In this case, life is perfectly fair. I remember a discussion in 2005 on the other place where somebody came on moaning that Glyndebourne's Giulio Cesare at the Proms was "all very well for those lucky enough to be at the front and have a good view". I can tell you that luck had b*gger-all to do with it, but queueing from 9am seemed to have the desired effect.
Similarly, the way to get tickets for popular shows at Covent Garden, without paying up to join the Friends, is to be in the online or telephone queue within seconds of public booking opening. 10am on 5th December is the next one (that's booking for Tosca, Carmen, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra and The Minotaur). There are plenty of tickets in all price brackets reserved for public booking, you just have to be on the ball.
http://info.royaloperahouse.org/Tickets/Index.cfm?ccs=126&SubNavMenu=3(As regards seeing things twice: the booking limit for the more popular productions is 2 tickets per person - which pays off when there are two good casts and you're a singleton
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