Jesus guys. It's not like they've asked you each to line up a loved one to be a human sacrifice at the ticket office before you can claim your ST. There are plenty of avenues available for getting personal credit to buy a season ticket, or alternatively just pay on the day. If the number of ST holders drops significantly then maybe it would be reassessed for next year. As it is, this is the way it's going to be for 2010/11. You can either arrange your own credit or suck up the one off payment.
Personally, I'm just happy that prices haven't shot through the roof.