Americans traveling to Europe for cheaper Beyonce tickets

Source: Schengen Visa Info

American fans are booking trips to Europe to go see Beyonce, as the price of tickets to attend her performance is exponentially higher in the United States.

Kylyn Schnelle says that the seats she found in Louisville, Kentucky, where she lives, were being resold for over €735 ($800), while in London, a concert ticket cost €188 (£167) and the flight ticket to the UK was €607 ($660), totaling up to the same ticket price as the ones in the United States.

“I was like, this is genuinely the same cost. If you’re going to spend $800, why would you not milk it as much as possible,” Kylyn said, noting she already had a friend in the UK that could host her for some days.

Similarly, Mercedes Arielle said she refuses to rely on Ticketmaster and the US System, as last year she hesitated to pay an €827 ($900) concert ticket for Beyonce and Jay-Z “On the Run II Tour” in Dallas, while tickets for the same performance cost €84 ($92) a piece in Paris.

On the other hand, there are many people that did not benefit from this European ticket-buying strategy. Jamaya Powell bought Beyonce tickets in Germany before checking flight prices, to later realize she couldn’t afford them.

More specifically, she bought tickets priced €409 each while her friend that lives in Austria bought face-value tickets in the same location for a lower price. Powell said she felt scammed by Ticketmaster after she sold the tickets at €240 each, at a loss of almost €350. Later she bought two tickets in her hometown for €680 ($741).

“It’s hard to not be impulsive when, you know, you want to go to a concert that is very highly anticipated and that people are really interested in going to. I would just say make smarter decisions than I did, she told NBC.

The European Parliament last year passed the Digital Services Act – including ticket regulations, with the Act entering into force on January 1. The Act also intends to create a similar level of ticket prices across the Member States, as well as protect customers. The DSA will require resellers to present proof of identification and contact information, as well as ban buying tactics that include limited times to buy a ticket at a low price.

While the EU and the UK are working to address ticketing issues, fans can face high prices and resale markups as they do in the US, depending on the EU countries.