Taylor Swift Ticket Queue Explained: First In NOT Best Dressed

After giving The Music a list of Taylor Swift Eras tour ticket-buying tips, Ticketek has once again saved the day by explaining the ticket queue for millions of Australians who attempted to buy pre-sale tickets yesterday.

A Ticketek spokesperson said yesterday, “For today’s Frontier pre-sale to the Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour, Ticketek managed to repel more than half a billion bot attempts (which come from scalpers) and more than four million people across Sydney and Melbourne were trying to secure tickets today.”

But what did that mean for you, and how can it help you when the general sale begins tomorrow (10 am for Sydney tickets, 2 pm for Melbourne)?

Returning to The Music today, a spokesperson for Ticketek assured Swifties that logging on to access tickets hours beforehand is unnecessary. 

“The randomisation starts once the on-sale commences, so there is no advantage for fans to jump on hours before,” they said. “We recommend that fans log on 15 minutes earlier just so they are ready once the on-sale kicks off.”

They added, “We only allow genuine fans into the lounge for fair access. The security and the protections that we have in place will not let bots into the lounge.”

Once in the lounge and the on-sale has begun, “The system continuously checks whether there is an available spot for fans to be let in to purchase tickets to the event.” On a critical note for fans stuck in the queue for hours on end yesterday, please don’t refresh your browser. Ticketek confirms, “Refreshing your browser does not increase your chances of getting tickets.

“Ticketek’s technology is cloud-based and built on Amazon Web Services, using industry-leading technology.”

Earlier this week, the spokesperson said Ticketek would aim to “prioritise fair access to tickets for all fans”, advising those keen for tickets to create an account on the Ticketek website in advance, have their Frontier pre-sale codes ready, remember not to close or refresh their browser while they wait in the queue, and keep an eye on the checkout timer at the top of their screen when they do eventually make it through.

For more info on the Australian leg of the Eras tour, head here. You can also go here for both the general sale and Frontier pre-sale for the two additional shows already announced.

Frontier Touring announced two additional, final Eras shows in Sydney and Melbourne this morning. Yesterday's pre-sale saw over 800,000 people in the digital queue, while demand for the earlier American Express pre-sale took the Amex site offline as fans deluged the site looking for codes to access tickets.

The Australian dates of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour will kick off on 16 February 2024 in Melbourne and 23 February 2024 in Sydney with special guest artist Sabrina Carpenter.