Ticket woes continue to plague fans as final Taylor Swift concerts take place

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Benson Ang

SINGAPORE - As American superstar Taylor Swift performs her final Eras Tour concerts at the National Stadium this week, ticket woes faced by fans have not abated.

After her opening show on March 2, it would appear that concert organiser and promoter AEG Presents added extra seats to the top-tier VIP 1 sections on subsequent nights, but at more than 70 per cent cheaper.

VIP 1 seats are priced at $1,228 each, and include a box containing exclusive VIP merchandise, such as a special set of four Taylor Swift prints, laminate and matching lanyard, a commemorative tote bag, souvenir concert ticket, collectible pin, sticker and postcard.

However, the additional seats are priced as Category 1 seats, at $348 each, and do not come with the VIP merchandise.

Naturally, several existing VIP 1 ticketholders are feeling upset.

In a TikTok video uploaded on March 5 by @leonardlowe5, the user wrote in its caption: "They (the organisers) are adding more Cat 1 seats in front of VIP 1, nearer to the barricade. Which means VIP 1 (patrons) are paying $900 more, but not getting better seats. The VIP box alone (is not) worth that much. We bought it because we want to be as close as possible to Taylor."

The user, who tagged a number of media outlets in his video caption, added: "I have been trying ways to contact (them) to seek for a fair resolution, but the organisers are not replying. Please help us out."

Other TikTok commenters shared similar opinions. One wrote that "we dropped $900 more and they get better views", while another who is attending the March 8 show lamented that it was "unfair", adding: "I don't know if I can take it that they paid much lesser but will get better seats."

The Straits Times has sent queries to AEG Presents about the matter.

However, among the terms and conditions on tickets purchased by fans, it states: "Promoter may add, withdraw, reschedule or substitute artists or players (where applicable) or vary advertised programmes, prices, event times, venue, seating arrangement or audience capacity."

Aside from these grouses, some local Swifties who could not get tickets to the concerts have continued to face unpleasant experiences with scammers and scalpers.

On March 7, the police said in a statement that at least 1,241 victims have fallen prey to e-commerce scams involving concert tickets since January 2024. A majority of the cases involved tickets to Swift's concerts.

Singaporean fan @cruel.blue uploaded a video on TikTok detailing how she entered the National Stadium on March 4 using a ticket which her friend bought from a reseller on online marketplace Viagogo, but discovered she was scammed when two other people had the same seat as her.

She was subsequently escorted out of the venue by security.