To remember a time when we didn’t book everything

[labamba007]

Did you prefer it when we didn’t have to book everything in advance? I feel like since Covid everything has to be booked - restaurants, cafes, softplay, museums, bowling, any sports, swimming etc. I just remember turning up to stuff and it being fine. Now you can’t go anywhere without booking and nothing is spontaneous. Maybe it’s because there’s more people so you need to book to guarantee but I do miss it!

i love booking things in advance, it gives me something to look forward to and there’s no stress about if I can get in or is there a seat etc.

I much prefer it as the pool now limits numbers with pre booking instead of the horrible previous overcrowding

Also agree - there is no scope when you wake up on a beautiful day, or suddenly have a weekend free without needing to do chores, to just jump in the car or train and just go and do something. If you want to see a show you have to book months (sometimes a year) in advance, by which time your kids are no longer interested or you now have a wedding/funeral etc to go to. Or someone is ill and you cannot cancel and get a refund. It’s about not about the consumer, but about businesses getting their money in advance. I don’t mind booking the odd thing - Tickets to Les Miz or Hamilton, but I’d love to just get up and suggest going out to do something without looking on line to find out that all the presale tickets are sold and I have to queue for an hour on the off chance I can get in (pretty much every Merlin attraction).

Or you'd send a cheque / postal order in an envelope with an SAE and wait a month or so for either your tickets to come back or your cheque to be returned.

I don't like it for holidays. Maybe the odd thing but I don't see the point in going on holiday to have the same lifestyle of having to fit my time around a load of fixed appointments. If I have to book I want some tangible bonus like being able to choos a seat.

Nah,,it's technology and cost cutting. Why have queues of people waiting to buy tickets and staff having to process each and every person with their various methods of payment and when it can be done on an automated basis and staff numbers kept as low as possible? Why have spikes and empty periods when this can be smoothed over through ore booking. Business efficiencies, I suspect, not migration

In my area it varies in terms of the specific activity/restaurant and as in most places, a Saturday is always the busiest time. If I want to go out for dinner on a Saturday, most places near me will be fully booked so I typically do plan ahead. The same with bowling/the cinema etc. It’s just the sheer number of people trying to access one place at a time and there’s only so much space. It’s possible you’d not get in even if people hadn’t booked ahead because other people might arrive earlier than you so you could miss out then too. I personally do prefer being able to book if I know somewhere will be busy and I really want to guarantee a space/table etc.

Yeah I also agreed, you can’t be spontaneous because everywhere is fully booked or won’t allow you to book. I appreciate it’s easier for businesses to manage, but we rarely do anything now because of this. I don’t want to book my life up months in advance.

I agree to some extent. I dont mind booking popular things on holidays but it does take some of the spontaneity out of things or having to rush to get to things on time.
What i dont see the point of booking is the recycling centre, if ive had a delivery woth loads of cardboard or have got some garden waste I want to be able to pop down and get rid of it. I dont mind waiting in a queue.

Yes, it removes the option for your day to shift around. Yes, you always booked for some stuff, but far less. I remember turning up at a London museum for a specific exhibition only to find it was sold out. Wouldn't dream of doing that now. But of course now I can check on my phone in two minutes. So that means it's easier jus to book, so more people do, so the rest of us need to.

At least most places now let you book on the day if there are spaces. That used to be more of an issue and was very frustrating.

I agree, I miss spontaneity too, especially on holiday. I've come to the conclusion I don't mind missing out on the 'best' places to eat, I'd rather just amble up and eat when I want to. I get anxious when I know I've got to be somewhere at a certain time.

So how would it be any different if it weren't online pre booking (sold out) but in person queuing (insufficient spaces available)?

Agree 100%
Corporate B S

✔️

Same here! So much easier for me.

I would be interested in how mush money pre booked events make from people like myself who book ahead ie children’s activity parks who then can’t go because of illness!
I booked two theme park places over the summer for grandchild costing £200 overall that we couldn’t attend and couldn’t get a refund 🤦‍♀️

Yes, I totally see the value in booking and we know that for many events and attractions the demand really is just very high so I get that. But one of the best things about our overpriced David Lloyd membership is being able to just turn up at the pool or the softplay or cafe or whatever without having to prebook. I did prebook to take a friend's kid with us during the heatwave in the summer holidays (usually don't have to prebook except in extreme weather) and because I'd forgotten about the way it works at other pools I was quite confused by the way his mum kept hounding me about exactly when we were goign and when she should pick him up. It was only when she turned up an bour after we had arrived at the pool and she said she'd asumed the usual one hour slot that I realised what had happened.

And how are they going to know to get enough of freshly caught sea urchins if all twenty of you decide to go for those?!

I don't have a great opinion on this subject but clearing a couple of drawers recently I came across lots of old tickets, flights, Grand Prix, theatres which brought back some lovely memories. So much booking and not having a proper ticket spoils that, my daughter booked football match tickets recently and was sent real tickets, something she could keep for the memory of a famous victory.
It's the same to an extent with photos, I have thousands of photos from years ago but my current, last 20 years, ones are all in electronic storage, I only very rarely print any off. My fault, I know!

I’m not a very spontaneous person so I love booking things, I find it much more practical rather than just showing up to things and hoping for the best like pre-Covid times

This is what I think lies behind it. A lot of places discovered just after Covid that if you were forced to book and pay in advance they had your money and it didn't matter to them whether you turned up or not.

And I agree that it is a complete PAIN on holiday. When I did the Edinburgh tickets (booked and paid castle and Holyrood), I was on a coach trip up there and we hadn't been given any itinerary. So I had to book and just hope like hell that it would all fit in, which did necessitate some sprinting down the Royal Mile. There were people at both places paying to go in on the day, which I would have done if the websites hadn't made it look as though it was mandatory to book in advance!

Nice dog whistle to other racists 🙄

Pre-covid, when lots of things mentioned weren’t bookable, to now, the population has grown 4%. As you may be hard of thinking, that means for 25 people trying to do an activity, there would now be 26. Does that sound like why booking was introduced?

Back to your Daily Heil now.

I totally agree with you OP, some things really shouldn't have to be booked. For instance we have a local recycling centre that has still kept the booking system since Covid. Really, I don't want to plan when I need to go to the recycling centre. It's not overly busy either and luckily we have another one in another borough which doesn't need to be booked.

Except those slots are booked a week ahead with many people not using their slots.
Ds wanted to get rid of his bike. He is at Uni so had limited time and wasn’t staying a week. Who ended up going to the tip?

Same if you want to get rid of let’s say your washing machine that died etc…. Stuff you can’t plan ahead. You have to somehow find a way to store it until theres a space at the tip…..

Basically you’re still waiting and queuing. Just in a different place.

Can't agree more.