A guide on how to beat Ticketmaster; from someone who has lost countless times.

Over the past few years concert culture has skyrocketed. More people than ever have been attending and selling out venues within minutes of the pre-sale launch. I personally have experienced this devastation three separate times. My first heartbreak was when I lost my all time dream concert: Noah Kahan. Then there was Gracie Abrams, and  Ethel Cain. 

You readers may be wondering, “What concerts have you gotten tickets to, you clearly are not experienced in the Ticketmaster field” Well, to prove my worthiness, here is a list of of my top “Ticketmaster wins”

Billie Eilish

Role Model

Half Alive

Hozier

The Lumineers

LOLLA  PALOOZA (4 day pass with 5 of my friends)

Lord Huron 

And those were just my top harrowing experiences. Waiting in the queue to buy concert tickets is an art of patience. The urge to refresh your page to see if you may be able to skip the line is like an itch you can never scratch because once you refresh, there is a high chance you may be booted to the back of the line. 

With concert season coming up, here are my five tips on how to secure tickets to your favorite artist through Ticketmaster. 

1. Sign up for the pre-sale. Signing up for the presale is the MOST IMPORTANT step. It gets you early access to tickets for the cheapest price. However, signing up for pre-sale does not get you guaranteed tickets. Pre-sale tickets WILL sell out and leave you to have to buy regular priced tickets. (Which can be hundreds or thousands of dollars more.)
2. Once you have gotten the pre sale link, (usually found on the artist’s instagram when they announce an upcoming tour) join the queue on the designated day as soon as possible on multiple different Ticketmaster accounts. I personally have three separate accounts where I join the queue. Make sure your accounts are on separate devices so that Ticketmaster doesn’t think you are a robot and block you forever. (I learned this the hard way) I usually use my phone, laptop, and iPad. 
3. DO NOT REFRESH YOUR PAGE. While in line in the queue you may feel like refreshing your browser will help with your odds of being higher up in line but that is false. Ticketmaster is a mysterious being but one thing that I have learned over and over again is that once you refresh, your odds of getting tickets decrease substantially. 
4. Have a card on file. Before the pre-sale even starts, put your card number into Ticketmaster so that you don’t have to waste valuable time filling out a million different questions and numbers. Yes, tickets will sell out when you are checking out. 
5. If you don’t get tickets, don’t fret. I do not recommend buying them from a reseller because you probably will get scammed and often there is no way to verify that they’re legit. My friend bought Billie Eillish tickets from a reseller and got scammed out of $160. If you feel like you MUST see these artists, I recommend staking out the venue right before the concert starts and buying tickets last minute. Your seats might not be the best, but prices of tickets gradually decrease right before the concert starts because Ticketmaster gets desperate to sell the rest of the tickets. 

Those are my five best tips for buying concert tickets through Ticketmaster. Remember that even if you do everything right, there is still a chance that you won’t be able to secure tickets to the artist you want to see. Ticketmaster is greedy and unforgiving. Do not blame the artist, they are doing their best to help their fans see them. Remember who the real enemy is, Ticketmaster.