Accessing Event Presale Tickets with Credit Cards

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• Many credit card issuers offer access to presale, preferred seating, and VIP ticket offers.
• American Express, Capital One, and Citi each have their own entertainment programs.
• Chase doesn’t offer presale access as widely as other issuers, though it offers entertainment perks.

Introduction to Credit Card Presale Tickets

If you’re swiping a credit card regularly, you probably know its key benefits. But do you know the extra, lesser-known perks that it comes with?

Benefits of Credit Card Presales

Depending on which bank issues your card, there’s a chance you’ve got access to presale or VIP tickets for big concerts and events. It’s an awesome cardmember bonus that anyone who attends hard-to-book events doesn’t want to ignore.

Eligible Credit Cards for Presale Access

Major Credit Cards with Entertainment Benefits

With most American Express cards, you’re eligible to buy presale tickets through the American Express Experiences program. American Express gives cardmembers presale ticket access to popular music festivals like Coachella and premier sporting events like Wimbledon and the US Open Golf Championship.

For certain events, your American Express card can also get you into exclusive meet-and-greets and qualify you for concession offers or dedicated cardmember entrances. And you may be able to take advantage of By Invitation Only events too.

Specific Cards Known for Presale Ticket Access

To book, you can head to American Express Experiences. You can sort experiences by early access, invitation only (which requires either a version of The Platinum Card® from American Express or the Centurion card. Once you find the event you want to attend, you can click “Get tickets” to be redirected to Ticketmaster, AXS, or wherever the reservations exist.

Alternately, you can visit the Amex Ticketmaster landing page to see Ticketmaster offerings. You look at presales, American Express Seating, and American Express Preferred Seating. You’ll have to pay with your eligible Amex card to qualify.

Capital One: Entertainment and Presale Tickets

Capital One credit cards offer presale opportunities for a handful of events — most recently a chance to buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour nearly three days before sales are open to the public.

Importantly, you cannot find these opportunities through Capital One Entertainment. You can check out the Capital One presale landing page to see what’s currently on offer.

For all your non-presale needs, however, Capital One Entertainment comes with a big upside. It’s got fun and unique experiences, some of which you can exclusively book with credit card rewards — and select cards, such as the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card†
, will give you 8% back on purchases made through Capital One Entertainment.

Citi Entertainment: Presale Tickets and Event Access

If you have a Citi credit card or debit card, you can access exclusive ticket offers through the Citi Entertainment program. Citi will occasionally give you access to purchase tickets before anyone else.

Citi says its presale tickets generally go on sale two to three days before tickets are available to the public, but it’s sometimes more.

By heading to the Citi Entertainment site, you can easily see which events are up for presale. You can also view Preferred tickets (which are tickets set aside exclusively for Citi cardholders), Preferred Price tickets, and Complimentary tickets (which can be claimed once every six months).

Once you select an offer, you may be transferred to Ticketmaster.com or wherever the tickets are being sold. You’ll have to enter the first six digits of your Citi credit or debit card to unlock the offer.

Notable Mention: Chase

Your Chase credit card isn’t the best for presale tickets — though you can sometimes score presale tickets for events at the Chase Center (in other words, this isn’t valuable at tons of locations worldwide).

Even so, Chase credit and debit card members are eligible to take advantage of Chase Preferred Seating at events. And, for select events, Chase may invite everyone who’s purchased a Chase Preferred Seat to enjoy a pre-event reception at a Chase Lounge.

Chase Preferred Seating and Chase Lounges are available at some impressive venues, including Madison Square Garden and Radio Music Hall in New York City, the Chicago Theater, and The Forum in Los Angeles.

To buy the tickets, you’ll just need to use one of your Chase cards, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, at checkout.

Oh, and once you’re at the event, your Chase card may qualify you for arena benefits like discounts on merchandise and food and beverage. 

Considerations and Best Practices

Reading the Fine Print on Ticket Offers

Having access to presale tickets doesn’t guarantee that you’ll always be able to purchase admission to super-popular events. But it can help in a dramatic way.

If there’s an upcoming event for which you want presale access, you’ll need your card number to qualify. Don’t wait until a day or two before presale to open a credit card that’ll give you this access, as you won’t receive it in time.

If you find yourself in this situation now, be aware that select few cards offer you an instant card number upon approval. This could possibly give you immediate presale access — though it’s not surefire.

Managing Your Expectations

Don’t have a credit card from one of the issuers listed above that offers presale or preferred tickets? Your cards could still offer their own set of entertainment benefits.

For instance, all Mastercard cardholders can buy tickets to various exclusive events from around the world via the Priceless Cities program. So if you have a card like the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
, you can take advantage of this program.

No matter which credit card you’re currently using, there’s a good chance that it may offer some entertainment perks.

Check with your card issuer to find out what type of benefits you’re entitled to. And the next time you plan to attend an event, don’t forget to take advantage of them.

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