The Ticketmaster waiting room is a virtual queue that users are placed in when there is high demand for tickets to a concert or event. When an event goes on sale, Ticketmaster anticipates a rush of fans all trying to buy tickets at the same time. To manage high traffic and prevent their website from crashing, Ticketmaster uses the waiting room to control the flow of users entering the website.
What is the purpose of the Ticketmaster waiting room?
The main purpose of the Ticketmaster waiting room is to manage the heavy influx of traffic to the Ticketmaster website during a popular event onsale. Without the waiting room, the Ticketmaster website would likely crash or become extremely slow when hundreds of thousands of fans try to purchase tickets simultaneously. The waiting room essentially acts as a virtual line, temporarily holding users in a queue before gradually releasing them in small groups to actually enter the Ticketmaster site and buy event tickets.
This not only prevents Ticketmaster’s servers from being overwhelmed, but also provides users with a more fair chance at getting tickets instead of having the website crash. It seeks to create a smoother, more organized onsale process rather than a free-for-all scramble for tickets.
When does Ticketmaster use the waiting room?
Ticketmaster typically deploys the waiting room technology when they anticipate exceptionally high demand for tickets to a particular event. This includes things like:
- Concerts by major pop stars or music groups (like Taylor Swift, BTS, Harry Styles, etc.)
- Shows announced as part of a popular artist’s concert tour
- Major sporting events like playoff games or championships
- One-time events like music festivals or celebrity appearances
Essentially any event that is likely to sell out very quickly and attract hundreds of thousands of fans vying for limited tickets will likely use the Ticketmaster waiting room. The specific criteria or sales thresholds used to trigger the waiting room technology is proprietary to Ticketmaster.
How does the Ticketmaster waiting room work?
The waiting room is engaged about an hour before the scheduled onsale time for an event. Fans who arrive early are placed into the waiting room, which displays an estimate for how long you’ll be waiting as well as your place in line. Users in the waiting room are randomly shuffled around to discourage bots and speed buyers from gaming the system.
Right at the onsale time, Ticketmaster begins slowly releasing users from the waiting room in small waves, essentially controlling how many people can load the main Ticketmaster website at one time. This staggered release prevents too many users from hitting the site at once and overload the servers.
Once you reach the front of the line, you’ll be let through to the Ticketmaster site. There is usually a short countdown before you can access the ticket buying page. Ticketmaster claims waiting room users are given priority access over those who arrive after the onsale time.
Waiting Room Process
- Arrive at Ticketmaster before the scheduled onsale time and get placed in waiting room
- Get assigned a random place in line and estimated wait time
- Wait as users are slowly released from waiting room in small batches
- Reach front of line and get access to Ticketmaster to buy tickets
Tips for using the Ticketmaster waiting room
Here are some tips to improve your experience and chances with the Ticketmaster waiting room:
- Arrive early – Get in the waiting room at least an hour before onsale time to get the best place in line you can.
- Use multiple devices – Open the waiting room on 2 devices like phone and computer to double your chances.
- Don’t refresh – Refreshing your waiting room page can lose your place in line.
- Be patient – Expect waiting room times of 1-3 hours for popular events.
- Have accounts ready – Make sure you have Ticketmaster account created with payment info saved.
- Act fast – Once in the site, have seating section selected and purchase ASAP.
Criticisms of the Ticketmaster waiting room
While the waiting room aims to create more fair access to high demand tickets, some common complaints about the system include:
- Long wait times with no guarantee you’ll get tickets
- Sudden changes in estimated wait time while in queue
- Little transparency about how users are released from the waiting room
- Perception that brokers or scalpers game the system
- No mobile app support, desktop browser only
Some critics argue the opaque waiting room system remains vulnerable to exploitation by large ticket resellers and hasn’t truly solved issues around bots or unfair advantages. The system also isn’t necessarily the most user friendly.
Alternatives to Ticketmaster waiting rooms
Ticketmaster’s waiting room remains the most widely used system, but there are some alternative models venues have tried for high demand onsales:
- Lottery – All registrants have equal chance and winners are selected randomly.
- Verified Fan – Fans register ahead of onsale for chance to buy tickets.
- Wristbands – Fans line up physically to get numbered wristbands to buy tickets.
Each system has pros and cons, but the waiting room model provides more flexibility for large online onsales. The alternatives may work better for smaller venue events.
The future of Ticketmaster waiting rooms
As more events move to digital ticketing and mobile apps, there is opportunity for Ticketmaster to modernize and innovate on the waiting room model. Some possibilities include:
- Mobile app waiting rooms to supplement desktop site
- More transparency into position details and release timing
- Tighter integration with Ticketmaster accounts
- Expanded verified fan options for early ticket access
However, the core purpose would remain throttling traffic to manage extreme demand. Waiting rooms allow fairer access than first-come-first-served models vulnerable to bots and scalpers.
Conclusion
The Ticketmaster waiting room is an effective, if imperfect, solution for handling the huge spikes in traffic for popular event onsales. By metering fan demand into a virtual queue, it aims to provide moreusers a fair shot at buying coveted tickets. While critiques exist around transparency and bot prevention, waiting rooms are likely to remain a key defense against website crashes during major online ticket releases.
