K-Bops in K-Pop

So, I went to see BTS back in 2017 and it was the best time of my life (second only to the day I married my wife). I had an amazing day with incredible friends (who then went to my wedding) and I always think about how lucky I was to go. I wanna share my experience about how I was able to go and get P2 floor seats for me and my best friend because whether it’s BTS or another group, getting tickets is stressful. Hopefully, these tips will help you next time you have to tackle ticket buying.

Strength in Numbers

It’s an odds game when you are vying for tickets. You want to use as many devices as possible with as many people as possible. For instance, I used two laptops and two iPads plus my phone when I was buying tickets. I also had a friend who asked some of her friends who had no interest in going to the concert but had a free afternoon to help her buy tickets. The more devices you have in the queue, the better your chances.

The opposite of this is that the more tickets that you need to buy, the worse your chances are of getting the seats you want. The most tickets that you want to buy at a time is three. Any more than that and you’re gonna be gambling with probability.

Prep Everything

Don’t stress yourself out by getting your device out the moment the tickets go on sale. Give yourself time beforehand to turn everything on, open up your browser, and get the ticket page open.

Also–and this is super important–put in your payment info beforehand! It’s normal to get nervous when you’re buying the tickets. That’s just how it goes. You fill up with adrenaline and you can’t get your hand to steady as you’re typing. Don’t put extra burden on yourself by having to type in your payment info at the moment you purchase the tickets and enter it into your account before. I did this when I was buying the BTS tickets and it made the process much smoother.

Refresh, Refresh, Refresh

Ticketmaster is a finicky little website and it likes to play tricks on users. Yes, Ticketmaster does put you in a queue. Don’t refresh during that page or it’ll send you to the back of the line! However, after that, you get to the ticket page and Ticketmaster shows you the map…and you see this.

Now, most people think this means that they’re all sold out and they give up. DON’T.

Tickets are constantly being released as people select different seats, don’t have their payment ready, decide they can’t go, etc. This is the point where you have to refresh. And keep refreshing. It is so easy to get frustrated, but that is exactly what puts you out of the running.

Don’t Be Picky

When Ticketmaster finally does show you a seat–any seat–take it. Don’t question it. Take it. For real. You may have wanted floor seats, but if Ticketmaster is giving you Section 105–take it! At least you’ll get to go! This is what makes people miss out on amazing concerts, because they want the perfect seats but that’s not always going to happen.

Besides, there is another way. When I was buying tickets for BTS, I wanted floor seats. That’s what my friend and I budgeted for. However, the first seats that were offered to me were in the stands. When they came up, I didn’t question it and I bought them.

Then I kept refreshing. I kept trying and kept trying because I figured there was no harm in it and, if it came down to it, I could probably sell my other tickets pretty easily.

And then I got them. Because everyone was on Twitter and Tumblr spreading rumors that floor seats were all sold out, no one was trying for them anymore. A good half hour had passed since the tickets had gone on sale, but there they were. P2. And I bought them without a second thought.

I immediately took to Tumblr after to sell my first set of seats and I sold them without any problems within, like, fifteen minutes. Which goes to show that sometimes you just have to get creative and not give up.

Be Patient

It can be frustrating to not get tickets when they first drop, but don’t worry! Tickets go on resale all the time. While the first couple of months after the tickets go on sale the tickets are crazy expensive, they gradually decrease in price and you can get them just before the concert for really cheap. My friend bought tickets to see BTS in P1 when they first dropped and she wandered over to the venue the day before to check out the merch stand and she was able to buy cheap seats from an ARMY who’d happened upon better seats for that night. She spent something like $60 and got to see BTS two nights in a row–one night in cheap, comfy seats, and the second less than twenty feet away from them.

Final Thoughts

Ticket buying is not an exact science, but there are ways to make it easier for yourself. I’ve been wanting to share this experience for a while because people almost always need it and there’s too much false information spread around that discourages people from buying their faves’ concert tickets.

I hope this clarified some things and made you feel more prepared for the next time you buy concert tickets. What other tips and tricks do you have for buying tickets for concerts? Let me know in the comments!