Working the system: tips and tricks

[sockii]

Yeah, I think we all agree the ticket situation sucks. Getting past this fact, here's what I've figured out from my experiences with ticketing so far, and ways to work the system to your best advantage.

1. Don't despair or rage about not having a BBRZ membership in time. Just make a pain of yourself with friends, family, and coworkers and find those who do, many of whom probably could care less about the Police. At the moment, I've already got 4-5 offers of codes lined up for the next wave of shows I might want to get tickets to, from folks I've talked to in the past week who are happy to help feed my addiction.

2. If you absolutely have to get to a particular show, don't even bother trying to get 4 tickets together. You're probably resigning yourself to the nosebleeds, if you can even get anything at all. This might change at some larger stadium shows, and I know folks like to be able to go and all sit together, but be realistic and have 2 folks trying for a pair each and figure out who sits with who later (or switch during intermission!) And don't rule out singles as you can probably get better tickets all around that way, especially in the general sale.

3. This has been said already but bears repeating: make sure you have a Ticketmaster account active, with current information, and that you're logged in to go at least ten minutes before the sale starts! And I'd also advise to store your credit card information on the site (I know lots of folks don't like to do this, but you can always delete the information after you've gotten your tickets). I've heard too many people say they lost great tickets because they typed in their credit card number wrong, or too slow, or there was some other problem when they submitted their information. The less room you leave for human error, the better your chances of getting through are.

4. Don't try keeping 2 ticketmaster windows open and searching for tickets at the same time, on the same computer. You'll get booted and lose your place in line.

5. If multiple dates are being offered at the location you want, aim for a non-Friday or Saturday night show, if possible. Less people can take off midweek for a show than on the weekend. The Friday MSG show, for example, went faster than the Wednesday show (and better tickets were available for Wednesday during the general sale - at least for the three minute or so window that anything was available!)

6. Don't trust your computer's clock - be on the ticketmaster site at least 5 minutes before the sale is supposed to start, and keep hitting that refresh button until the ticket sale option comes live. You don't want to be late by even 30 seconds.

7. If you get completely hosed, don't run to the scalpers and vendors just yet - check tpt.com messageboards and other fan sites where ticket trades and sales are only going to pick up as time goes on. Since no doubt lots of people were "teaming up" to make sure they got any tickets at all, there will likely be lots of extras up for grabs soon and at least some fans will be nice enough not to try to make a huge profit off of it.

8. If you ARE in the market for a "resale" ticket, be a little cautious of Ticketfast printed tickets unless you know the seller to be trustworthy (or buy it through a guaranteed service like Stubhub, where you are promised your money back if the ticket turns out to be a fake). No one stops you from printing as many copies of those Ticketfast tickets are you like, and only the first scan of that barcode through the door will work. As an extra precaution, make sure to get to the venue early with a Ticketfast ticket to make sure no one may come in after you with another copy of your ticket.

So far that's my advice...anyone have anything else to add?[/b]

[animal]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm sure it will beneficial to everyone during the next few weeks.

[roerigraider1]

Sounds like good advice, does anyone ever sleep out for tickets anymore? like at a ticketmaster outlet?

[sockii]

[quote="roerigraider1"]Sounds like good advice, does anyone ever sleep out for tickets anymore? like at a ticketmaster outlet?[/quote]

With tickets selling out in 10-20 minutes, unless you're the absolute first person in line at a ticketmaster outlet I don't honestly think you have a chance at getting anything these days.

[Snare]

I know for the Montreal show that has already sold out, they gave out random ticket bracelets at the arena the day before.

