I decided to do a test run of the system for getting tickets for Killmainham Gaol just now. At 6:55 my time (11:55 Dublin time) tickets for March 27 were not yet available. Sometime between midnight and 12:01 Dublin time March 27 became available but the majority of the time spots were already sold out. It doesn’t even seem like people would have had enough time to add the tickets to their carts, let alone pay. Is there a trick for getting on faster than I did?
Thanks for any advice you can share. (I’m not actually going to be booking tickets until April….just thought I’d check it out and was shocked at how fast the tickets disappeared!)
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2530 posts
Some people hit the keystrokes like lightning. Lickety split — they’re done! March 27 has several timeslots available right at the moment— and they went on sale 50 minutes ago,
You have to work the rest of your day around what time you can get tix for Kilmainham Gaol— so don’t plan on going on a daytrip anywhere the day you plan to visit.
They’re not yet sold out for March 27 or for March 26, 25 and 24 which means tix have been available for 3/24-3/26 for several days now.
Because the docents only take 35 people at a time on the tours and there are only 26 time slots—- only 910 people can visit Kilmainham Gaol each day.
Posted by
Pennsylvania
329 posts
I don’t think there’s a specific trick, but we got tickets last June by being online at exactly midnight Dublin time. Yes, the tickets seemed to be mostly sold already, but there were enough left so that we were able to get our preferred day and time frame.
Posted by
OP
Ithaca, NY, USA
787 posts
Sorry for the confusion! I was using March 27 as a test date just to see how the system works . I don’t need actual tickets until mid May. I was just shocked at how quickly the majority of time slots were completely filled in the first minute of availability and wondered if there were tips about what to do (in April) when I want to purchase tickets for May. Thanks everyone !
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
861 posts
It's precisely midnight, Dublin time. If your clock is slow, you lose. Luckily, for many of us, that's 4pm, so at least your sleep isn't disrupted. There are dozens of folk like you, and probably a few people using bots that make the slots disappear quickly. Some tour guides may have insider paths that get early access? Do your practice drill several times to get a feel for the required speed. May will be in higher demand than March. I got reservations for May 21, 2023 doing the same thing, and got the specific tickets I wanted (11:30am), but I'd assume that users are getting more agile, making the job tougher.
I used to live in San Diego, and I would telephone for tee times at Torrey Pines, using my office phone, serially dialing all four lines, hoping for a ringing phone. I currently play the online game with WSF reservations, and when the system updates the slots at 7am, they are all gone within minutes, and those are hundreds of slots.
Posted by
164 posts
I had no issues logging right before midnight for December tickets, but if you're concerned login with both your phone and laptop (or some other multiple devices) at same time. keep refreshing from about 5 minutes out. once you select time they will be held in the cart.