Trying to buy coveted concert tickets online feels like an Olympic sport these days. Shows by popular artists like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, or BTS sell out within minutes as fans furiously scramble to secure limited spots. If you don’t have a strategy, you’ll likely end up frustrated and empty-handed wondering why scoring tickets seems nearly impossible.
Well, luckily, there are some insider tricks that can vastly improve your odds of locking down those coveted seats. Whether you’re trying to catch Billie Eilish’s next tour or want to score last-minute Beyoncé tickets, this comprehensive guide will equip you to beat the insane competition.
So how exactly can savvy music lovers stack the odds in their favor to finally secure in-demand concert tickets? Read on for 21 battle-tested pro tips.
Why Are Concert Tickets So Darn Hard to Get These Days?
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty tactics, let’s briefly look at why scoring tickets nowadays feels harder than finding a unicorn. Mainly, it boils down to:
- Astronomical demand – Chart-topping artists like Bad Bunny or Taylor Swift have absolutely enormous diehard fanbases clamoring for very limited concert supply. Venues only hold so many people. When millions want tickets, most will inevitably miss out.
- Sophisticated bots and scalpers – Ticket scalper bots run complex automated software programs that snatch up tickets the millisecond they go on sale. Ticket brokers and scalpers then resell the seats for mind-blowing prices. This unfortunately elbows out genuine fans.
- Presales cluttering up the process – Various presales for fan club members, credit card-holders etc. now precede the main sale date, making far fewer tickets actually available to the general public.
- Lightning quick sellouts – The insane level of current competition means hot shows can “sell out” instantaneously in seconds, before regular fans even fully load the ticket page. Being prepared is key.
But while the odds seem overwhelmingly stacked against us, there is hope! With the right game plan, plus persistence, fans can still beat the broken system and walk away with triumphant tickets in hand.
Let’s dive into the actionable tactics.
21 Savvy Tips to Vastly Improve Your Concert Ticket Odds
1. Get a head start with early announcements
One of the most valuable assets when vying for coveted tickets is time. The earlier you hear about upcoming concerts, the better prepared you’ll be once tickets officially go on sale. So take advantage of early intel! Join your favorite artists’ official mailing lists, follow them religiously on social media, turn on notifications. That way you’ll be clued into new tour announcements, album releases, and other updates right away so you can mark the important dates.
2. Capitalize on special pre-sales
Pre-sales give selected groups early access to tickets before the general population. To unlock these special pre-sale opportunities, consider joining an artist’s official fan club, which usually costs ~$50/year. Artists will often email fan club members unique pre-sale codes that grant access to tickets 24-48 hours before they go wide. You can also keep an eye out for various other pre-sales, like special deals for customers of American Express or Spotify. Just be aware – as more people catch onto the pre-sale game, these can sell out nearly as quickly as regular sales. You need to be ready to pounce!
3. Register or save payment info ahead of time
When highly coveted tickets go on sale, literal seconds count in grabbing seats or else they’ll be gone in a flash. You don’t want to waste precious moments entering payment card details under pressure. Register for ticket retailer accounts like Ticketmaster and Pre-queue your preferences well before tickets go live. Save your payment details as part of your account setup. That way you can breeze through checkout if you score a ticket, rather than get edged out while fumbling for your credit card.
4. Use multiple devices simultaneously
Here’s an insider trick: run the ticket sale queues simultaneously across multiple devices like your phone, tablet and laptop. Most ticket sellers allow you to have one browser window open per device. Coordinating efforts across devices gives you more chances at scarce tickets. You can assign different venues, concert dates, and ticket quantity/types to each device’s queue. Divide and conquer to cover more ground!
5. But stick to only 1 browser tab per device
Important caveat: while leveraging multiple devices is smart, be sure to limit yourself to just one browser tab open on each device. Most ticket sellers actively discourage queueing for tickets across multiple open tabs. They track IP addresses and it appears flipping between different open tabs on one device can reshuffle your place in queues and possibly even boot you out. Keep it simple tab-wise.
6. Turn on ticket price drop notifications
While top level tickets may sell out instantly, all hope for scoring seats isn’t lost! Many ticketing apps and resale sites like Vivid Seats have options where you can opt-in for alerts if ticket prices dip or new seats open up. Acts sometimes release contingeny holds leading up to shows.
Flip those notification settings on for your key concert dates. If new tickets unlock last minute or prices drop you’ll be the first to know!
7. Get intimately familiar with sites beforehand
Ever heard the old maxim, “Practice makes perfect”? Try taking ticket purchasing platforms for a test drive by running through their demo modes, which simulate the high-pressure ticket buying experience. Master site navigation, understand seat selection maps ahead of time. That way, when game day actually rolls around you can score seats swiftly rather than fumble around confused. Minimize your mistakes during the brief make-or-break purchasing windows.
8. Research seating charts and ticket types
Do your homework by studying venue seating charts long before the nerve-wracking ticket on-sale countdown begins.
Figure out whether floor tickets or lower bowl seats across from the stage seem most appealing. Understanding arena and seat geography means you can pull the trigger swiftly rather than hemming and hawing about options.
9. Coordinate with your concert crew
For super hot tours, consider teaming up with your concert going crew to scout tickets together. Assigned group members different devices, ticket quantity/types and even tour date requests to target.
