What can I do to increase my chances of making a successful online booking?

Here are the needtickets.com top tips for booking high demand events:

1. Sign up to the needtickets.com free email service. Uniquely it will tell you in advance which online ticket shops will have tickets available – including the less obvious options. It will also let you know the date and time at which tickets will become available.
2. The needtickets.com ‘On Sale Soon’ page will also hopefully tell you all you need to know so check it regularly. We try and include details of all major ticket sales (those we know about in advance will definitely be included).
3. If your ‘must see’ artist(s) offer an information service on their official site, sign up to it. You could be informed of advanced ticket sales that not even Needtickets.com will be aware of.
4. As soon as tickets for major events become available they will be listed in the ‘On Sale Now’ section on Needtickets.com.
5. Consider the ticket options before you try and book – would you rather sit or stand? Are the top price tickets worth splashing out on? Then when the tickets are on sale you can target what your first, second, third choices etc.
6. If you’re going to be booking against the clock on a service on which you are not pre-registered, copy all your card details and address on to a word document. When you need them you can then cut and paste them into the relevant boxes on the booking form. You will only have a limited time in which to complete your booking, so this will save you from having to scramble for your debit/credit card.
7. If a seating plan is available (check the needtickets.com venue guide) print it out before the on sale. When you log on to needtickets.com and link through to the ticket shops, it will help you to work out where you can buy the tickets that you’re looking for.
8. Thousands of tickets can be sold in five minutes or less, so try and book as close to the on sale time as possible. Don’t think, ‘I’ll have a look when I get to college/work’, you might be too late. If you know that you won’t be able to get online around the on sale time, pass your card and address details to someone that can (and you trust). Send them these tips to make sure they don’t miss out on your behalf.
9. Keep an eye on the additional information that you may find on the booking pages of the ticket shops. Buy an over 18 ticket and if you’re under 18 you won’t get in and you won’t get your money back etc.

Why can’t I book tickets online while other people can?

When demand far exceeds supply, booking tickets online successfully can be a matter of luck. Each individual online ticket shop can only process a certain amount of transactions simultaneously. The number of tickets that can be sold per minute can be in the thousands rather than hundreds, but each ticket shop will have an upper limit of the number of PCs that can simultaneously access its servers.

In order to ensure the smooth selling of tickets, the databases that control the ticket allocation cannot be overloaded. There will also be a limit upon the number of orders that each ticket shop can send per minute to the banks for processing.

Therefore at times of high demand only a comparatively small percentage of attempts to book are successful. If you see a ‘server busy’ message or the equivalent, it is telling you that the maximum number of customers that are being processed at one time has been reached.

If I can’t get through, is it best to persist with the original booking service that I tried, or should I try a different booking service.

There is no clear right or wrong solution in this instance. If you persist with the first online ticket shop that you attempted to access, your chances of accessing the booking pages will gradually increase. The greater the number who book successfully, the lesser the number of people will be attempting to book. However, for high demand events, your chance of being successful may only be rising marginally.

You also won’t be rewarded for your loyalty and persistence. Upon each attempt to access the booking pages you won’t have any advantage over somebody who is logging on for the first time.

As a result, attempting to access multiple ticket shops can be beneficial. At times of high demand attempts to reach the booking pages on any one ticket shop can take some time. The access bar on your browser will give you an indication of how long you may have to wait, to see if you have accessed the booking pages successfully.

If you have a sufficiently powerful PC and internet connection, while you wait to see if you’ve accessed the first service successfully you could try accessing the booking pages on other ticket shops. Each individual attempt to access the booking pages should run independently of each other. As a result you won’t be risking your chances of reaching one booking service while you simultaneously access another.

Once tickets are on sale you can use Needtickets.com to access each individual online ticket shop that is selling tickets for each event. If you subscribe to our free email service or check our ‘on sale soon’ section, you will know this information ahead of the on sale time.

How many attempts at ordering should I try before I give up?

Persistence is the key. Keep on trying until you receive an indication that the event is sold out, your chances of getting through successfully will be increasing as others book successfully. From time to time re-fresh the ticket allocation page on Needtickets.com, it should indicate which online ticket shops are still selling tickets and which no longer have them available.

How do I know which online ticket shop has the most or the best tickets available?

There is no obvious answer here, as ticket allocation between individual online ticket shops will vary from event to event. It can be useful to note down the web address of the ticket shop(s) that are printed on the advertisements for the event that you wish to book tickets for. Other ticket shops may also sell the tickets, but logic suggests that those that are listed on the advertisement will have a particularly good supply of tickets.

How will I know which online ticket shop has the cheapest priced tickets available for an event that I wish to attend?

Only the official booking services are included within the search results on Needtickets.com. Each of the individual booking services have agreed to sell tickets at the face value price, which is the price printed on the ticket. Booking and postal fees will vary between individual ticket shops, so the overall price you pay per ticket/order can be cheaper on one booking service compared to another.

To compare prices from needtickets.com, click on the links to each of the tickets shops that have tickets available. You will linked directly to the booking pages on each ticket shop, so no more than a couple of clicks will be required to access the final prices per order.

However, for high demand events booking the first tickets you are offered can be the best policy. There can be a thin line between paying what you wish to pay and having no tickets at all. Checking a seating plan in advance, using the venue guide on Needtickets.com (or better still, printing it out and having access to it while you attempt to book tickets), will help you to quickly ascertain whether the seated tickets you are being offered justify the face value price that is being asked off them.

What is better, seating or standing tickets?

This can vary from event to event, but to guide you we have summarised what we/see as the pros and cons of sitting v. standing at an event, but preferences will be individual so the choice is entirely yours.

