Best method to purchase concert tickets?

[Slickone]

What's the best way to get close seats for large/very popular concerts?

I gotta get some this Sat. I figure there'll be quite a few people go to the venue to buy them (and it's not close to me), so I doubt that's a good choice. So that leaves:

1. At an outlet, like Hechts (clothing type deptartment store), or Kroger.
2. By PC to ticketmaster
3. By phone to ticketmaster

Good thing about a place like Hecths is I doubt many people will be there, but the employees in CS are older women, so not sure how fast they'll be working the ticket terminal.

Do they give people buying through ticketmaster.com as good of a shot at tix as they do the ticket terminals at the outlets?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

you all have the same shot...best bet is to find ther place with the shortest line.

 

[Mr N8]

Find out how to get in on the presale.

 

[Slickone]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
you all have the same shot...best bet is to find ther place with the shortest line.

I doubt it...and that'd be hard to do close enough to when it starts considering distance between them.

Originally posted by: MogulMonster
Find out how to get in on the presale.

You had to be an AOL member.

 

[Dubb]

the box office for the venue usually has a different selection of tickets than TM.com. if it's just you, I'd go stand in line as early as possible at the venue box office (that is, if the box office will start selling tix the same time as TM), and bring a cell phone. call TM while in line.

got friends?

one stands in line with a phone at the box office, one at an outlet, and however many you can round up to try tm.com from different internet connections (calling too). usually the folks with the fastest connections (universty backbones always seem to work best) get in easiest.

helps if you have a way for as many people as possible to communicate (text messages/IM), so when somebody scores good seats, word can go out. you can stall the reps on the phone while making a decision, and tm.com gives you 5min or so to complete the order after you've added them you your cart. takes some coordiation and skill, but doing this you can usually do ok on seats (depending on the show/venue)

of course, measures like this wouldn't be necessary so often if crap like I talked about here didn't happen. (scroll down, specifically the link I posted)

 

[HardcoreRobot]

only way to get good seats in my experience is pay an arm and a testicle to a scalper (aka ticket reselling agency)

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
only way to get good seats in my experience is pay an arm and a testicle to a scalper (aka ticket reselling agency)

see thread I linked to. Don't do that, then you're only making it worse.

 

[royaldank]

I worked at a ticketing company (no TM in my town) for 7 or 8 years. My advice would be a few friends at different outlets. All the TM computers have access to all the tickets. Just remember, there's hundreds and hundreds of people taking phone orders, hundreds of online orders, and hundreds of outlets selling the tickets. It will greatly help you to be first in line somewhere. With a few friends helping, surely someone will score some decent seats. Scalpers pay folks to stand at the venue and get good seats. Venue personel are quicker at working the machines and might have a minute or two headstart. That is how they end up with great seats. By the 2nd or 3rd "group" of customers buys their tickets, selection can be upper level by that time. TM has a pretty incredible system that they can sell as many tickets as they do. People hate them, but they do have a great system and can pull off some amazing stuff.

Dubb has the right idea.