Then if anyone successfully scores amazing seats first during the frenzy, quickly share the ticket purchasing link via group messaging apps. Friends can pile on the same section keeping your squad together. Divide and conquer!
10. Refresh wisely right before on-sale
Here’s a key insider tip: when competitive on-sales kick off, do NOT refresh your page repeatedly once already waiting in the ticket queue or you risk getting bounced to the dreaded back.
BUT strategically queue up early and then do refresh constantly in the minutes leading up the published on-sale start time to attempt accessing the queue early. Time it right to ride the first wave in.
11. Try again if “Sold Out” appears
Seeing the dreadful “Sold Out” notice flash across ticket sites feels terrible, but don’t abandon hope yet! Oftentimes additional ticket releases will dribble out in the hours or days following initial sell outs thanks to held production seats unlocking.
Build post-sell out rechecks into your concert hunting schedule. You just might get lucky with concert going karma rewarding your perseverance!
12. Tap into fan communities on Reddit
Strike out on box office sites? As a last ditch effort, search the concert’s subreddit thread. Savvy fans will share ticket release rumors, post about unsuccessful alt venue location searches, and even resell extra tickets at face value to help fellow fans.
Connect with the community and quite often you can score seats. But do ensure any seller seems trustworthy before exchanging money.
13. Avoid resale sites when possible
Secondary markets like StubHub or Vivid Seats are no doubt convenient, but their inflated resale prices mean shelling out insane amounts, sometimes 4x or 5x a hot ticket’s original face value!
As the absolute last resort, resale can make sense securing your must-see artist. But thoroughly vet seller ratings first and 100% confirm tickets before sending any money. Resellers aren’t always ethical.
14. Buy into artist fan club presales
Beyond general LiveNation or Amex pre-sales, many musicians run special fan club members-only presales rewarding their top supporters with fixture early ticket access.
While fan club membership costs ~$50 per year, early ticket code access can be invaluable in milestone years when even pre-sales sell out lightning fast. Superfans strongly recommend ponying up.
15. Save venue event calendars
Follow your favorite concert arenas and amphitheaters on Twitter or Instagram. When new events get announced, you’ll have the key date marked upfront rather than hearing late.
Missing the on-sale date feels terrible, so use social media to stay plugged into your areas and calendar upcoming sales the instant they’re publicized online.
16. Go hunting for leaked presale passwords
Missing out on an artist Facebook or Spotify presale code announcement feels downright tragic. But don’t abandon all hope! Leading up to sales, search Twitter targeting the event name + “presale code.”
Kind strangers will often publicly share unlocked pre-sale codes to help fellow fans access tickets. With some luck and the right search queries, you can score access last minute!
17. Prepare fanatically for on-sale opening bell
When battling for hyper competitive tickets, every single second matters. So log into Ticketmaster at least 10 minutes prior to the published on-sale kickoff time.
Enter payment details, ensure browser extensions are enabled, refreshers primed to go. As the countdown clicks zero, say a prayer to the Ticket Gods and pound refresh with reckless abandon!
18. BYOP – Bring Your Own Pre-sale Code
To really step up your ticket game, apply for a major credit card such as Citi, Chase or American Express which regularly offer cardholder-exclusive ticket pre-sales (and often snag-worthy perks like early venue entrance!).
Flashing your magical presale code credit card at just the right moments can hopefully unlock coveted seats when chaotic public on-sales sell out mercilessly fast.
19. Use autofill to enter details lightning speed
Waiting in anxiety-ridden online queues while manually typing address and credit card info character-by-character feels like the ultimate test of nerves.
Install handy browser autofill extensions like FormFiller to help rapidly populate your details. Checkout faster than bots circumventing CAPTCHAs when every millisecond represents a potential ticket lost!
20. If no browser luck, pull up the mobile app
As mentioned earlier, running ticket queues across both desktop browser and mobile app can maximize your odds given how the flows differ. If frustrating desktop browser attempts yield empty baskets, quickly toggle to apps.
Logging in with TouchID, bypassing CAPTCHAs, seeing different seat holds – the change of environment could possibly shake a ticket loose so keep that mobile flow in your back pocket.
21. Persist and never surrender!
Scoring coveted tickets in 2024 demands a willingness to persist through soul crushing queues, instantly sold out heartbreak and feats of copying CAPTCHA images at light speed under immense pressure.
Stay determined! Keep hunting across pre-sales, general on-sales and re-checks. Have backup cities in mind if your main show sells out. With smart prep, dedication, quick thumbs and a bit of luck, your ticket dreams can still come true!
Key Takeaways on Securing Coveted Concert Tickets
A few parting words of wisdom to remember:
- Join artist and venue email lists early to get access to special pre-sales
- Queue across multiple devices to hit ticket retailers from all angles
- Save your payment info to enable lightning fast checkouts
- Keep trying for tickets even if initial on-sales show “sold out”
- Register for fan club and major credit card pre-sales in advance
- Strategically refresh pages in the minutes leading up to published on-sale times
- Godspeed! Never surrender and may the ticket odds be ever in your favor!
Scoring in-demand concert tickets feels increasingly competitive as shows sell out in literal seconds. Yet genuine fans armed with battle-hardened tactics, persistence and a bit of luck can still beat bots and scalpers to emerge victorious.
So rally your concert crew, polish your payment methods and bookmark those key dates. The time has come to finally secure those floor seats to see Taylor or Harry live!
