Ask Abs…

We have a new Ticket Advice Guru at Gettothefront … if you have any ticket buying queries, Abs is your man – Any questions about tickets, prices, seating plans, venues, links, presale details or something more specific, get in touch at the bottom of the page.

Here’s his insider tips for buying tickets via all the trusted agents to see your favourite bands & artists live in concert …

Before You Buy, The 3 P’s…

The most common mistake when buying tickets to big events is the lack of preparation, here at Gettothefront we can inform you on the latest tour news and advise on your ticket buying options with links, however there’s a few things you can do in order to be prepared for ‘onsale o’clock’…

Prep!…

♦ Familiarise yourself with the ticket agents before ‘onsale o’clock’, we normally provide links at Gettothefront to the ticket agent options a few days prior, at this point check the events page & bookmark the links for Big Ticket Friday, Trust – Here are some of your options for the main trusted ticket agents in the UK …

Plan!…

♦ Think about the type & price of ticket you want to buy prior to onsale, do you want standing? Stage side seats? Up Close – Decide before hand as this can waste valuable seconds at ‘onsale o’clock’, also note ticket types normally mean different prices, this information can normally be found on the event page prior to onsale, E.g Ticketmaster Event Page

♦ Have a 2nd venue of choice just in case a popular venue sells out quickly

Payment!…

♦ Form of payment, ensure you have a method of payment to hand prior to ‘onsale o’clock’

The Official Ticket Agents, Top Tips…

Gigantic work with many of the country’s biggest promoters & always have a decent allocation of tickets for major events such as Wembley Stadium & the smaller shows such as the numerous O2 Academies, Top Tip – Always worth visiting during on sale time especially if you’re looking to buy a standing ticket on Big Ticket Friday.

Simply go to the artist event page and refresh (F5) the second it goes on sale and the tickets are available to buy immediately. Click ‘Book Tickets’ and select your ticket type, using the venue map to confirm your selections

Remember – “if at first you don’t succeed!, try again” If people dont complete their transaction, tickets will be returned to onsale

Eventim is the official box office for the Eventim Apollo, Manchester Arena, First Direct Arena Leeds & Metro Arena Newcastle & smaller theatres

Simply go to the event page and refresh (F5) the second it goes on sale and the tickets are available to buy immediately.

Eventim have recently introduced a security measure to type in a series of letters and numbers to verify that the user is human. This of course slows down the purchase process if your eyesight isn’t very good and the key to good tickets on Eventim is speed! Practice – We recommend practicing this beforehand.

Watch Out – Another point to note about Eventim is that they automatically opt you in to missed event insurance, so if you don’t want this remember to uncheck the box when you’re at the ‘My Basket’ page.

AXS is the official box office for The O2 Arena London, Wembley Arena, indigO2, Brooklyn Bowl, Hyde Park, ATP Tennis, Summertime Ball, UFC and National Television Awards with more to come

AXS operate a waiting room system which opens 30 minutes before the ‘onsale o’clock’.Top Tip – In our experience it’s vital that you enter the waiting room exactly when it opens. Waiting time varies depending on the popularity of the event from 1 minute to even an hour after the on sale – When it is your turn, you will be allowed into the purchase process and allowed to search for tickets. There is an interactive seating map as well as a tick box system on the side of the screen allowing you to choose which category of seats you want.

Watch Out – A key point to remember is that once you search for tickets using ‘Best Ticket Any Price Level’ and are allocated undesirable tickets then you cannot search again for tickets immediately again as you will be sent to the back of the queue. Be Specific – The best way to counteract this is by selecting which specific category of seats you want, E.g ‘Level 1’ or ‘Level 4’ – Keep searching and persevering for at least 15 minutes if the “no seats found” message comes up. The key is patience!

Friends – AXS operate an AXS Invite Feature, which allows buyers to reserve seats for their friends without having to pay for the tickets.

If you have multiple devices such as a phone, iPad and computer then that will help as you can join the waiting room three times.

Ticketmaster is the official box office for Wembley Stadium, Earls Court, The O2 Dublin, Brighton Centre, Motorpoint Arena Cardiff and the AECC Aberdeen & smaller theatres

It is the website most people would automatically go to for tickets regardless of venue and as a result tends to get the highest web traffic.

Ticketmaster have a security system called Captcha to verify that the user is human. Practice –  The best advice to be given about Captcha is to repeatedly practice reading it before it comes to the onsale via other events. In the mad rush of buying tickets, a lot of people tend to rush the Captcha page and type in the incorrect code thus wasting precious time. The best thing to do here is to take your time (not too much time!) and read it carefully rather than rushing it, getting it wrong and have to do it again.

Dizzy – If you encounter the ‘spinning wheel’ due to high demand, sit tight, dont refresh or you will be sent to the back of the queue. App – Try the TM app for Android/IOSs!! when demand is high, the app will still be operational and the the overall ticket buying process is sometimes quicker.

Keep searching for tickets even up to 1 hour after the onsale as tickets are constantly becoming available, the key is patience and to keep searching.

Remember also if you’re on the event page before onsale, Be Careful – Don’t refresh too much! You might get kicked out of the website for a short time & miss the onsale

Ticketweb is a great wesbite for independent music, clubs, comedy, theatre, festivals, sports & special events, it handles sales for the majority of the O2 Academies as well as smaller venues – Keep an eye on Ticketweb afrter ‘onsale o’clock’ as they may still have tickets left when all the big boys have run out

Simply go to the event page and refresh (F5) the second it goes on sale and the tickets are available to buy immediately.

Be In The Know…

Phew! theres a lot to know isn’t there! All good stuff though and great tips from Abs. Luckily here at Gettothefront we’ve done most of the hard work for you so all you need to do is, Sign up below with your email address and we’re tell you where and when your next great gig will be.  Also don’t forget add us to your favourites so you can keep an eye on our homepage …

The Best of the Rest…

SEC Scottish Event Campus is a great option for those living in Scotland, features the majority of Scottish events

The Ticket Factory is a good option for all Midlands based concerts, especially those in Birmingham

See Tickets is the UK’s largest ticket company. Album pre-order presales are regularly run via Seetickets

If See Tickets receive a high volume of traffic they will also freeze you out of the site until it is your turn. Go Mobile – If you have multiple devices, then this will increase your chances of not being frozen out. Refresh repeatedly (Every 15 seconds) about 5 minutes before onsale as Seetickets sometimes put tickets on sale early. You might see the message “Tickets not available” but keep refreshing and the message should give way to a check box with the number of tickets you would like. Keep searching for tickets even up to 1 hour after the onsale as tickets are constantly becoming available, the key is patience and to keep searching.

Royal Albert Hall London has its own website as well as Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster generally get the best allocation but the RAH website still has a good selection. The RAH only allow a certain number of users on their website at one time and thus operate a ‘waiting room’ system when traffic is too high. Early Riser – Log onto the website roughly 20-30 minutes before ‘onsale o’clock’ and keep browsing around their event schedule making sure to click on something or refresh every 30 seconds so they don’t freeze you out of the page and put you in the waiting room. Go to your desired event page and refresh at around 2 minutes before onsale as they tend to put their tickets on sale around 30 seconds early.

Capital FM Arena Nottingham Echo Arena Liverpool, Plymouth Pavillions, Roundhouse London & Motorpoint Arena Sheffield have their own website to provide further buying options

Still Need Help? …

Any further queries, please get in touch…