Tricks of Ticket Master?

keithcandyl · July 2008

I spent most of the day on the Porch yesterday reviewing tips about how to get tix for the pre-sale. I got the BUY button at least 4 different times and even got as far as having them in my cart but then got mysteriously logged out and otherwise completely frustrated at the last minute. I timed it all and can tell you that I spent exactly 52 minutes total between clicking on the Chicago 1 and 2 icons but still no tix.

After that experience I was extremely disappointed and quite angry. But then I told myself that's not what being a PJ / Eddie fan is all about. If I can't have fun I'm doing something wrong. There's still Ticketmaster. And if that fails there's all the post-ticket selling here, right? I'm still hopeful.

With that said, I would really feel better if I could get tickets for Chicago tomorrow when they go on sale to the public. Can anyone give me any pointers on how Ticketmaster works and how I should be refreshing my screen at exactly 11am CST in the morning? One thing that I am going to do is have my husband at home trying to buy tix while I try for them here at work. We'll be coordinating on the phone to be sure we don't end up with 2 pairs. And if we do, I promise to sell one pair at face to a 10c member.

So please, can you give me your tips? I think I'll die tomorrow if I don't score. Of course I said that yesterday but I'm still here fightin'.

Peace, Love and Pearl Jam!

The Stugots · July 2008

Unlike the 10c ticket sale, you need to be very quick with your fingers once the clock hits 11 - both in selecting the number of tickets, and in entering the security code. Until you get to the "we're holding these tickets for you" screen you have nothing.

All that being said, scalpers have their fleet of minions at the ready doing all this at the same time, and they're probably more practiced than all of us.

Good luck.

gettingright · July 2008

once upon a time i would call tm about 15-20 minutes before tix went on sale; i would usually get an operator about 10 min before hand and would pretend i was having out of town guests in town and wanted to take them to a show. i would ask for recommendations, ask about sporting events, have them check prices, seats, and at about 2 minutes til, i'd ask about the show i wanted.

my biggest success with this method was getting 6th row center stage for REM on the Monster tour

you have to be crafty because if you get a jerky operator, they will hang up on you

if you are going on-line, i would shoot for the second show (if they are going on sale at the same time) because it is likely most may be going for the 1st show

hope this helps and good luck

PearlJamOnToast · July 2008

Here you go my friend:

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/07/30/how-to-get-tickets-for-any-ticketmaster-event/

lateralus963 · July 2008

PearlJamOnToast wrote:

Here you go my friend:

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/07/30/how-to-get-tickets-for-any-ticketmaster-event/

Thanks, I knew most of it except the clock thing. I am downloading now!

Oh also did you read the disclaimer that was great.

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan · July 2008

Thats good information. I would definately take the advise of using multiple browsers to obtain tickets. DO NOT use multiple windows of the same browser, it will not work.

One advantage of multiple browsers is if you actually get tickets, they will hold them for you for a few minutes, you can continue to search with the other browsers and see if a better set of tickets pops up...in which case, you can throw back the 1st pair and grab the better tickets. There are many times when I've had bad tickets in the 1st 30 seconds of tickets going on sale, only to see a better pair pop up a minute or two later. I usually use 3 browsers when I'm trying to get tickets for a hot show.

Make sure to have a copy of the seating chart printed out if you are unfamiliar with the venue. I even like to stay logged out of ticketmaster because once you pull tickets, you have a few minutes they will hold them...log into your account, and you have a few minutes more to hold them. Its worth practicing to get it down because there are real pro's out there who are very quick.

good luck

PearlJamOnToast · July 2008

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan wrote:

Thats good information. I would definately take the advise of using multiple browsers to obtain tickets. DO NOT use multiple windows of the same browser, it will not work.

One advantage of multiple browsers is if you actually get tickets, they will hold them for you for a few minutes, you can continue to search with the other browsers and see if a better set of tickets pops up...in which case, you can throw back the 1st pair and grab the better tickets. There are many times when I've had bad tickets in the 1st 30 seconds of tickets going on sale, only to see a better pair pop up a minute or two later. I usually use 3 browsers when I'm trying to get tickets for a hot show.

Make sure to have a copy of the seating chart printed out if you are unfamiliar with the venue. I even like to stay logged out of ticketmaster because once you pull tickets, you have a few minutes they will hold them...log into your account, and you have a few minutes more to hold them. Its worth practicing to get it down because there are real pro's out there who are very quick.

good luck

So are you saying to stay logged out when you search for tickets....then when you get tickets you'll be prompted to login?

emily6371 · July 2008

Thanks for posting!

tschav · July 2008

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan wrote:

Make sure to have a copy of the seating chart printed out if you are unfamiliar with the venue.

