How to Upgrade Tickets Through Ticketmaster
Have you ever panic-bought tickets to see your favorite band, and then wished you purchased better seats? Luckily, with Ticketmaster and its “Fan Guarantee" policy, with certain participating venues you can upgrade your tickets for a better experience.
There are a few different ways you can go about upgrading or exchanging your tickets, so you have options depending on what type of tickets you originally purchased. Now, let’s take a look at how to upgrade tickets through Ticketmaster.
Why Do New Tickets Become Available?
We are all too familiar with the stressful process of attempting to buy concert tickets. After joining a queue of thousands of other eager fans, people panic when they are finally allowed to book their tickets, forgoing their location and price preferences.
In hindsight, people often wonder why they didn’t spend the extra $20 on a better seat with a clear view of the stage, and only get annoyed when they discover that those better tickets are somehow now available.
There are a variety of reasons as to why new tickets are put on sale. The most common cause is event organizers releasing tickets that they were previously holding for VIPs and the friends and family of the artist.
Furthermore, once the organizers are more familiar with the venue, they have a more accurate understanding of how big the area around the stage is and how many seats they can safely fill. As such, they have extra tickets to sell just days before the event is due to take place.
Upgrading Your Ticket
Check Your Ticket
Unfortunately, a lot of venues stipulate that their tickets are non-exchangeable and non-refundable, so before you contact Ticketmaster, you can save yourself a lot of time by checking the details of your purchase. This will be stated on your receipt.
If the event you have tickets for is hosted by a venue that allows refunds and exchanges, then you will be able to upgrade your tickets for seats of equal or greater value.
Check Ticketmaster’s Exchange Rules
To be eligible for a refund, your ticket must meet several requirements that you can check independently before contacting Ticketmaster.
Your ticket must:
- Have been purchased directly through Ticketmaster.
- Not have been acquired through Ticket Transfer, resale or a third-party site.
- Not have been included in an order with non-refundable items, such as merchandise and VIP or premium tickets.
There are also several requirements that the new tickets have to meet.
The new tickets must:
- Be of equal or greater value than your current tickets.
- Be for the same event, venue and date. At their discretion, some organizers will allow exchanges on long-running series.
- Be displayed as a blue dot. If the tickets you wish to acquire are advertised with a pink dot, this indicates a fan-to-fan resale ticket that cannot be purchased through an exchange.
If you meet all the requirements listed above, then you need to contact Ticketmaster 24 to 72 hours before the event starts. This allows them enough time to process your request and reassign the tickets. An exchange fee may be applied per ticket.
Contact Ticketmaster
To start the exchange process, you need to select the Ticketmaster order you wish to exchange and click the ‘Contact Us’ prompt. From there, you will be put in contact with an employee, either on a phone call or via an online chat form.
If the tickets were not purchased through your account but you still believe they qualify for an exchange, you can click the ‘Submit a Request’ button to contact a member of staff.
The Ticketmaster fan support center is open seven days a week from 9:00 AM to midnight.
Other Options
In the unfortunate event that your ticket does not meet Ticketmaster’s exchange requirements, you can explore several other options.
Your tickets may be eligible for a refund even if they don’t qualify for an exchange. In this case, you simply need to apply for a refund and purchase your preferred new tickets. The refund process may take a little longer than a straightforward exchange, but you will get your money back.
You may also be able to place your tickets for sale via the Fan-to-Fan resale option. If you’re looking for better tickets, there is likely someone who is looking for a ticket, period. As such, you can place your tickets for sale and purchase new ones while you wait for someone to buy your old seats. While there is no guarantee that they will be purchased, it is highly likely.
Final Thoughts
Don’t be discouraged from attempting to upgrade your tickets. With Ticketmaster, you have several different avenues to explore and can easily find a solution where you get to enjoy your favorite act from the best seats.
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