Ticketmaster: Last Minute Drops - A “How to” Guide Based on my Experience

Let's Beat the Bots!!

*Disclaimer: the tips are based on my personal experiences with last minute drops, and Ticketmaster seems to be ever evolving their ways!*

First, some general recommendations for last minute Ticketmaster drops

• Use safari or another web browser if on your phone. Don’t use the Ticketmaster app; there is no way to refresh & you will get sent to the beginning of the queue after some time on the map.

• Make sure you are logged into your account.

• I have heard that Apple pay is the quickest option, but is not always available.

• Have a card saved to your Ticketmaster account for quick checkout, and as a backup incase Apple pay is not available.

Based on the shows that I’ve been trying for last minutes tickets on, here are my general observations:

There are 2 types of last minute drops, one for select verified fans that receive codes, and the other is for everyone!

Select Verified Fans - For the next weeks show

• Tuesday select verified fans are sent NEW codes for the show 10 days away.

• Verified fans that get these codes MUST be logged in to the verified account - sharing codes won't work.

• Ex: Tue 6/6 drop is for 6/16 show.

Here's an example of what you will see during the verified fan drops if you are not a verified fan:

Everyone or Invited Fans Only or Protected Queue - For the show the same week

• Pretty big drop with a queue on Thursday, recently in The late afternoon/night.

• Slightly smaller drop with a queue on Friday, recently in the afternoon.

• Sometimes a small drop with a queue on Saturday, typically in the afternoon.

• Sometimes small drops without a queue Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.

• When there are small drops without queues, there seems to be more tickets on Friday and less Saturday & Sunday.

• Ex: Thu 6/8, Fri 6/9, and Sat 6/10 drops are for 6/9 and/or 6/10 shows.

Historically the queues were open to everyone, but starting with Detroit, they turned to “Invited Fans Only” or “Protected Queues”. It seems that it is more likely to get in if you were verified or waitlisted with the city as one of your three choices, but some users were able to join the queue and buy tickets without ever being verified or waitlisted, or even interacting with Taylor Swift tickets. It’s worth everyone trying to join, especially since Ticketmaster is always changing.

The drops without queues still seem to be open to everyone. For Minneapolis, there did not appear to be any drops open to everyone. All drops that I monitored were done with queues that were protected. An example message for a protected queue is shown below.

Tips for the drops with queues:

Refresh the above no ticket available screen, eventually a "join queue" will appear. You may join queues for multiple events at a timeClick it, and Ticketmaster will send you a text (See this post for more info) with a code to enter. Then you will be thrown into a queue. It looks like this:

You may be lucky enough to have gotten in under 2000, or you will get the screen above with 2000+. Don’t refresh while in the queue!! If you are on a computer, you can check your actual position in the queue by right clicking and clicking inspect. This will bring up the website's code with information such as your spot in the queue. “QueueNumber” is where you started and “usersInLineAheadOfYou” is your current spot. Even if it looks like it's not moving, it is. If there are still tickets available eventually you will get a lower number like this:

More info on the queue here.

If you get past the queue and into a map, I find that refreshing is more accurate than toggling between ticket amounts or filters. You might lose the map but that just means no tickets are available. It's okay; keep refreshing.

If the map goes away, or you go straight to the no tickets available page after the queue, still keep refreshing!! Tickets might still pop up & you may end up back in the map!

See section "In the Map" for more details on navigating once you get to the map.

Tips for drops without queues:

Just keep refreshing!

Don’t believe screens that say

“Sorry, tickets are not currently available online.”

Or

“This event has started, or has already happened, so ticket sales have stopped.”

Example:

Keep refreshing these screens unless the concert is actually over. I have seen drops as late as 9:30pm venue time for same night (Taylor goes on stage around 8:00pm).

In the Map:

There are two types of map screens:

One with a list of tickets & a map:

• select your tickets from a list with the quantity you want.

• this one gives you the option to toggle through ticket amounts and filters.

One with a map only:

• select your tickets by double-clicking blue sections and then selecting the seats that are blue one at a time.

• make sure you select the entire group of available blue seats near each other, or Ticketmaster will say you’re leaving some stranded.

• This one gives you the option to toggle filters.

Example:

Each map screen is slightly different depending if you are on a computer or a phone.

Maximum number of tickets has been 4.

Note: I have heard that sometimes there is a cart timer (7 minutes), and other times, there is not and it’s whoever is quickest. I have a theory that when there is a cart timer, tickets look available until they are actually checked out and paid for. So you may see tickets “available” but they are actually in someone’s cart. I would still try for any tickets that look available, but I suggest refreshing between tries to attempt to get the latest information.

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