Definitely agree.

Also, don't refresh a browser window obsessively, because that might lock you out of Ticketmaster for a brief period of time. Check the atomic clock stuff mentioned in the first post so that you start refreshing near the time they become available.

I_Got_Shit · July 2008

PearlJamOnToast wrote:

So are you saying to stay logged out when you search for tickets....then when you get tickets you'll be prompted to login?

It's probably easier to log into your ticketmaster account before everything. He's just saying that if you don't log in at all, you get more time (about 6 minutes I think) to enter your billing info, and you can use that time to look for tickets in another browser window.

One thing I'm not clear on: Can it screw you up if you use more than one browser window? I'll be using a work computer and don't want to download that IP changer thing. Does ticketmaster "know" if you're using two windows?

P-Town-P-Jam-Fan · July 2008

You cannot use multiple windows "tabbed windows" of the same browser...they have to be different browsers.

And yes - make sure you do have an account...but don't log into it initially. After you have tickets in your basket and click continue..it will prompt you to enter your email and password...it gives you a couple minutes to do this...after you log in and click proceed, you get to the check out window and you get a few minutes more to hold the tix while you are searching for better seats with the other browsers..

I suggest practicing today with something that you know is not sold out so you can get the tickets in your basket and practice logging in get familiar with how it works and how much time you can stall the system without it releasing your tickets from your basket.

Igivesuchgoodparadym · July 2008

gettingright wrote:

once upon a time i would call tm about 15-20 minutes before tix went on sale; i would usually get an operator about 10 min before hand and would pretend i was having out of town guests in town and wanted to take them to a show. i would ask for recommendations, ask about sporting events, have them check prices, seats, and at about 2 minutes til, i'd ask about the show i wanted.

my biggest success with this method was getting 6th row center stage for REM on the Monster tour

you have to be crafty because if you get a jerky operator, they will hang up on you

if you are going on-line, i would shoot for the second show (if they are going on sale at the same time) because it is likely most may be going for the 1st show

hope this helps and good luck

I giggled when reading this. I used to do the same thing. Tickets would go on sale at 10am on a Saturday (EST) and I'd call with 3 phones at 9:50 am. I would get through using an out of state number and bs the operator about Harlem Globetrotter tix or something. Finally at 10:00 I'd ask if PJ or DMB or Alanis tickets went on sale yet (this must have been 8 or so years ago). Funny stuff...oh the memories.

BTW, they did hang up sometimes because they knew I played them.

spacecaptain · July 2008

I was wondering why forums.pearljam.com was driving traffic to that post on simplehelp.net today.

Anyway, the contents of that "tutorial" are still accurate. Tho I'm not as huge of a PJ fan as I once was, I still get front row or GA for the shows I want to go to.

As an aside, I mentioned in that article that I used those methods to get tickets for the "Pearl Jam in Atlantic City" shows. I sold them on this very board (couldn't go), at cost (of course). The guy I sold them to kept in touch for months and months after the show he was so grateful. PJ fans are cool kids in my book.

Super_Fan · July 2008

Ticketing methods purchasing through the internet keep on changing. Every tour or every few months ticketmaster.com keeps on changing. It matters to just purchase tickets every month. I was able to get tickets for Santa Barbara even though I didn't go last April to that show, but I got through for LA 2 with a single ticket, and I got through for San Diego 2 and got 6th row in a small venue like that. Warner Theatre will be the hardest ticket to get no question next to all 3 New York shows including Newark. Its best to try for 1 or 2 tickets for the show you try for. You can not try for 2 Eddie Solo shows at the same time. You might as well try for one show or your browser will screw you up and log you out. Its best to refresh with the rest of us and delete unnecessary programs from your computer. I'm trying for DC 1 at 10 a.m. and I know that the odds are almost zero to get tickets. Even if I did the drop at Warner Theatre I know that that Asian asshole named Ritchie will be calling the box office lady and print tickets to resell outside the venue. His goon's are right now lined up outside Warner Theatre to scalp tickets for him to protect his investment. Also if you live in Bel Air, MD the ticketmaster outlet at that Tanning Saloon is bought off by StageFrontTickets. I reported them to ticketmaster and their still operating, of course. All the College Park ticketmaster outlets are bought off by GreatSeatsUSA and there are 3 to 5 outlets down Route 1 so if you want to get these assholes find their offices and ransack the business. I can't go into all the details or they would find out who is reveiling their plans. They read these boards when mentioning their business or one of their DC's scum bag scalping friends. I want payback for these assholes scalping shows. The time is now to take over and drive them all out of business.

Tricks of Ticket Master?

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