While R11 a ticket sounds like a dream come true for many, the biggest 'catch', so to speak, is the waiting room.
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CHARGE your phones, switch on those laptops and prepare to master the art of patience as FlySafair announced on Tuesday that it will bring back its birthday sale. This year, tickets will be selling for R11 from Wednesday morning, starting at 9 am.
It added that the sale will start at 9 am and end at 23:59. The airline said it is set to sell 50,000 seats across its domestic flight network.
FlySafair said the R11 also includes airport tax, and it celebrates its 11th year of operations in South Africa.
It's worth noting that the sale will take place exclusively on FlySafair’s website.
While R11 a ticket sounds like a dream come true for many, the biggest 'catch', so to speak, is the waiting room.
The waiting room will provide access to a select number of lucky customers who will then have 10 minutes to complete their purchase.
FlySafair is only one of many that use online waiting rooms.
The waiting room is a system where users are directed to a waiting room before being allowed to proceed with booking. This system is important as it helps to manage traffic and prevent website crashes, ensuring a smoother booking experience for all customers.
This is how the waiting room process will more or less look.
We (the users) are directed to a waiting room, where we all hope and pray that we 'finally get in this year'.
Some users are then randomly selected to move forward with their booking.
These lucky individuals are redirected to the booking section of the website to proceed with their booking. This is the part where they usually take screenshots to show that they managed to get the coveted tickets.
The first person to complete their payment during a sale or peak demand period is allocated the available fare.
When big online events or sales kick off—like FlySafair’s R11 birthday bonanza—visitors are funnelled into an online waiting room. Think of it as a digital queue, where the system automatically places you in line the moment you hit the site.
Sometimes, you’ll get a countdown timer, a message with your position in line, or even a fun mini-game to pass the time, as FlySafair will reportedly have this year. While you’re waiting, you're not actually on the airline’s website—instead, you're parked on a separate system built to handle the flood of traffic.
This helps protect the main site from crashing under pressure. Once it’s your turn, you’ll be redirected to the real booking platform where you’ll have a limited time to grab your deal before the next hopeful person is let through.
This brings us to why these waiting rooms are done.
While we are on the topic of airlines, let's think of waiting rooms as airport security. It keeps away the bad and lets the good through. It's an important tool for companies dealing with high-demand events and sales.
For starters, they help manage traffic and protect websites from crashing. By regulating how many people can access the booking page at once, companies keep things running smoothly behind the scenes.
They also level the playing field. These queues use smart tech to give everyone a fair shot, not just the fastest fingers. It's also worth noting that the tech and mechanisms used for these waiting rooms may vary across companies and events, with some being random selection or a first-come-first-served system, or even both.
And perhaps most importantly, they help block bots and bad actors from snapping up tickets before real people even get a chance.
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