Standing Tickets Advantages

• Always directly in front of the stage
• Provide you with an opportunity to be close to the stage (doesn't apply when tickets are advertised as 'rear standing')
• You can of course dance and generally throw yourself around (only an advantage at certain events)
• Pick your spot within the standing area
• If you purchase standing tickets at a later date, the same advantages apply to you and everyone who booked before you

Standing Tickets Disadvantages

• Standing Tickets cannot replaced (due to Health and Safety rules), so if a postal service loses your ticket, you can claim compensation, but you won’t be offered another ticket. If they’re still available, you’ll usually have to buy a replacement and if they’re sold out, you won’t be going to the event.
• In order to avoid the potential disadvantage above, the majority of online ticket shops insist on sending standing tickets by some form of registered post. Therefore the overall ticket price is often more expensive than seating tickets with the same face value.
• Not great if you're not tall
• Making the most of those close to stage opportunities can mean arriving at the event as soon as the doors open and standing by the stage for hour after hour after hour (meaning that you’ve also got to put up with close encounters with support bands)

Seating Tickets Advantages

• Saves aching feet
• Seats towards the stage will usually offer a better view than the majority of those standing will enjoy (This view will not be impeded by other members of the audience, so a good option if you're not tall)
• At some events you'll still be able to stand and throw yourself around, should you wish? (This can vary from venue so before you book, it can be a good idea to call the venue and check).
• Overall they can be cheaper than standing tickets (see above)
• Turn up when you like, get there two minutes before the artist takes to the stage if you want to

Seating Tickets Disadvantages

• You could be a long, long way from the stage
• Looking down on the people enjoying themselves in the standing area can be a little dis-heartening.
• For some events, it just won’t be as good as standing in the throng.

What are General Admission tickets?

When you arrive at the venue you can choose to sit or stand. During the event, you’ll be able to move between the sitting and standing areas as you wish.

What does 'late show' mean?

One of two things: Either the venue that is staging the event has a late licence, enabling you to enjoy it’s hospitality for a few hours after the gig is over, or the performance won’t actually begin until later than usual (around 11pm generally). If we know what’s happening we’ll include the relevant info on the needtickets.com email service. If you’re unsure check the doors open time printed on your ticket or call the venue before you set off.

I'm being told to 'call or collect at the venue', what does this mean?

Call at venue or box office means that tickets are still available for the event, but they can no longer be booked online or over the phone, due to time constraints. It means that all the available tickets have been sent to the box office and that is now your only method of purchasing them. Before heading off to an event without a ticket, it is worthwhile to check needtickets.com. Tickets that can only be bought at the box office should be listed as ‘available’. It may be worthwhile calling the venue box office to see what tickets they have available and how many. You should then be able to order (reserve) these tickets over the phone and 'collect' them from the box office/venue.

If you’ve booked online and are told to ‘collect’ your tickets from the box office/venue it will be because there is not enough time to post your tickets to you. Show your booking reference at the box office to collect your ticket. Please note that when ‘collecting’ tickets you will almost certainly need to have the card on which you booked the tickets with you. If somebody else booked them for you, bring the card they used.

What if I have a problem with my order, my tickets haven’t arrived etc?

Needtickets.com cannot help you directly, as we haven’t sold you the tickets you have purchased. However, here are some points to bear in mind, once you have purchased your tickets online.

• Tickets may not be sent out until two weeks before the event date
• Different ticket shops will send out tickets at different times. If your friends etc - who booked tickets on a different ticket shop - received their tickets months ago, it does not imply that there is a problem with your order
• The majority of online ticket shops offer an order tracking service, if it is telling you ‘that tickets have yet to be received’ that is the situation. Calling customer services generally won’t give you a different answer.
• Try not to lose your reference number, you’ll need it to use order tracking services and it will speed up any customer enquiry you make by phone.
• Check the terms and conditions, customer service pages and FAQs pages on the booking service that you used before you try and contact customer services.
• If order tracking tells you that your tickets have been sent to you, check how many days the tickets will take to reach you. If the suggested date passes, contact customer services at the earliest opportunity.
• If the event you have booked for is taking place in 10 days or less and you are not in possession of your tickets, contact customer services.
• Try to avoid having tickets sent anywhere other than your home address. If it’s likely that you will be not at home when they are delivered, you will be informed of what action you need to take. If you’re told to collect your tickets from a post office or delivery centre, you will have to do so in person and don’t forget to take some form of photo ID with you that has your address on it. If your tickets become lost, stolen or signed for in error in your internal work postal service, you usually won’t be able to claim compensation.

These points are for general guidance only. To find out the exact position relating to your order, check the relevant information on the online ticket shop that you used when placing your order

It seems as though no tickets are now available, what options do I have?

Keep checking back on Needtickets.com for details of additional shows being added to a tour or extra ticket releases.

An additional show(s) may be added at the venue either shortly after the original show was on sale, or at a later date.

Extra seating tickets may become available in the future, additional standing tickets are very rarely released.. There are no guarantees that this will occur, but the larger the venue, the more likely extra tickets will be placed on sale.

Such seats may not necessarily be at the back of a venue, often additional seating tickets that have placed on sale are near (but to the side of) the stage. Keep checking back on needtickets.com, particularly from a month to two weeks prior to the date of the event.

Sign up to the free Needtickets ticket info service and we'll do our best to inform you when such tickets become available

Alternatively be prepared to travel. The UK isn't the biggest country on the planet. If tickets are sold out in London, but are available in Birmingham you can be there in two hours, less if you're heading for the NEC which is adjacent to the M6.