When purchasing tickets online through Ticketmaster, you are given a unique order number to track and manage your purchase. This order number is an important piece of personal information that provides access to your ticket order details. So should you take steps to hide or obscure your Ticketmaster order number? There are good arguments on both sides of this issue.
Why You May Want to Hide Your Ticketmaster Order Number
Here are some reasons why you may want to hide or obscure your Ticketmaster order number:
- Privacy – The order number provides access to personal details about your purchase that you may not want to share publicly. This includes information like your name, email, phone number, and home address.
- Security – There is a risk that someone else could use your order number to gain access to your ticket purchase, especially if the tickets are valuable or high-demand. This could allow them to transfer or resell your tickets without your consent.
- Avoid scalpers or brokers – If selling tickets above face value is against the event policy, hiding your order number can make it harder for scalpers or ticket brokers to contact you and pressure you to resell them your tickets.
- Peace of mind – Obscuring the order number limits the ability for others to associate you personally with the ticket purchase or details of what event you are attending.
Overall, the order number gives access to personal information and your ticket purchase. So hiding it limits that access from other individuals you may not want having that information or ability to manipulate your purchase.
Reasons You May Not Need to Hide Your Ticketmaster Order Number
Here are some reasons why you may not need to hide or obscure your Ticketmaster order number:
- Limited use – The order number alone does not reveal all your personal details. Someone would need access to your full Ticketmaster account for that, which requires more credentials.
- Obscuring is difficult – Short of completely deleting the order number, it is hard to fully hide or obscure it while still being able to reference the number yourself if needed.
- Not overly sensitive – The order number itself does not contain highly confidential information even if it provides access to order details.
- Audit trail – Keeping the order number intact provides you with an audit trail to track your purchase history and details.
- Unlikely to be exploited – While possible, it is unlikely that someone would attempt to exploit your order number without additional personal information.
In most cases, the order number alone does not reveal enough personal details that hiding it is necessary. And it is difficult to obscure the number while still being able to reference it yourself if needed for things like customer support.
Best Practices for Handling Your Ticketmaster Order Number
Instead of completely hiding your Ticketmaster order number, consider these best practices for handling it:
- Avoid posting it publicly – Don’t share your order number on large public forums or social media where many unknown people may see it.
- Share selectively – Only share the order number privately with people you trust that may need it, like the friends you are attending the event with.
- Use images or deletions if posting – If you do post about your ticket purchase publicly, show images of the tickets instead of the order number itself, or censor a few characters from the order number before posting.
- Monitor your account – Routinely log in to your Ticketmaster account to confirm your order details haven’t been tampered with and no unauthorized changes have occurred.
- Contact support if issues – If you ever notice suspicious activity on your order, promptly contact Ticketmaster customer support for help.
This balances keeping control of your order number while limiting broad exposure or sharing of it publicly. You maintain the ability to use it yourself if needed for things like customer service inquiries, transfers, or re-issues.
When You May Want to Temporarily Hide Your Ticketmaster Order Number
There are some specific situations where you likely will want to ensure your Ticketmaster order number is temporarily hidden from public view:
- High-profile event – If the tickets are for a very high-profile, high-demand event like a championship game or exclusive concert, hiding the order number helps avoid unwanted attention.
- Controversial event – For controversial or politically-charged events, keeping your purchase private may be preferred to avoid backlash.
- Valuable tickets – Expensive tickets or tickets with prime, hard-to-get locations are best kept private to avoid scalping or manipulation.
- Strict event policies – If the event has strict anti-scalping policies, hiding the order number helps avoid accusations of violations.
- Sharing on resale sites – When sharing ticket listings on resale sites, never include the original order number in the listing.
In these situations, the tickets are more likely to draw attention, and hiding the order number provides extra protection against unwanted meddling with your purchase.
How to Best Hide Your Ticketmaster Order Number
If you do decide you need to temporarily hide or obscure your Ticketmaster order number from public view, here are some methods to consider:
- Crop it out – Crop out the order number portion in any ticket images you post publicly.
- Cross it out – Draw or photoshop cross marks through the middle portion of the order number in any images.
- Cover it up – Cover the order number section with an opaque box or highlight in any screenshots.
- Alter characters – Change 1-2 characters in the middle of the order number when posting it in text (but keep the real number private for your own records).
- Blurred or fuzzy – Use image filters to make the order number blurry, fuzzy or illegible in screenshots.
The most secure methods involve cropping out the number from any images, covering it with an opaque box in screenshots, or changing 1-2 digits when posting the number in text. This hides the critical details from public view while still allowing you to retain access to the real order number yourself.
Examples of Hiding a Ticketmaster Order Number
Here are some examples of how you can hide a Ticketmaster order number:
Cropped Image
Cropping out the order number section of a ticket image prevents anyone else from seeing the number while allowing you to still post the image publicly if desired.
Covered Screenshot
Using an opaque box or highlight tool over the order number in screenshots blocks it from view effectively.
Number With Altered Digits
Order #: 5489-72A3-153X-950D
Changing a few digits in the middle makes the number useless to anyone else trying to exploit it, but you still retain the original to reference.
Security Questions to Consider Before Sharing
Before ever posting anything publicly related to your Ticketmaster order, ask yourself these important security questions:
- Does this image or text contain my full order number?
- Could someone use what I’m posting to access or manipulate my ticket order?
- Am I comfortable with increased public visibility toward my ticket purchase and identity?
- Is my intention to privately share tickets or resell for profit?
- Who specifically will see what I am posting?
If you have any hesitations around broader public visibility of your ticket order details, it is best to proactively take steps to hide your order number before posting.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster order numbers provide important access to ticket order details and personal information. While there are valid reasons on both sides, erring on the side of caution and hiding your order number from public view when possible is advised. Completely masking the number is difficult, but tactics like cropping it out of images, covering it in screenshots, and altering digits can strike a good balance. Always critically evaluate anything you plan to post publicly related to the ticket order and ask yourself key security questions beforehand. With proper care taken to selectively share information related to your order number only with trusted parties, you can feel confident in keeping your ticket purchase secure.