UK Edition
When do Taylor Swift tickets go on sale? How to see the Eras Tour live
You have your presale code – but how do you actually buy tickets? Here’s our guide to securing a seat at the biggest pop tour of the decade
When it was announced that Taylor Swift’s Era Tour would be crossing the Atlantic next summer, tens of thousands of fans immediately logged on to the Ticketmaster website. Not to buy tickets – Heaven forbid that the process would be that straightforward – but to register for the opportunity.
D-Day – or should that be Tay-Day? – is now upon us. Today is the final day on which fans who received a code for Swift’s 2024 UK dates can buy tickets. Sales have been staggered across the week as Ticketmaster attempts to avoid the meltdown that hit its US servers when Swift’s American tour went on sale last year. If you didn’t pre-register, bad luck – you can’t buy tickets right now, and will have to wait for them to appear on resale sites.
Is it possible to game this system? The short answer is “no” , because the music industry has already gamed it in its favour. The longer answer is that you can increase the odds of bagging a ticket if you’re well prepared. Still, it’s a baffling process and you may have questions. Here, we hope, are some answers.
When and where is Taylor Swift playing in the UK?
At the moment there are 13 UK dates, as follows:
Friday June 7 – Edinburgh, Murrayfield Stadium
Saturday June 8 – Edinburgh, Murrayfield Stadium
Sunday June 9 – Edinburgh, Murrayfield Stadium
Thursday June 13 – Liverpool, Anfield Stadium
Friday June 14 – Liverpool, Anfield Stadium
Saturday June 15 – Liverpool, Anfield Stadium
Tuesday June 18 – Cardiff, Principality Stadium
Friday June 21 – London, Wembley Stadium
Saturday June 22 – London, Wembley Stadium
Sunday June 23 – London, Wembley Stadium
Thursday August 15 – London, Wembley Stadium
Friday August 16 – London, Wembley Stadium
Saturday August 17 – London, Wembley Stadium
What is the timeline for ticket sales?
The fan presale is over, and ticket sales proper started this week. Ticketmaster and AXS – the ticketing wing of promoter AEG – are using a staggered system for the sale of general tickets, which began on July 17 (for London and Edinburgh), July 18 (London and Liverpool) and today (London and Cardiff).
Today is therefore the final day on which fans lucky enough to have received a code can try to buy tickets. At 11am, tickets for Swift’s June 15 Wembley show will go on sale. Then, at 1pm, tickets for her final Wembley performance, on August 17, will go up on Ticketmaster or AXS. Check your email to see which site you should visit. Finally, at 3pm, tickets for her June 18 show at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will be available.
How smoothly have sales gone?
This depends on which Swifties you ask. Some have been able to purchase tickets without difficulty. But many have complained that AXS incorrectly identified them as “bots” and prevented the purchase of tickets. Other say that they were kept out of the AXS site, after it was put on “pause” minutes after sales opened. Jennifer Bradley, 26, revealed to PA that her attempt to buy a Liverpool ticket was “awful” after she was identified as a potential bot on the AXS website. “It’s been a nightmare,” she said. “Worst part is they let you get into the queue and then you once you are through [they say] that you are a robot!”
Ticketmaster or AXS?
Presale codes can only be used with either Ticketmaster or AXS – your email should make it clear which site you should use. It’s essential that you open an account with the correct seller using the email address you used to register for the presale. Then, if you’re using Ticketmaster, add your credit-card details in order to speed up the checkout process. (AXS, helpfully, doesn’t allow you to do this.)
Can I get to the front of the queue?
Not surprisingly, the higher the demand, the longer a queue will be, and the Taylor Swift queue will be immense. Ticketmaster queues are an arcane business; it isn’t like the old days when you could pitch your tent outside HMV the night before and ensure you were first in line for a ticket. Before the presale begins, log in to your account – ideally about 30 mins ahead of the start time – and wait for the queue to begin. You may be there for hours but whatever you do, resist the urge to refresh – you’ll immediately lose your place.
Do multiple windows help?
No. It might seem logical to open several windows on your computer when logging on to Ticketmaster or AXS. In fact, this slows the process as the website only allows one booking at a time from the same location. Flicking between windows slows you down.
Desktop or app?
When registering for Swift tickets, many fans found that the process was much faster by phone. It’s not clear why Ticketmaster and AXS function more smoothly via the mobile app; one theory is that because the dreaded scalping bots (computer programs designed to automatically queue and “harvest” tickets) don’t work on mobile sites, these are given priority by Ticketmaster.
How many tickets can I buy?
Each presale code allows you to buy just four tickets.
Can paying more make all this easier?
It may. The wealthy can often afford to bypass the queues by springing for luxury packages. When The Rolling Stones played Hyde Park last year, for instance, “Gold Circle” tickets, which granted early access, as well as access to separate toilets and a private bar, cost £324.95 each. In the case of Swift, the top-tier “It’s A Long Time Coming” package for her Eras tour topped out at $899 in the US, with perks including a “souvenir concert ticket”, “commemorative tote bag”, and “collective sticker”, alongside lower tier seating. Tickets for the UK dates are priced at £57 to £661.
But… what if I miss out?
Try not to despair. Typically, some tickets are held back and released closer to the date. Some US Swift fans even got into her shows by turning up on the day. They arrived at the venue and found front-row tickets had gone on sale a few hours before the curtain went up. “We seriously just got super lucky,” one fan told CNN. “We made it to Nashville with about an hour to spare before the concert started.”
But this is a risky strategy and not one we’d recommend. Far better to keep checking Ticketmaster and AXS for new releases or keep an eye on social media, where Swift fans can often be found selling tickets they can no longer use.