Season ticket

[victor steinbok]

The OED has a definition of a "season ticket" under season n. C.2.

season ticket n. a ticket which admits the holder to travel on a boat or on
> a line of railway, to enter an exhibition, etc., an unlimited number of
> times during a season or specified period, at a reduced rate of payment;
> hence season-ticket holder.



This is a bit different from current American usage. The earliest quotation
(1820) is actually a reference to a Boston Theatre Season Ticket, so there
is some continuity. But, in most instances, today a discount document of
this nature might be more properly referred to as a "season pass", as used,
for example, for ski resorts. "Season pass" or "semester pass" is also the
usual reference to a discount card for public transportation that is made
available to college students, e.g. at UW-Madison. In other instances, the
name of the pass usually corresponds to the length of the discount period
and/or the mode of transportation, e.g., "bus pass", "day pass", "monthly
pass", "seven-day pass", "commuter rail pass", etc. (although for shorter
periods, usually 1-7 days, it may well be a "ticket").

A "season ticket" is more frequently used in connection with sports
events--particularly with professional and high-profile college teams--as
well as with cultural enterprises, such as a city orchestra, theater or jazz
club, although "subscription" is more commonly used with the latter bunch.
The holder of a "season ticket" get /all/ the tickets for a particular
season or some subset of tickets arranged along a particular theme--for
example, a baseball team may offer season tickets for all games, all weekend
games, all day games or all evening games. Holders of season tickets usually
get additional rights, such as a direct entry into a lottery for playoff
games, merchandise discounts, access to special events, etc. And a
particularly special right associated with season tickets is that they are
renewable--that is, a holder of a season ticket may purchase one for the
following year, while non-holders may be denied this opportunity if season
tickets are popular. Some fans make such season tickets hereditary. One
thing that season ticket holders usually don't get--at least, not at sports
events--is discounts on actual individual tickets, although the package for
a series of cultural events, such as theater season, may well cost less than
the total cost of individual tickets to each event.

I am not citing any of these because the usage is so common.

I have no idea how either phrase is used in the UK or other Anglophone parts
of the world. But the use of "season-ticket holder" remains the same--even
with a different kind of "season ticket".

In contrast, there are no OED entries at all for "season pass", "monthly
pass", "bus pass" or "day pass" (although, see below for more general
"pass").

"Bus pass" does appear in a quotation under "bus lane" in bus n.2:

1995    Independent 23 May 6/8   How about, for an experimental period,
> closing the House of Commons car park, giving each MP a week's bus pass, and
> putting a bus lane up and down Whitehall?


Similarly, "day pass" shows up under "life membership" in life n.:

 1999    M. Syal Life isn't all Ha Ha Hee Hee (2000) iii. 127   He had
> wangled the odd day pass, but life membership and bar privileges would not
> be forthcoming.


"Day pass" may mean either "one-time admission" or "unlimited admission/use
for one day".

A part of the problem is that in many modes of public transport in the US
tickets are obsolete--one pays when entering the vehicle (bus or trolley) or
the system (subway, metro, T, L, etc.) and that's the only transaction
that's necessary. Where the cost of a trip may depend on the location of
ingress and egress, such as DC Metro or SF BART, a physical ticket is
necessary to get on and off. But in NYC, Boston, DC and several other places
there is an additional distinction between [paper] tickets, [plastic] cards
and [monthly or multi-trip] passes. Tickets usually come with a fixed value
(although that value may go toward more than one ride). "Cards" are
refillable (a.k.a. "smart cards"). And "passes" are as I described
earlier--unlimited trips for a specified period or a specified number of
trips with a pre-paid discount.

General "pass" in this sense is a variant of pass n.4 7.a.and 7.f.:

7. a. Permission to leave, enter, or travel somewhere; a document giving or
> declaring such permission. Also fig.

 f. A card, ticket, or permit giving authorization for the holder to enter
> or have access to a place, form of transport, or event, esp. one which
> requires no payment, or for which payment has been made in advance. Also: a
> document showing that the holder is entitled to concessionary fares, rates
> of admission, etc.


Note, however, that the subway tickets and cards are rarely, if ever,
identified as "passes", except in the "monthly pass" or "season pass" uses.
Also note that some quotations under 7.f. use "pass" in a different sense
(closer to 7.a.?):

1894    Times (Weekly ed.) 9 Feb. 113/2   An‥applicant for a free pass over
> this company's lines of railway.
> 2002    Daily Variety (Nexis) 4 Dec. 45   As a young boy he distributed
> weekly circulars for the local movie theater door-to-door. His pay was an
> unlimited free pass to the movies.


In both of these, "pass" is actual passage or access, not a document
signifying permission for passage. Other quotations refer to physical
documents or tickets that allow passage or allow unlimited passage.

VS-)

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