Melissa Sanchez recently traveled to Stockholm to see Taylor Swift as part of a recent trend among Swifties who can see the star for much cheaper by flying to Europe. Melissa is planning upcoming trips to London and Dublin. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
When Swift’s European concert dates went on sale, Sanchez bought tickets for three shows: Stockholm, London and Dublin. All three of her European tickets combined cost less than her $5,500 ticket in Chicago, she said.
Three times as many Americans are traveling internationally for live concerts this summer compared to last year, according to a summer tour report by international online ticket marketplace StubHub.
Swift appears to be fueling the trend, with Stubhub calling Swift the most in-demand artist for the summer after coming off a record year as their highest-searched artist in 2023.
During her three-hour shows, Swift plays songs from all but one of her 11 studio albums, each divided into its own act — or “era” — complete with outfit changes and complex stage visuals.
The singer also chooses surprise songs at each show from her nearly two-decade career, with fans on social media guessing which ones she’ll play and creating online games to track almost every element of the show.
The slight variety in shows means hard-core fans try to go to multiple shows. Once Sanchez was in Stockholm for the three-night leg in May, she secured a last-minute ticket for a second night for only around $450.
Prescilla Malayter, 40, could not buy tickets for the Chicago concerts last year and the upcoming Indianapolis shows after she didn’t get a presale code, which gives fans first access to face-value tickets and VIP packages. Initially, her travel budget allowed for to attend a show in Canada, but after comparing high Canadian prices to cheaper ones in Europe, she set her sights on Stockholm.
Malayter, who lives in Munster, Indiana, had accumulated enough flight credit to cover the airfare for the trip. Sweden seemed to be the perfect destination to meet her two high school friends, who live in the Philippines and, like her, are huge Swifties.
Malayter spent $350 on her concert ticket and to her surprise, had a hard time selling an extra ticket after someone backed out of the trip, which, in her view demonstrated the dramatic difference in ticket demand, she said.
Even with the loss on the extra ticket, she said she spent hundreds of dollars less than if she’d waited for the Indianapolis show, a three-hour drive from her house.
“We Americans have such a warped sense of what’s affordable and anything under $1,000 can be justified” for a ticket in the United States, Malayter said.
With her trip costing a little over $1,000 total, not only did she save a lot of money, but Malayter said the cheaper tickets to the concert justified traveling to Europe for three days to see her friends, she said.
A new album released earlier this year also further ignited U.S.-based fans’ excitement for this summer’s international shows.
In April, hundreds flocked to downtown Chicago to scan a QR code mural plastered on a wall in River North that gave clues about Swift’s 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which was released later that month. In Paris, Goodman said she and her daughter were among the first audiences to hear several of Swift’s new songs live.
Swifties have also found a surprising community with other U.S. fans traveling to European shows.
Sanchez, who became a Swiftie in 2012 after the release of “Red” is part of a Facebook group that swapped tips and tickets as they planned to travel to Swift’s shows in Sweden. Her flight home to Chicago included almost 50 people who had traveled to “The Eras Tour,” she said.
After returning from the show in Paris, Courtney Goodman said she told her family about her “epic” experience at the concert. Now, everyone wants in.
“We’re going to try,” she said of attending another show in one of two cities in Germany later this summer. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but we’re going to try.”
Source link : https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/06/18/chicago-swifties-join-the-international-tour-craze-flying-to-europe-to-see-taylor-swift-for-less-money/
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Publish date : 2024-06-18 10:16:59
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