[jammin]

I was only offered tix in the $225 range when I tried during the BBRZ presale for Denver and Seattle. I couldn't ask for any tickets less than that amt.
I thought of trying in a level besides the floor, and lower level seats were $225 as well!
I plan on going as a foursome -with my old college rock band- in Denver, but after sockii's message, the possibility of us sitting together will be slim (even in cheaper seats?!).
I went ahead and bought 4 tix for the Denver show and this is what I got, for >$225 each:

2 seats together section 106 row 11
1 seat section 146 row 11
1 seat section 146 row 14

If anyone has any ideas for switching these for 4 seats together -preferrably in the $90/seat range, let me know. Thanks.
P.S. Still psyched!

[edgyspice]

sockii, you're the best. Thanks for the tips. =D

For anyone who's already done the Best Buy thing, are you only allowed to enter your code once during the presale period, or are you able to buy separate seats in different transactions? Although from jammin's post, it sounds as though price tiers are a moot point with the BBRZ presale.

[sockii]

[quote="Snare"]I know for the Montreal show that has already sold out, they gave out random ticket bracelets at the arena the day before.[/quote]

I heard that things were run a little different for Montreal (and possibly also Toronto) than some of the U.S. sales...that you had to actually physically be there for sales instead of being able to get them on-line? But that was second-hand from a friend who only heard that on the radio.

In the U.S. I wouldn't recommend trying to go to a ticket office to buy tickets. They're selling out on-line way too fast.

[conroy]

Sockii,

You rock!

[mudspoke]

Nicole,

Thanks so very much for your tips. In the interest of trying to eliminate as much as the learning curve as possible, I have a few questions:

1) If my friend is a BBRZ member, can he get a code, give it to me, and then I can I buy tickets with my credit card on Ticketmaster? Or should I just have him buy the tickets?

2) When can the BBRZ members get codes? When ticket sell dates are announced?

Sorry to be a nuisance. I am a minor control freak in normal life, and a major control freak when it comes to things like getting tickets to a concert that I've waited 24 years for!

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Loved your write up of the Whiskey experience. Great writing. You conveyed emotion so well I could [i]feel[/i] it.

[sockii]

>1) If my friend is a BBRZ member, can he get a code, give it to me,
>and then I can I buy tickets with my credit card on Ticketmaster? Or
>should I just have him buy the tickets?

I *believe* that if he gives you the code, you should be able to buy the tickets with it. At least, that's what I'm trying tomorrow morning for East Rutherford for the first time. I'll be sure to post if I have any problems with that (given BB codes were being sold on ebay before the first presales, I should think they are useable by anyone once generated.)

>2) When can the BBRZ members get codes?
> When ticket sell dates are announced?

I think they are available the day before the presale. I know the codes for tomorrow's presales became available this morning. Not sure if they were made available earlier for the other concerts that were announced with more lead time before the sales.

[Omaha_Perez]

[quote="sockii"]>1) If my friend is a BBRZ member, can he get a code, give it to me,
>and then I can I buy tickets with my credit card on Ticketmaster? Or
>should I just have him buy the tickets?

I *believe* that if he gives you the code, you should be able to buy the tickets with it. At least, that's what I'm trying tomorrow morning for East Rutherford for the first time. I'll be sure to post if I have any problems with that (given BB codes were being sold on ebay before the first presales, I should think they are useable by anyone once generated.)
[/quote]

Yeah, I can verify this... I used a code from my father-in-law's Rewards account and was able to purchase tickets with my own credit card.

[Snare]

There were also on-line sales for Montreal...

[sockii]

>Yeah, I can verify this... I used a code from my father-in-law's Rewards
> account and was able to purchase tickets with my own credit card.

Verifying as well. Just was able to do this this morning with someone's Best Buy code. Another good thing is make sure to just cut and paste that code exactly as it appears - don't try to re-type it in! The one I got had a rather confusing O vs 0, which if I'd misread in re-typing it could have slowed me down.

[roerigraider1]

just might have scored two codes from family members!! so what is it? I see all over E-bay people selling codes for $200, and the shows are not announced as of yet! is this fake? or can I obtain codes for shows that are not announced as of yet??? Chicago Il roerigraider1