When purchasing tickets on Ticketmaster, you may be presented with the option to add ticket insurance to your order. This insurance covers you in case you need to cancel your tickets or cannot attend the event for covered reasons. However, Ticketmaster’s post-purchase ticket insurance only allows you to add this when initially purchasing your tickets.
What is Ticketmaster’s post-purchase ticket insurance?
Ticketmaster’s post-purchase ticket insurance is an optional add-on you can select when buying tickets on their website. It acts as cancellation protection in case you cannot attend the event due to covered reasons, like illness, travel delays, or schedule conflicts. The insurance generally costs around 10% of your total ticket purchase.
If you need to cancel your tickets for a covered reason, you can file a claim with Ticketmaster’s insurance provider and receive a refund for the price of the tickets. This saves you from losing your full investment if you can no longer go to the event.
What is covered under the insurance?
Ticketmaster’s post-purchase insurance generally covers the following situations:
- Illness or injury preventing you from attending
- Traffic accident on the way to the event
- Jury duty or court appearance
- Travel delays causing you to miss the event
- Military deployment
- Death in the immediate family
- Severe weather causing cancellation of the event
- Theft of your event tickets
Each insurance provider has their own detailed policy on what circumstances allow you to cancel and receive a refund. Certain restrictions, documentation requirements, and timeframes for reporting the issue may apply.
Can you buy Ticketmaster’s insurance after the initial ticket purchase?
Unfortunately, Ticketmaster does not allow you to add ticket insurance after the initial ticket transaction. The insurance must be purchased at the same time you buy your tickets for a given event.
Once your ticket order is finalized and you receive confirmation, you can no longer go back and purchase insurance through Ticketmaster directly. The insurance is only made available as an option during the checkout process when buying tickets.
Why can’t you buy it after ordering tickets?
There are a few reasons why Ticketmaster restricts adding insurance after buying tickets:
- Prevents people from only buying insurance when they need to cancel or know they can’t attend.
- Covers Ticketmaster from losses on last minute cancellations right before an event.
- Incentivizes customers to make the decision upfront.
- Makes accounting and administration easier for Ticketmaster.
By limiting the insurance window, Ticketmaster avoids people only selecting the option when they need it. This prevents losses on their end from numerous cancellations right before an event takes place.
What are your options for post-purchase ticket insurance?
If you did not add Ticketmaster’s insurance when initially buying tickets, you have a couple options:
1. Check if the event provider offers insurance
For major concerts, festivals, and sporting events, the organizer or venue may offer their own ticket insurance as well. This would be separate from Ticketmaster and may have different coverage terms.
Contact the event organizer or box office directly to see if they sell an insurance option after tickets have been purchased.
2. Look into third party ticket insurance
There are some third party insurance providers like Allianz Insurance and TravelInsurance.com that sell ticket insurance policies.
These can be purchased after buying your tickets from Ticketmaster and may offer similar coverage for cancellation. Carefully read their policies to understand exclusions and claims processing.
3. Resell or gift the tickets
If the event is not sold out, you may be able to resell your Ticketmaster tickets on a marketplace like Stubhub. You can also gift the tickets to someone else if you cannot attend.
Be aware that Ticketmaster’s Terms of Use prohibit reselling tickets on secondary marketplaces in many cases. Carefully review their policies before reselling tickets you purchased on their platform.
Can you get a refund from Ticketmaster without insurance?
If you do not have Ticketmaster’s ticket insurance, getting a refund directly from them is difficult. Their standard policy is that ticket sales are final and non-refundable.
However, if the event is canceled or rescheduled, Ticketmaster will refund the tickets. You can also resell tickets yourself if the event is not sold out and tickets are still in demand.
In rare cases, you may be able to contact Ticketmaster customer service and receive a courtesy refund if you explain your personal situation. But they are under no obligation to provide refunds without insurance.
Key Takeaways
- Ticketmaster only allows you to purchase post-purchase ticket insurance during the initial ticket checkout.
- Once your Ticketmaster ticket order is complete, you cannot add insurance through their platform.
- Contact the event provider, seek third party insurance, or resell your tickets if you did not initially buy Ticketmaster’s insurance.
- Without insurance, Ticketmaster tickets are generally non-refundable except in the case of event cancellation.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster limits purchasing ticket insurance to the initial ticket checkout process. This prevents losses for them and incentives customers to make the insurance decision upfront. If you forget to add their insurance when ordering tickets, look into other options like third party policies or carefully reselling. Otherwise, you will likely need to eat the cost of the tickets if you cannot attend without insurance.
Whenever buying tickets on Ticketmaster, carefully consider if you would benefit from their cancellation protection insurance. While it adds to the upfront cost, it can save you money and hassle if unforeseen events prevent you from using the tickets later on.