asked to prove who you purport to be by providing further picture id such as a driving license.

[Johnnyseven]

12 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

Don't know how true it is but I've heard of "secret shoppers" being used to test the ticket checkers.

I think this is a myth put out there by the festival/Oxfam to encourage ticket checkers to do a proper job. What would be the purpose? It's not like the volunteers are employees and they're going to get sacked if they let someone in by mistake, at worst they'll not be allowed back next year. I suppose that they could chuck them out of the festival and send them home, but then they'd be 1 volunteer down creating more work for everyone else and bigger queues for exit and re-entry throughout the festival. 

[MaseTMT]

Can't see you having any problems.....people do it every year. I know people who have purchased and got in fine and also people who have sold (person buying got in no problem) If its someone you know just take some form of ID from them as well

[tarw]

32 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

I think this is a myth put out there by the festival/Oxfam to encourage ticket checkers to do a proper job. What would be the purpose? It's not like the volunteers are employees and they're going to get sacked if they let someone in by mistake, at worst they'll not be allowed back next year. I suppose that they could chuck them out of the festival and send them home, but then they'd be 1 volunteer down creating more work for everyone else and bigger queues for exit and re-entry throughout the festival. 

I think that the secret shoppers are from the council making sure that the terms of the license are being kept to. Michael by all accounts would let more people on site even if they haven’t paid but the council aren’t keen to. 
They do the same for the bars to make sure no one underage can get served 

[gooner1990]

18 minutes ago, tarw said:

I think that the secret shoppers are from the council making sure that the terms of the license are being kept to. Michael by all accounts would let more people on site even if they haven’t paid but the council aren’t keen to. 
They do the same for the bars to make sure no one underage can get served 

Mendip council also send under age people to buy alcohol too from the bars and any volunteer found serving/not asking for ID is fined £200 and the volunteer is removed from the site (source: I worked on a bar in 2019 and saw it happen)

[irnkrtn]

23 hours ago, HamishA. said:

Someone I know got in with someone else's ticket... at the gates they got asked if they had any further proof of ID, other than the driving license they borrowed for the named person on the ticket. They got their phone out and loaded up the Facebook app, and went on their profile, on which they had uploaded a mix of photos of both themselves and the person on the ticket, using that name on their profile. They let him in, possibly just for the commitment!

That is GENIUS

[StoneCircle]

One year 2 girls were sat near our awning in the campervan fields crying, I checked what was wrong and it turned out both they and their boyfriends had bought tickets off a mate who said it wouldn't be a problem getting in. How wrong the mate was, the girls got in, the boyfriends didn't. After being questioned they were taken a police station to be questioned further to no avail and their tickets were confiscated. They were then escorted back and all four left the site under the watchful eye of security. They had also hired a campervan so all in all it was a very costly experience for them. 

[irnkrtn]

4 hours ago, gigpusher said:

I barely got in with my own ticket one year. No idea why because it was clearly me but the guy made me take off my hat and glasses. Spent ages looking at it and called someone else over to check. I think I would be too stressed to even attempt it with someone else’s ticket after that. 

 

I had this at passport control coming back into the country one time. It was genuinely very nerve wracking and also annoying cause I definitely looked like my picture. Think he was just having a power trip tbh.

[discgoesmic]

100% wouldn't risk this personally, in previous years I was substantially verified (asked for ID, address on ticket, my age) and nearly didn't get in because my photo was out of date. This is also technically fraud so the law enforcement can be involved. 

That being said, if you've already bought the tickets I hope it goes well for you!

[incident]

1 hour ago, Johnnyseven said:

I think this is a myth put out there by the festival/Oxfam to encourage ticket checkers to do a proper job.

It's absolutely not.

[Johnnyseven]

24 minutes ago, StoneCircle said:

One year 2 girls were sat near our awning in the campervan fields crying, I checked what was wrong and it turned out both they and their boyfriends had bought tickets off a mate who said it wouldn't be a problem getting in. How wrong the mate was, the girls got in, the boyfriends didn't. After being questioned they were taken a police station to be questioned further to no avail and their tickets were confiscated. They were then escorted back and all four left the site under the watchful eye of security. They had also hired a campervan so all in all it was a very costly experience for them. 

Getting in on someone else's ticket is risky enough, but doing it and staying in the CV fields is just plain stupid, considering you'll need to get away with it numerous times over the festival. If it was me i'd be going in once and staying in there until Monday whilst thanking the Glasto gods that I got away with it. 

[discgoesmic]

1 minute ago, Johnnyseven said:

Getting in on someone else's ticket is risky enough, but doing it and staying in the CV fields is just plain stupid, considering you'll need to get away with it numerous times over the festival. If it was me i'd be going in once and staying in there until Monday whilst thanking the Glasto gods that I got away with it. 

Does the CV field not just use writstbands, or do they verify your ticket every time? I've not stayed there before.

[Johnnyseven]

13 minutes ago, incident said:

It's absolutely not.

Whether it is or not, from the responses on this thread, it seems to be fairly common for ticket checkers to 'accidentally' let people to get in on someone else's ticket. So the threat or presence of checks doesn't seem to have the desired effect.

[StoneCircle]

3 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

Getting in on someone else's ticket is risky enough, but doing it and staying in the CV fields is just plain stupid, considering you'll need to get away with it numerous times over the festival. If it was me i'd be going in once and staying in there until Monday whilst thanking the Glasto gods that I got away with it. 

I don't think they had any clue as to how it worked, they certainly hadn't prepared themselves to be questioned! 

[Johnnyseven]

3 minutes ago, discgoesmic said:

Does the CV field not just use writstbands, or do they verify your ticket every time? I've not stayed there before.

No special wristbands other than the GA one. You have to show, and they check, your ticket every time you go both into and out of the festival. You get a passout when you leave and you have to show your ticket, passout and wristband to get back.

Edited June 6, 2022 by Johnnyseven