Ticketmaster is the largest primary ticket outlet for live events in the United States and one of the largest in the world. As the exclusive ticket seller for many major venues, bands, theaters, and sports franchises, Ticketmaster sells hundreds of millions of tickets per year through its website and mobile apps.
With such high demand, especially for hot events like concert tours, sports playoffs, and smash Broadway shows, Ticketmaster’s servers can get overloaded with visitors trying to buy tickets all at once when sales open up. This inevitably leads many customers to experience long wait times, website errors, or getting kicked out of the purchasing process before they can secure their seats.
To help allocate its finite inventory fairly during high traffic sales, Ticketmaster utilizes virtual waiting rooms or queues. This requires customers to log in to a digital line before entering the main ticket-buying section of the website. So when you try to purchase tickets for a major event on Ticketmaster, you will likely have to go through their waiting room first as part of the process.
Here we will look at how Ticketmaster’s queuing system works, why queues are necessary during busy sales, and how you can have the best experience purchasing tickets through a Ticketmaster waiting room.
How Ticketmaster’s Virtual Queuing System Works
When an event is expected to have exceptionally high demand that will overload Ticketmaster’s servers all at once, they will activate a virtual queue or waiting room. Customers trying to access ticket sales will first be directed to a waiting room landing page.
This page will display your place in line and an estimated wait time. You will have a short period like 5-10 minutes to log in or create a Ticketmaster account if you don’t already have one. This locks your place in line. If you don’t log in during the allotted time, you lose your spot and have to start over.
Once logged in, you will wait in the virtual queue while watching your estimated wait time count down. You don’t need to do anything else except wait, as you will be automatically forwarded to the ticket purchase page when it’s your turn.
The queues are first-come, first-served. Your actual wait time will depend on how many people are ahead of you in line and how quickly Ticketmaster’s servers can process sales for those before you. Wait times can stretch for hours for the most in-demand events.
Ticketmaster uses waiting rooms for high traffic events like:
- Concerts for major pop stars like Taylor Swift or Harry Styles
- Big sporting events like NBA playoffs or College Football playoffs
- Broadway blockbusters like Hamilton
Essentially any event expected to sell-out quickly online will likely utilize Ticketmaster’s queuing system. The waiting rooms prevent their website from crashing and allow them to process the high volume of ticket sales in an orderly fashion.
Benefits of Ticketmaster’s Queuing System
While waiting in a virtual line can be frustrating, Ticketmaster’s queues offer several benefits:
- Prevents website outages – Without queues, the website would frequently crash from too many people trying to access it at once.
- Creates a fair system – First-come, first-served lines reward customers who access the sale earliest.
- Reducesbots and scalpers – Scalpers rely on bots to buy up tickets quickly. Queues help limit their impact.
- Spreads out traffic – This allows Ticketmaster’s servers to handle the traffic volume more smoothly.
- Saves your place in line – You can safely leave the queue and return without losing your spot.
So while waiting can be inconvenient, it does lead to an overall better and fairer purchasing process compared to the alternative of a free-for-all system.
Tips for Navigating Ticketmaster’s Queuing System
Here are some tips to help you successfully purchase tickets through Ticketmaster’s virtual waiting rooms:
Get in line early
Queues open up ahead of when sales start, sometimes as much as 24 hours ahead. Ticketmaster will announce when queues open for each event. Joining early is key as it means you’ll be closer to the front of the line once sales open.
Log in immediately
Once in a queue, you only have 5-10 minutes to log in before losing your spot. Have your Ticketmaster account created and login credentials ready to enter quickly.
Be patient
Wait times vary but can stretch multiple hours for hot events. Avoid refreshing excessively as it could lose your place in line. Just wait for your turn.
Use both desktop and mobile
Have both desktop and mobile browsers queued up as either could make it into the main website first. Whichever gets in first, you can use to make purchases.
Prepare payment methods
Have saved payment options like credit cards on your Ticketmaster account to check out faster. Debit cards and gift cards often fail, so avoid those.
Limit your group
Trying to buy tickets for huge groups makes checkout more difficult. Stick to smaller groups (4 or less) for smoother processing.
Getting Help with Ticketmaster Waiting Rooms
Ticketmaster provides a few resources if you run into issues with their queues:
- Waiting Room FAQ page – answers common questions about how queues work.
- Fan Support phone line – can assist with queues over the phone.
- Fan Support on Twitter – monitors Twitter for issues and provides assistance.
Checking their social media accounts like Twitter before sales is also a good idea, as they will often post queue updates and tips there.
Overall, just stay patient and persistent and you should eventually make it through their waiting rooms to purchase event tickets. Queues are unavoidable for huge shows these days, so accepting that they’re part of the Ticketmaster process will lead to less frustration.
Key Takeaways
Here are some key points to remember about Ticketmaster’s virtual queue system:
- Used for events with exceptionally high demand to prevent website crashes.
- Customers must log into a waiting room landing page first before ticket sales.
- Waiting rooms are first-come, first-served.
- Wait times vary depending on customer volume and can last hours.
- Queues lead to fairer ticket distribution and prevent scalpers/bots.
- Join queues early, be ready to log in immediately, and be very patient.
While not ideal, Ticketmaster’s virtual queues are the best current solution to handle massive traffic for big events as fairly as possible. Understanding how they work and being prepared to navigate them will give you the best chance to get tickets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about Ticketmaster’s queuing system:
Why did Ticketmaster add virtual queues?
They began utilizing waiting rooms and queues to help manage incredibly high traffic for major events. This prevents website outages and crashing that previously occurred.
Are queues used for all Ticketmaster events?
No, only very high-demand events that are expected to sell out quickly online utilize queues. Most events just open sales normally without a waiting room.
How does Ticketmaster determine queue order?
Queue position is determined by the order customers click to join a queue on a first-come, first-served basis. Logging in earlier moves you up faster.
Can I buy tickets without waiting in the queue?
No, when queues are activated for an event everyone must wait in line. There are no queue bypasses available to regular customers.
Does every person in the queue get tickets?
No, queues indicate site traffic, not ticket availability. Many in queue will not get tickets as supply sells out. Queue position just maintains a fair order.
What happens if I lose internet and get knocked out of the queue?
There’s no rejoining the same queue. You have to start over at the back of the line if disconnected.
Can I open multiple queues at once for the same event?
You can only be in one device queue per account at a time. Additional queues under the same account will knock you out of line.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster’s virtual queuing system can be a headache, but is necessary to ensure website stability and a fair purchasing process during massive traffic events. Understanding how the queues operate and being prepared with quick logins and early queue access is critical to navigating the system successfully. With hundreds of millions of highly coveted tickets sold per year, Ticketmaster’s queues help them effectively handle huge demand spikes when beloved acts go on tour or championship series take place. So while waiting is never fun, the queues do enable you to eventually get your shot at seats that would have otherwise sold out instantly in a free-for-all system. With the right expectations and strategies, fans can still get great tickets through Ticketmaster waiting rooms.