How to save on tickets to concerts and other events

Three smiling young people buying tickets at a ticket booth window

Track prices, take advantage of presales and tap credit card rewards

(Image credit: FG Trade / Getty Images)

Your favorite musician is coming to town, and you can’t wait to buy tickets. Until, that is, you find out the price. Maybe the cost seems swingable at first glance, but by the time you get to checkout and the layers of fees are tacked on, you have some serious sticker shock.

As it turns out, this experience is so prevalent that even the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken notice. In September, the FTC “sued Live Nation, accusing it and Ticketmaster of coordinating with brokers to allow them to use thousands of proxy bot accounts to purchase large ticket blocks, which were then resold at high markups,” said NerdWallet. Additionally, the suit “alleges that prices were advertised at lower amounts than what consumers actually paid.”

It’s possible this lawsuit will bring a price check for tickets to concerts and other live events, especially given that Live Nation and Ticketmaster, “under the joint ownership of Live Nation Entertainment, control roughly 80% of the event ticket sales market,” said NerdWallet. In the meantime, here are some other avenues to saving, so you can see your favorite artist and stay on budget.

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Jump on presale opportunities

To avoid missing the initial rollout and having to buy often pricier resale tickets, consider taking advantage of presale, which allows you to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the wider public. There are many ways you may be able to gain access, such as if you “join artist fan clubs, subscribe to newsletters or follow your favorite artists on social media,” said CNET. Your credit card or “concert ticket-distributors, such as Ticketmaster, Live Nation and AXS,” may also offer access.

Tap tools to track prices

Ticket prices can fluctuate. To make sure you do not miss it if they dip, consider using a “ticket marketplace’s mobile app,” which lets you “set a price-drop alert” so you do not have to keep constant tabs yourself, said U.S. News & World Report. You might also consider an option like Event Spy, which sends you “instant notifications when resale ticket prices drop below your target” through either email or WhatsApp.

Buy through the venue instead of a third-party

“Going straight to the source — be it venue, theater, teams or performers — can help you avoid unnecessary markups through secondary resell platforms,” said NerdWallet. If there is a box office and you are willing to swing by in person, that can offer further savings, as “you may not have to pay the convenience fee that many venues charge for online purchases,” said U.S. News & World Report.

Purchase using a rewards credit card

While it will not slash the price of the tickets you are buying, your credit card can return at least a little bit of the cost in the form of credit card rewards. For instance, with an “entertainment rewards credit card, you can save up to 4% on concert tickets, helping offset the cost,” said CNBC Select.

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.