Last year, a resale ticket to Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour cost an average of $2,183. That was part of a larger pattern: From 2019 to 2023, consumers faced a 95% spike in concert resale prices. Some people found ways to benefit. One reseller I read about reported making a $20,000 profit. But fans like me had to deal with sticker shock after a Ticketmaster fiasco made purchasing face-value tickets nearly impossible.
While scanning resale sites for her New York shows in May 2023, I found an obstructed-view seat at the top of the stadium for about $1,000. It seemed like a bargain compared to another ticket closer to the stage, listed at more than $15,000. For a brief, particularly delusional moment, I considered spending a thousand dollars. I had never considered spending so much on live music before, but the Eras Tour featured songs spanning her entire career. It promised to unlock too much nostalgia to pass up.
I had been listening to Taylor Swift since I was about 14 years old and leaned on her music as I grew up. Swift crystallized the sometimes heartbreaking and ecstatic moments of girlhood with catchy, relatable songs. At the age of 30, I wanted to relive the eras of my youth alongside tens of thousands of like-minded people. Thankfully, I snapped out of it and stayed home. I was disappointed and had to stop watching tour content online as it added salt to the wound, but I was glad I saved the money and hopeful I would still somehow get another chance.
A few months later, Taylor Swift, now officially a billionaire, announced a European leg of her 2024 tour. After Ticketmaster failed me again, I turned to StubHub in July 2023 and found floor tickets to her Paris show for about $400 each. I bought two: One for me, and one for a friend and fellow co-conspirator who quickly reimbursed me. I paid about $230 above face-value, which was still less than the unbelievable amount I would have had to pay in the States.
The concert became the centerpiece of a week-long vacation in Europe. I started the week in Barcelona and ended it in Paris. I spent about $620 on flights, split a hotel with my partner in Barcelona before he took off for Morocco, and saved money on a hotel in Paris by staying with a friend. For months, I worried my resale tickets could be a scam, but I proceeded with booking flights and making travel plans. I figured if it didn’t work out in the end, I would still get to see both Spain and France, and there’s nothing bad about that.
I arrived in Paris the day before the show and found out another friend from New York was in town. She didn’t have plans to go to the concert. We gathered over a spread of charcuterie and throwback Taylor Swift tunes — and by the end of the night she had purchased a resale floor ticket for the equivalent of $245. In May, my two friends and I boarded the train to La Défense Arena in Paris. Many Americans, I learned, were making the same journey. We met a mother from New York who checked her daughter out from school the day before, surprising her with tickets and a flight across the Atlantic.
In a crowd of glitter and friendship bracelets, we made our way to the entrance of the stadium. Our tickets were scanned and finally, we were in. We spent the next several hours dancing, singing, and swaying with the crowd. We savored the show, indulging in music that transported us to a past decade. My friend said we had reached “peak girlhood.”
For less money than Taylor Swift tickets were re-selling for in the U.S., I was able to eat tapas in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and dine on sugar-dusted crepes with a view of the Eiffel Tower. I spent quality time with people I love and wandered through beautiful cities. With their sequined dresses and shiny cowboy boots, the Taylor Swift fans that crashed into Paris that weekend were easy to spot. On the metro, in gardens and at bistros throughout the city, strangers gushed with excitement. Finally, we got to be part of the cultural phenomenon — in Paris, of all places.
The day after I saw the show, I spotted two bejeweled tourists hopping into a taxi and guessed they too were heading to see the tour. I told them to have the best time. When they smiled back and thanked me, I detected an American accent. I hope they also saved some money last year and spent it on a European getaway instead.
I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan for a long time, so when she announced her Eras Tour in the US, I did everything I could to grab tickets. I live in New York City, but I registered as a Ticketmaster “verified fan” for the Massachusetts show at Gillette Stadium because I thought I’d have a better shot at scoring tickets in a smaller city. My dad lives in the Boston area, so I was willing to take the Amtrak.
On the day of the sale, I waited in the Ticketmaster queue for hours. When I finally got through, my computer screen froze — the tickets sold out right before my eyes. Three hours later, I logged on in desperation and snagged two obstructed-view nosebleed seats for the Friday show for $50 each. Luckily, one of my friends had an extra ticket in a better section for the Sunday show, and I paid her about $200 for that club-level seat. With my $90 round-trip train ticket, my total for the two-show weekend came to $340, and it was absolutely worth it.
After seeing the Eras Tour twice in Massachusetts, I knew I wanted to experience it again with my mom and my boyfriend. But the US resale market was upselling tickets for thousands of dollars. I decided it would be more economical — and fun — to join the European leg of the tour. The face-value tickets were cheaper, so I figured I could use the rest of the money I would’ve spent on resale tickets to get flights and accommodations.
I registered for all the European presale dates and received codes for both Milan and Paris. The Milan show tickets were sold through TicketOne, a site I registered for in advance. On the day of the sale, I joined the queue when it opened at 6 a.m. ET. I was through checkout in less than an hour with two tickets for $147 total. Once I secured the tickets, I booked an Airbnb in Milan for two nights for $324. My boyfriend and I don’t have flights yet since the concert isn’t until July 2024, but I’m expecting to spend around or under $800 for my round-trip ticket.
The Paris show used Ticketmaster. I’d already had a lot of problems with the site, and the sale time was 9 a.m. local time, which is 3 a.m. ET. I joined the queue with over a million people despite tickets only being available to verified fans with a code. This caused the site to crash, and Ticketmaster ended up pausing the queue and rescheduling the sale. The new sale was spread out over four days, one for each night of the Paris tour in May 2024.
I woke up again at 3 a.m. for the first-night sale. That time, I made it to the checkout only to have my card declined due to potential fraud since I’m based in the US. I called my bank so I could override any fraud-protection measures for international purchases for the next few days. For the second sale, I set another 3 a.m. alarm. Luckily, I got through the queue with two unobstructed tickets for $267 total. My mom and I are planning on spending five days in Paris, so I booked an Airbnb for $1,000. We haven’t booked flights but are hoping to use racked-up airline miles for most of the trip.
The Eras Tour was an incredible experience that I’ll remember forever. And now I have the opportunity to see it again with two of the most important people in my life. I’m so excited to watch Swift perform again and explore two beautiful countries.
Source: CNBC, Insider
