Top ticket tips

 If you have ever wondered how to score tickets to your favorite events, I have composed a list of a few tips and tricks to help get you one of the best spots in the crowd. From concert tickets to talk shows to award shows, here are just a few pieces of advice on how to get your spot in the audience.

Production Holds

First off, don’t be discouraged if that concert you are dying to go to sold out because sometimes when a show claims to be sold out there are still a few tickets waiting to be released. Most of the time these extra seats that are waiting to be released are “production holds”. Production holds will usually be released within the week leading up to an event so make sure to check regularly for ticket availability closer to the date of the event you would like to attend.

Speaking from experience, these production holds can be some of the best seats in the venue and you do not have to pay an absurd price for them because they are put up for sale at face value. Last November, I was getting ready to head to a concert at The Forum and about 30 minutes before I left I decided to check Ticketmaster to see if any seats closer to the stage had become available. Sure enough, I got through with a seat in the front row right in the center. Quite a few people asked me how much I spent on the ticket assuming I spent somewhere in the thousands, but I only spent $86.

1iota

One of my personal favorite websites is 1iota.com because they have tickets available to a variety of different shows and the tickets are free. However, 1iota does not specialize in concert tickets, but in television shows such as ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, ‘The Voice’, ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden’, ‘Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris’, ‘ESPN Sports Nation’, and ‘Good Morning America’. Even though 1iota specializes in television shows they do offer tickets to specific musical events throughout the year. They are in charge of distributing tickets for the outdoor concerts on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ and ‘Good Morning America’ as well as the ‘MTV Videos Music Awards’. With 1iota, it is important to check their website periodically because they also distribute tickets to miscellaneous events, the ‘MTV Videos Music Awards’ being one example.

I have had nothing but great experiences with 1iota. Just this last year, I have been able to attend an outdoor concert for both ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ and ‘Good Morning America’ as well as one live show of ‘The Voice,’ and I got the chance to be at the red carpet for the 2015 ‘MTV Video Music Awards’.

I highly recommend checking 1iota out, but just know, you must be at least 16 to make an account and age requirements for requesting tickets varies between 16, 18 and 21.

Presales

Presales. Presales. Presales. If you really want to go to a certain concert I can’t emphasize checking for presales enough. A majority of concerts will have at least one presale, if not more, and a general sale. Buying a ticket during a presale does not necessarily mean you will get one of the best seats in the venue, but it usually means you can at least get a ticket to the show.

Presales can happen in a variety of ways and I will use Live Nation as an example. When a concert has tickets going on sale through Live Nation a majority of the time there will be a Live Nation Presale and a Live Nation mobile app presale. A Live Nation presale means that you can log onto Live Nation’s website and go to the particular event and when you try to search for a ticket you will be asked to enter a promo code. This promo code will usually be sent out in an email or via websites such as Twitter or Facebook. The mobile app presale means that if you have the Live Nation app on a phone or tablet, you will be granted special access to tickets that are only available to purchase through the app.

Other types of presales can be linked to your credit card. The two most popular ones that I see are American Express and Citi Card. The way these presales work is you usually have to enter in some of your credit card information before you can check for tickets that are available for purchase.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you are hoping to go to an event, and hopefully everything will work out and you will have the time of your life at whatever that next event may be.