Taylor Swift fans might have bad blood with Ticketek after their latest move prevents them from accessing Sydney show tickets until they arrive in Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Taylor Swift fans might have bad blood with Ticketek after their latest move prevents them from accessing Sydney show tickets until they arrive in Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Taylor Swift’s New Zealand fans have raised concerns after Ticketek prevented them from accessing their Sydney show tickets until they enter Australia.
New Zealand Taylor Swift fans may have bad blood with Ticketek after the ticketing merchant’s latest move.
The Grammy winner is days away from performing her target="_blank">four Sydney shows - which will host approximately 80,000 fans per night - but Kiwi fans have been left panicked after Ticketek prevented them from accessing their tickets until they land in Australia.
Speaking to the Herald, one fan claimed: “Ticketek have geoblocked their app so that Kiwis who have bought tickets for the TS [Taylor Swift] concert cannot access their tickets until they land in Australia.
They added: “Many frustrated and panicked Kiwis are frantically attempting to confirm their tickets have not disappeared before taking up their expensive flights and accommodation.”
Tickets to Swift’s shows are only able to be accessed via the Ticketek AU app and not on the desktop website.
Since the fan spoke to the Herald, others have come forward, with one person saying they tried to access their tickets on the app last night but were met with a blank screen other than bold words reading: “You don’t have permission to access this page.” And a blue button that says “Retry”.
“I tried last night and assumed it was crashing,” the fan said, adding: “But I’ve checked in desktop and the tickets are there but you can only access tickets via app.”
Ticketek told the Herald the app was no longer locked and it had always been the plan to ‘open’ the app to New Zealand customers when barcodes for the tickets were unlocked.
However, one fan messaged the ticketing service on their official Instagram account only to receive a reply which read: “Currently, tickets cannot be accessed outside of Australia.”
Ticketek has replied to one concerned fan, revealing New Zealand ticket holders cannot access their tickets until they are in Australia. Photo / Facebook
“Once you touch down in Aus you will need to either connect to wifi to save your ticket to your wallet or use an Australian sim card.” They added: “Tickets cannot be accessed through data roaming.”
How many Kiwis are travelling to see Swift?
Air New Zealand is helping thousands of Taylor Swift fans cross the ditch for her Australia shows. Photos / Grant Bradley, AP
O’Brien said the huge demand for flights following ticket sales of the popstar’s shows saw them add 14 flights in addition to its existing services - including seven NZ1989 flights, created as a nod to her fifth studio album, 1989.
“Back in June 2023 when the concerts were announced, we added 14 flights and increased capacity on existing services to Australia around the concerts to get Kiwi Swifties to the shows. In the three days ahead of the concerts we have 63 flights into Sydney and 47 into Melbourne,” O’Brien says adding, “This includes seven NZ1989 flights as a special nod to Swifties onboard with us.”
Biggest shows of Swift’s career
Taylor Swift performs at Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 16, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. Photo / Getty Images
It comes after the popstar performed to the biggest crowds of her career last week, playing to an impressive 96,000 Swifties at MCG in Melbourne on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
While MCG’s official capacity is 100,024 – and even extended to 109,500 for Ed Sheeran’s 2023 show, Swift’s nearly 90-metre stage was positioned at the city end of the stadium, meaning some stands were not able to be used.
As well as being her biggest shows so far, her MCG performances could become her biggest overall. The only set of shows that may eclipse Swift’s record is when she tours Europe later this year. With Swift set to play at Wembley Stadium, The Guardian reports the official capacity of the venue is 90,000 seated and 25,000 standing, with crowd numbers varying according to stage size.
In 2023, The Weeknd played to an 87,000-person crowd while Adele played to a 98,000-person crowd in 2017. However, given the size of Swift’s stage, it is unlikely she will top these audience numbers.
This isn’t the first time Swift has broken her own audience record in Australia. To date, Swift’s largest show of her career took place during her 1989 tour, where she played to 76,000 people at Sydney’s Accor Stadium in 2015.
The Lover singer will be the second-ever artist to perform three concerts at the MCG – the first was Madonna – and she will also be the first artist ever to perform four concerts at Accor Stadium.
Show schedule
February 23, 24, 25 and 26 - Sydney Accor Stadium
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
