Attention ticketbastard veterans

[U2isthebest]

So, tomorrow, I will be attempting to procure tickets for a small show that I know will sell out instantly. Tickets go on sale at 1pm ET, and I plan on beginning to continuously refresh the page starting at 12:50. Does anyone with experience have any tips or tricks to make the experience easier? Normally, I just wait and am able to find decent deals on Stubhub, but I doubt that will be an option this time.

 

[Popmartijn]

Do you have an account already on Ticketmaster? If not, create one beforehand. If you do, make sure you're logged in way before. Even at 12:50 the site might be crowded already. As the site remembers you for a bit longer, maybe even log in tonight or tomorrow morning.

Use multiple browsers, also multiple brands (IE, Mozilla, Chrome). Sometimes, it's not working fine with one while going OK with the other. If you have multiple computers in the house, those might also be helpful.

And while you might think that starting to hammer the site at 12:50 will give you an advantage, it doesn't. The site doesn't start taking requests for the tickets until 13:00, so until then you're just put in a queue (and will not move forward once the site opens). The trick is to put in a new request at 13:00:01, when the site has opened. For exact times, look here: The World Clock – Time Zones
So try for a new request at 12:59, 13:00, 13:01 and don't only let the old one run out. After 13:01 you can be pretty sure you are in the same queue like the rest of those trying.

Good luck!

 

[trojanchick99]

The best bet is to use the fastest internet you can find and as Popmartjin already recommended, don't try for tickets until 1pm. Ticketmaster is very good about being on time, so you really don't need to worry about them going up early.

Also, just hope you get an easy captcha.

 

[U2isthebest]

Thank you so much! It's for RHCP in Vegas on New Year's Eve, and it's a very small show for them, (only 4,000), so tickets will likely go almost instantly. So, just to clarify, as soon as 1pm hits, I should enter a new request in addition to any I may have started a few minutes early (if I choose to do that)?

 

[U2isthebest]

Oh, yeah, I've never really had any problems with any of their codes the few times I have purchased from the site, so I think that should be ok. Thank you!

 

[U2isthebest]

I mainly use Firefox. IE is the devil, to me. But perhaps I should download Chrome.

 

[bonocomet]

Also remember that even if it looks like the show has sold out instantly, and tells you there are no tickets available, keep trying. This happened to me with my RHCP tickets! What happens is I guess the tickets get snapped up while people look at the seats chosen, have to fill in their info, pay with credit card info, etc... but then slowly all those time limits start expiring the seats go back up for grabs on all the ones people return or don't pay for in time.

I first got the no tickets available message for a while, then slowly they started popping up again about 15 minutes later. At first they were nosebleeds, but I kept trying and the seats got closer and closer. I'd say about an hour after the sale started, I got seats pretty close to the stage! I know that's sort of a game of Russian roulette though so you have to decide if you want to wait or not when you do pull them up.

Good luck!!

 

[U2isthebest]

@JJ$#@JWK!!!! I JUST GOT THEM IN THE PRESALE! I thought I'd give it a try just for the hell of it, and it turns out it didn't even require a password. I didn't have even the slightest bit of trouble. The lovely Kafrun and I will be spending New Year's Eve with RHCP in Vegas. This will be my 3rd time seeing them this year (I saw them in Detroit and in the front row at Lolla), and I can't think of a better way to end my year.

 

[Popmartijn]

@JJ$#@JWK!!!! I JUST GOT THEM IN THE PRESALE! I thought I'd give it a try just for the hell of it, and it turns out it didn't even require a password. I didn't have even the slightest bit of trouble. The lovely Kafrun and I will be spending New Year's Eve with RHCP in Vegas. This will be my 3rd time seeing them this year (I saw them in Detroit and in the front row at Lolla), and I can't think of a better way to end my year.

Awesome! Well done!
But don't forget our advice for a next time you need tickets.

 

[U2isthebest]

I certainly won't! I really appreciate the help from everyone. Thank you again!

 

[trojanchick99]

@JJ$#@JWK!!!! I JUST GOT THEM IN THE PRESALE! I thought I'd give it a try just for the hell of it, and it turns out it didn't even require a password. I didn't have even the slightest bit of trouble. The lovely Kafrun and I will be spending New Year's Eve with RHCP in Vegas. This will be my 3rd time seeing them this year (I saw them in Detroit and in the front row at Lolla), and I can't think of a better way to end my year.

Congrats! My coworker sent me info on Cosmopolitan's package for that. $1600 but it includes tickets and the room for 2 nights. Still out of my price range at the moment.

 

[U2isthebest]

Haha, yeah, I'm definitely not staying there. Wayyyy out of my price range. Kafrun has already found some decent deals on some pretty nice hotels, so I feel much better about that. I'm hoping to book my flight within the next couple weeks.

 

[trojanchick99]

Nice. I'll likely be heading to Vegas for the Gaga, so no NYE for me. You will have a great time! Just try to book a hotel where you don't need a taxi because trying to find one on NYE in Vegas might be ridiculously hard.