The expert guide to getting Taylor Swift tickets – from waitlists to resale sites, and how not to get scammed

It’s just under eight months until Taylor Swift embarks on the European leg of her sell-out Eras tour – and for the past two weeks, fans have been in meltdown trying to bag tickets.

Earlier this month, the pop superstar, 33, announced she had added 14 more dates to the jam-packed diary – including extra performances in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh. 

But even with the additional shows, it seems as though supply still can’t meet demand.

Today, Ticketmaster has crashed for the third time in two weeks as fans desperately tried to secure their spot at two more UK shows. 

Meanwhile, others were left raging yesterday when they spotted tickets on sale for almost £10,000 at one of the star’s upcoming Wembley shows.

Last month, fans who hadn’t participated in the Midnights album presale were invited to register for tickets – with only a fraction being given access to the general sale.

However, even this doesn’t guarantee they will bag tickets – and thousands more have been placed on waiting lists to potentially participate in another sale at a later date. 

If you were lucky enough to register for tickets or are trying to navigate resale websites, here is FEMAIL’s expert guide to bagging a ticket to Taylor’s three hour musical extravaganza. 

Ensure you have a Ticketmaster or AXS account 

In the UK, tickets for Taylor’s shows have been divided between AXS and Ticketmaster in an attempt to put less strain on a single website.

If you have been given access to a sale, it’s hugely important that you have an account with either provider.

In order to access the waiting room ahead of the sale, AXS customers are asked to input their email address – which is likely part of their efforts to crack down on bots. 

Without an account, shoppers won’t be able to access the sale – so it’s better to log in before it even begins.

Have your payment details saved

In order to make the process as streamlined as possible, it’s also worth having your payment details saved in your Ticketmaster or AXS.

Google Chrome and Firefox allow you to save your card details when logged into their browser. 

Alternatively, fans shopping on iPhones or iPads can use Apple Pay to make their purchase quicker. 

Don’t try to buy tickets on multiple devices 

In the past, customers could have increased their odds of securing tickets by accessing the sale from multiple devices.

However, this won’t get you further through the queue as Ticketmaster assigns each customer their own unique ID.

Following the first presale, Ticketmaster urged customers to only try and buy tickets with a single device.

They tweeted last week: ‘If you’re trying to access a presale please only use one device at a time. 

‘Close down all browsers/tabs, clear cookies & ensure you are following the correct presale link sent via email.’ 

Don’t refresh the page when you leave the waiting room or in the queue

Waiting rooms open 30 minutes before the sale begins. These virtual portals will place customers in the queue automatically when it kicks off.

Although the queue might look as though it’s moving slowly, resist the urge to manually refresh the page – as it’ll lose your progress and automatically put you behind other users.

You only have five minutes to access the site

Once you’ve reached the front of the virtual queue, AXS gives customers five minutes to enter the website before sending them back into the queue. 

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster alerts customers to the fact they’ve left the queue by sending them a notification bell sound.

Try not to release tickets once you have them in your basket 

Once you’ve made it through the queue, you’ll be taken through to the portal where you can shop all the different tiers of tickets available. 

The It’s Been a Long Time Coming package costs £662 and includes a reserved seating ticket, four prints, exclusive merchandise and lanyard.

Next, the Karma is my Boyfriend package – costing £387 each – gives guests early entry to their standing section as well as VIP merchandise. 

Thirdly, there’s the I Remember It All Too Well package – which costs £332 and guarantees a reserved seat as well as four Taylor Swift prints, tote bag and a souvenir concert ticket. 

If you can, research the types of tickets you want before you get through to the portal to save on time.

What’s more, fans have been complaining on TikTok that they were kicked out of websites for adding and then removing tickets from their basket on several occasions – as they were mistaken for bots. 

Although Ticketmaster and AXS haven’t commented on this, it will make for a smoother-sailing experience if you know exactly where it is you want to be for the show. 

Be wary of phishing emails 

Tickets for the Eras Tour have already started to appear on resale websites – including StubHub and Viagogo – for as much as £10,000. 

Cybersecurity Expert, Mirza at VPNOverview urged people to stick to buying tickets through Ticketmaster and AXS where possible. 

He said: ‘When it comes to buying concert tickets, we strongly advise buying tickets specifically from official ticket sales partners of the event.

‘Be careful of phishing emails pretending to sell cheap tickets to a concert/event that you wish to attend. This could lead to the attacker stealing your user data including credit card details and login credentials. 

‘Things to look out for may include unusual email formatting, text font. Be sure to NOT reply to the email if you suspect the seller to be a scammer. 

‘Scammers can easily create this to lure you into a false sense of security. They may ask for your email address to send you the tickets but avoid this at all costs, you do not want to be giving any personal information including your bank details and addresses to potential scammers. 

‘Similar to phishing emails, be sure to look out for unusual formatting, incorrect fonts etc as these may indicate a scam. 

Look out for the closed padlock symbol in the address bar 

If you do decide to purchase tickets through a second-hand seller, look out for the closed padlock symbol in the website address bar.

The expert highlighted how this means the website is encrypted – which adds another level of security.

Mirza added: ‘Ensure the URL begins with ‘https’ as the “s” signifies a secure site. We also suggest checking whether a website’s SSL certificate is actually legitimate or not – you can do so through something like GoDaddy SSL checker.

‘If you are considering purchasing from a site, make sure you pay by credit card for security purposes.’

What happens if you’ve been waitlisted?

Following the presale, the next round of UK fans discovered whether they’d been granted access to the general sale this week.

However, this isn’t a general sale in the usual sense – as each fan needs to have a code unique to them to buy a ticket.

When informing disappointed fans that they hadn’t made the second round of sales, Ticketmaster told them to ‘hang tight’.

The email they sent read: ‘There will not be enough tickets for everyone who registered so a limited number of registered fans received an opportunity to access the sale and others were placed on the waitlist.

‘If any tickets remain after fans have shopped. we may email you again to join the sale.

‘Please note only fans who were sent links and unique access codes will be able to join the Taylor Swift The Eras Tour Sale. Do not attempt to join unless you receive a link, as you will not be able to purchase tickets.’ 

Got tickets? Make sure you’re also attending

Ticketmaster has updated its terms and conditions to make the sell-out tour a ‘lead booker’ event, meaning the person who purchased the tickets has to be present at the venue to get in.

This is likely to deter ticketing touts and resellers, with tickets already on resale sites for up to £10,000.

But this has left many Swifties attending UK gigs in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Cardiff fuming that tickets they’ve bought as gifts for friends will be invalid.

Others have complained that this could mean children who have had tickets bought for them by their parents will not be allowed entry, while those who want to attend but can’t because of sickness may not be able to give tickets away to friends.

It is not clear if this will also apply to tickets purchased through AXS, but it is likely all resale tickets for the tour will not be used.

Ticketmaster has come under fire for repeatedly changing policies ahead of the highly-anticipated tour.

FEMAIL has contacted both TicketMaster and AXS for comment.