I couldn't get tickets to see Taylor Swift in the US. Months later, I scored great seats at one of her UK shows for $215 each.

18.08.2023 - 17:55 / insider.com / Taylor Swift

I've been a Swiftie since the singer's self-titled debut album came out in 2006.

My appreciation for Taylor Swift makes sense, given that I grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, just 20 minutes outside of Nashville. Swift's music resonated with me at every stage of life, from crushing on a boy ("You Belong With Me") to experiencing my last day of school ("Never Grow Up") to going through heartbreak ("All Too Well").

Swift's music was always there to echo my emotions so when I learned she was going on The Eras Tour, I knew I had to get a ticket to the show. 

When Swift announced The Eras Tour, my three sisters-in-law and I registered for presale codes for Nashville shows. Out of all of us, only my sister-in-law, Lizzy, received a code.

Leading up to the presale date, we discussed our budgets and ideal seating arrangements so Lizzy knew what tickets to buy. The one thing we didn't prepare Lizzy for was the possibility she'd end up spending six hours waiting in a Ticketmaster queue, unable to secure four tickets. 

Lizzy sent us updates in a group chat throughout the day but as she reached hour four of waiting, I began to suspect there wouldn't be many tickets left by the time she reached the selection and purchasing phase.

So we moved on to a different plan, in which we'd buy one ticket, resell it, and try to use the cash to get cheaper seats the day of. In the end, she was able to snag a $700 ticket in the 100s section for one of the Nashville shows.

But we never got to attempt to enact our plan to see Swift's Nashville concert, as life had other ideas. 

In December 2022, my husband, an Air Force member, received orders for an overseas assignment based in the UK. Though I was excited about the move, it squashed my dream of seeing my favorite artist in my hometown since we'd be long gone by the time The Eras Tour hit Nashville in May 2023.

But just a few months into our new life in England, Swift announced her European leg of The Eras Tour.

My sisters-in-law and I immediately registered for presale codes for multiple cities and dates of the European leg of the tour. London was our top pick because the dates lined up with my June birthday and the venue was pretty close to my family's new UK home.

Fortune favored me this time, as I was the only one in my group who got the coveted London presale code for one of her three shows at Wembley Stadium. 

This time, only three of us were able to go, and we wanted to stick to our goal of purchasing multiple tickets. Memories of the messy US ticket-buying experience lingered as I remembered horror stories of people, just like Lizzy, waiting for hours only to not be able to purchase tickets or feel pressured to buy them for exorbitant prices.

I braced myself for the worst