Children of all ages need tickets to London Olympics, parents outraged

Some of the headlines for the story in the press read “Breastfeeding moms furious…..”, but the decision affects all parents.  If you’ll be going to the London Olympics then you’ll need to purchase a ticket regardless of how old, or young your child is.

If you go to Walt Disney World or take a flight, then the rule is that if they’re 2 or under, they’re free and sitting in your lap.  That’s a great rule.  For the London Olympics even if your baby is newborn and in a sling you’ll need to get a ticket for them.

They’re selling tickets on a sliding scale that known as the Pay Your Age initiative.  So if your baby is 1, then you’d pay one pound.  Pay Your Age is for children 16 and under.  Where it gets confusing is that if your child was conceived, but not yet born when tickets when on sale, then they also have to have one.  Also these specially priced tickets are good at a third of all venues and at all sports.

Confused yet?  Also the deadline for ticket purchases was last April, so if you have tickets to an event and will have a baby by the time the London Olympics come around you better get a baby sitter.

The BBC did a nice job of breaking down what area stadiums normally charge for children.   Those rates are based on common sense, usually with kids under 2 being free to “if they’re walking” then they’re expected to have a ticket purchased.

Charging tickets for children under 2 years old seems desperate and makes people wonder if ticket sales are indeed that poor.  The pricing scheme had been announced for a while, but I suspect that many new parents learned that a ticket would have to be purchased for kids of any age.  It’s a good thing that the outrage happened because it just doesn’t make sense.

The children, presuming that they’ll be in their parent’s arms, wouldn’t be taking up any resources.  If it’s a sport where silence is mandatory; then of course, highly suggest that children under a certain age not attend.  However, most of the games in the London Olympics don’t require the auditorium to have airtight silence.

Thanks to the visual imagery of angry breastfeeding moms having to purchase tickets for their newborns the London Olympic organizers will evaluate remaining tickets in April.  Let the parents enjoy the London Olympics with their young kids already.  Establish a flat fee for the leftover tickets at a children’s rate of five pounds and the Olympic organizers will come out ahead financially and in PR.