We asked 3 Taylor Swift superfans how to score tickets for The Eras Tour. Here are their Ticketmaster tips
Update, Nov. 15:
As fans waited in the Verified Fan pre-sale queue for Taylor Swift tickets on Tuesday, Ticketmaster postponed its West Coast sales for Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Las Vegas, and Seattle until 3 p.m. PT, with queues opening 30 minutes prior, and rescheduled its Capitol One pre-sale for Wednesday at 2 p.m. local venue time. This was originally scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. local venue time Tuesday.
“There has been historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up to buy tickets for the TaylorSwiftTix Presale,” Ticketmaster shared in a statement, adding that “hundreds of thousands of tickets have already been sold.”
Original post:
Frank DiNozzi’s new Capital One card arrived just in time.
The 25-year-old admissions counselor from New Jersey (@frankkd97 on TikTok) is pulling out all the stops for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, the artist’s first tour in five years with four new records in tow. He has a FaceTime with friends planned for when tickets drop, at least six backup plans for seat selections, and, now, a new credit card, since Capital One cardholders have premium presale ticket access.
DiNozzi is a longtime “Swiftie” (favorite album: “Speak Now”) and just one of the many fans scheming for tickets. From what he’s seen, it’s already shaping up to be a bloodbath.
“To put it into perspective, when she announced [her previous tour] Lover Fest on Instagram, it got a little over a million likes. The Eras Tour got over five million,” DiNozzi says. Already, fans have reported hours-long waits and website crashes just to register for Verified Fan presale tickets for Swift’s concert.
Recent concert ticket drops, from Olivia Rodrigo to Bruce Springsteen, have drawn the ire of fans due to glitches, scalpers, and so-called dynamic pricing, which adjusts ticket price based on demand, “similar to how airline tickets and hotel rooms are sold,” according to the Ticketmaster website. But some argue that dynamic pricing just raises prices to absurd levels, scaring away both scalpers and true fans.
While it’s not yet clear if dynamic pricing will be used for Swift’s concert, Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan platform for presale claims to “level the playing field so that more tickets go to fans who intend to go to the show—and not to ticket bots.”
Those real fans can register for the Verified Fan presale tickets until 11:59 p.m. ET tonight. While this doesn’t guarantee a ticket, fans who successfully accessed presale will find a code in their inbox on November 14 to use on November 15 starting at 10 a.m., local stadium time. Capital One cardholders have another chance at 2 p.m. on November 15, local stadium time, and the general public sale will begin on November 18 at 10 a.m., local stadium time.
Three die-hard Swifties shared their Ticketmaster tips and tricks with Fast Company. Their meticulous advice demonstrates just how serious these ticket drops can be.
Before the Sale: Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.
Verified Fan presale closes tonight, and codes for lucky registrants will arrive on November 14. But fans have figured out how to best use the time in between.
Ashley Nicholson (@ashleypaigenicholson on TikTok), 25, is a fan from Missouri (Swift has even commented on her TikTok page). Before November 15, Nicholson says that fans who signed up for the Verified Fan presale should:
If fans haven’t used Ticketmaster before, Nicholson recommends a practice round: going through the motions as if they are getting tickets for another event so that they are familiar with the process.
DiNozzi adds that going through this process will also familiarize fans with some of the fees to expect to factor into their budget conversations ahead of time.
The Day of the Sale: Move Swiftly (Pun Intended).
The day that Swift announced her tour, Abbey Barker, 21, a senior in college from Ohio, created her fan account (@tswifterastour) as an information source for fans. Many fans had very specific questions, which Barker sought to answer. (For instance: Is it a scam that Swift’s shows in Glendale and Arlington have tickets on Seat Geek instead of Ticketmaster? Hint: it’s not.)
Barker developed a few key tips for Verified Fan presale day:
1. Get set up strategically.
First and foremost, Barker says to use whatever device will allow for the strongest internet connection. “Don’t have more than one tab open. Don’t have three Ticketmaster tabs open. It’ll think you’re a bot. It’ll kick you out,” Barker says. About 10 minutes before the presale time, Ticketmaster recommends joining the waiting room.
Here, the fans differed on strategies: While Barker plans to enter the site right at 10 a.m., Nicholson joins the waiting room about 10 minutes before, and DiNozzi has the page open 30 minutes before—even before the waiting room officially opens—to verify information and have the site loaded before thousands of fans open the page.
2. Don’t manually refresh.
Once the clock strikes 10 a.m., Barker has a crucial tip: “Never manually refresh. That’s the big no-no.” The temptation might be strong––Barker says that waiting in this queue could take mere minutes, but has heard of people waiting up to eight hours in the queue for Lover Fest tickets. Nevertheless, “resist the urge to refresh,” cautions Ticketmaster’s website. “Your page will automatically refresh when you enter the Queue.”
3. Once it’s your time to get tickets, move quickly.
Once fans have been let in from the queue, they have 10 minutes to shop. Each person has a six-ticket purchase limit, and Barker recommends using filters on the site to search by price point, best available, etc. to find preferred tickets as quickly as possible, if they are still available (this is where DiNozzi’s six back-up plans come into play).
At this point, time is of the essence, but solid preparation should make this part go smoothly, Nicholson says. If fans are unsuccessful in Verified Fan presale, they have another opportunity with the Capital One presale (if they are cardholders) and then again with the general sale starting November 18.
“We just have to be patient because there’s a lot of people buying tickets, but there’s also a lot of seats,” Nicholson says. “And considering she’s added eight more shows on top of what she originally announced, they’re watching the demand.”
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