Step 1: Determine your budget
It’s no secret that Eagles’ tickets can be pricey, so before you begin your ticket hunt, it’s important to decide exactly how much you are willing to pay for a seat. Knowing your budget can help make some of your decisions for you, especially if you force yourself to stick with it.
Step 2: Become one with the venue’s seating chart.
Find a seating chart for the venue that you want tickets for. If you are hoping to get seats close to the stage on the floor, it is imperative that you find a seating chart that shows how the seats are numbered. This is an example of a good chart. You don’t want to get seats in the front row, only to find out that you are so far to the side, that all you can see is one of Tim’s boots (believe us…we’ve learned from experience). If you can’t find a seating chart with numbered floor seats, call the box office of the venue directly. You may have to ask your question several times before they understand what you want, but asking something like the following usually works:
“If I’m standing in section x, facing the stage, is seat 1 on the left or the right?”
If you simply can’t get this information, the general rule (but this doesn’t always hold true) is that the seats will run they way the sections are numbered. So…if you are facing the stage and the sections go 1-2-3 from left to right, seat 1 in each section will be on the left. If you are facing the stage and the sections go 3-2-1 from left to right, seat 1 will be on the right of each section. Did that make sense?
In recent shows, there has been a large boom camera situated on the right side of the venue as you face the stage. This hampers the view in that corner, so you may want to take that into consideration.
Step 3: Choose your zones of acceptability
Now that you know the seating chart, decide where you’d be okay sitting. Of course, we’d all love to be front and center, but just in case that doesn’t happen, you need to decide what seats you’d be okay with. This is your zone of acceptability. This may be determined by things such as your favorite Eagle (Tim fans probably want different seats than Joe fans) or your height (if you are short, you may prefer a raised section on the side to floor seats. You may have a very narrow zone (ours is first four rows, center section or aisle seats in the side sections) or a wider zone if you’d just like to be close. Once you have your zone figured out, it’s just a matter of finding seats that match both your budget and your zone. Tell yourself that if you can do that, you shouldn’t hesitate…you should buy your seats.
Step 4: Get Your Tix
Depending on your budget, you’ll have various options to consider when deciding when and where to purchase your ticket. Each of these options coms with their own sets of pros and cons, risks and rewards.
I Love All Access: If you have a sizeable budget and your zone of acceptability is limited to the first couple of rows, you may want to consider getting a VIP package from I Love All Access. These tickets will be pricey, but you’ll have a guarantee of being in the first 5-10 rows (guarantees differ based on venue). Most people who purchase ILAA packages as soon as they go on sale, usually end up with seats in the first few rows (plus you get dinner and a bag of goodies). Some people have asked us if ILAA is a reputable organization and the answer to that is “yes”. ILAA is run by people within the Eagles organization and won’t take your money without giving you what they promised. One word of warning, though. If you are going to get ILAA tickets, get them as close to the on-sale date as possible. Seats are allocated on a first-come, first serve basis. Also, if you can avoid it, don’t do ILAA at a casino. The venue’s system of giving complementary seats to their biggest gamblers/customers interferes with the seats usually available to ILAA and you may find yourself further back that you’d like.
Face-Value Tickets
For the majority of dates, the Eagles will be playing at venues that use Ticketmaster as their ticket vendor. A few venues use other vendors like Tickets.com or their own box office. This is the only place where face value tickets will be available. Here are our tips for finding the best tickets from outlets like this.
1. Don’t use the phone. Look for your tickets online. You have more control
over choosing your seats.
2. If the first set of tickets you get is outside of your zone of acceptability, don’t buy
it. Try again.
3. Unlike days of yore, when the best seats went to the first person in line, this is
no longer the case. Better seats could show up later in the afternoon on the day
of sale or the day of the show.
4. If the show says it is sold out, don’t despair. Keep trying.
Many of you have heard about the concept of ticket releases when better seats are added into the Ticketmaster pool closer to the date of sale. This does happen, but finding these seats takes hard work and determination. There is no real system to knowing when/if these seats will appear. You just have to check every day. Bookmark the ticket site and check things periodically through the day. For the current Eagles tour, release seats have become available anywhere from a month before the show to a couple of hours before the band steps out on stage. A general rule is that when I Love All Access closes their sales for a particular show, you should step up your efforts in checking seats. Once again, all bets are off (pun intended) if you are attending a casino show.
Resale Seats
Notice we aren’t calling these broker seats. It used to be that when you bought seats from a broker, you felt like you were doing something illicit. Heck, we once had to knock on the windows of a guy’s Trans Am in an alley behind a barbeque restaurant in Tupelo to get a set of tickets. These days, the ticket resale market is more legitimate and is sponsored by Ticketmaster through their Ticket Exchange program. Here’s what we know about resale seats.
Ticket Exchange (choose a venue and then choose the Ticket Exchange tab). This is how Ticketmaster retains some control over the brokers…they serve as their own resale agent. If you look at the Ticket Exchange, you’ll see a wide variety of seats. Some of these are from individuals who bought seats to a show, but can’t use them. Most of the seats, though, are coming directly from Ticketmaster. Take a look at the seats. If there is something in your zone of acceptability and within your budget, consider purchasing them. If the price is too high, keep an eye on them because as the date of the show gets closer, the prices will get cheaper. Of course, someone could buy the seats out from under you. It’s like a risky game of chicken. One thing to keep in mind is that Ticket Exchange may tack on a high convenience charge at the end of the sale. I almost bought a pair of seats through them until I noticed that they would tack on $120 a ticket. That isn’t always the case, though, just be prepared.
TicketsNow TicketsNow.com is a national reseller. They actually have a pool of tickets from their network of individual brokers (you’ll notice this if you visit individual broker sites…they all have the same tickets). TicketsNow is also affiliated with Ticketmaster, so it’s safe to get your seats from them. Sometimes the seats on Ticket Exchange are also on TicketsNow at a different price. It’s just a matter of looking at all of your options. We’ve had great luck with them. Other individual brokers we’ve used successfully include VIP Tickets and Coast to Coast. Sometimes you can get sticker shock looking at prices on broker sites…be patient there as well, though. As the date of the show gets closer, brokers will want to unload the tickets and will start lowering their prices. We recently got seats right next to ILAA ticket holders for $50 over face value. Sure, we didn’t get dinner and a bag of goodies, but we had great seats. TicketsNow doesn’t list individual seat numbers on their website, but they might tell if you if you call them and ask. Remember what we said about knowing your seating chart. Just because something is in the front row, it doesn’t mean it’s a good seat.
Other Resale Sites Other places to try include the old standby of eBay. Keep in mind, though, that many brokers also list their seats on eBay. We just like dealing with the broker directly. You can also try Craigslist or the classifieds of the paper in your town. If none of this works and all you want to do is get into the show to hear the music, grab a wad of cash and head to the venue and see what you can pick up there. If you wait for the show to start, the price of the tickets will get considerably cheaper.
Step 5: Get Zen
This process can be a stressful one. If you think of it as a challenge or a hunt, though, you can have a considerable amount of fun. Just keep cool and remember that if the seat is where you want and you can afford it, you should purchase it and be happy. Peace of mind has a price too. One other bit of advice is that once you have your tickets, you should stop looking (unless you are prepared to buy another set). Just relax in the knowledge that you have tickets to see one of the greatest bands deliver an amazing show.
Step 6: Share
This guide is based only on our opinions and experiences. If you have something to add, please leave a comment below. If you have questions, post them there and we (or someone in the community) will be glad to help if we can.
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