I also got a reply from the ACO this morning as I have not yet received a letter. These are apparently being sent out first to "regulars" and then in order of receipt of the booking request. I have asked them how one goes about becoming a regular!
Just a guess: May be "regulars" are people with a customer number from previous bookings. I have the same customer numbers for some years already and I always put it on the booking form when ordering next year's tickets.
I think you'll find this is what I refer to as the "magic list" there is clearly a status whereby you get whatever you want regardless of when you book (or even if you book)
It appears to be those who have booked tickets for a good number of years (I'd guess 10 years plus) seem to get special status which probably explains why the likes of Paddy apply for tickets in May and still get rejected!
BTW I'm not knocking those that are on it it, I'd be very pleased if I was on it but sadly I'm clearly not! I'm just fairly convinced that quite a lot of these tickets are the ones finding their way onto ebay....
Edited to say: present company excepted of course, I know there are those on here who are on the "magic list" and do a nice job of passing their tickets along at FV....
