www.sportsticketsecrets.com

I'm about to divulge a concert secret that most ticket brokers don't want you to know about. Why? Because if you know this secret you can literally go to the front of the line and buy your concert tickets before the general public.

That may sound like typical marketing hype, but it's absolutely true. I know because I've done it many times for tickets ranging from WWE events to rock concerts. How did I do it? I used a presale password.

Concert promoters, radio stations, or fan clubs sometimes sponsor ticket presales or special promotions. These sales typically occur online a few days before the tickets go on sale to the general public. A portion of tickets will be made available for purchase during the presale, but in order to buy them you will usually need a password. The password  may be distributed by the venue, artist, team, or promoter. Sometimes it's distributed to VIPs, exclusive members of a club, or other groups. Obviously with a password you have a leg up on the general public.

Here are a few things to keep in mind about presales. First, they are usually sold from an allotment of seats, which may not reflect the same availability during the general sale to the public. Internet presales provide the advantage of exclusive purchasing links which often results in less people competing for the pool of available seats. However, Internet presales may also have limited seating available in various areas. Since presales are intended as advance purchasing links, they don't always provide access to better seats. In fact, it is possible that you may be able to purchase better tickets when the tickets go on sale to the general public than those that you purchase through a presale.

Now that I've explained the importance of presale passwords, I'm going to tell you exactly where to find them. While you will have to put a little effort into finding them, I can assure you they are out there. Since they're typically not provided to the general public, I'm going to provide you with a few sources for presale passwords. Some are free; some will cost you a little money, but are worth the price if you score tickets to a sold-out concert.

Find Free Concert Presale Passwords

Before I give you the specific websites, let me offer some general suggestions. If your favorite band has a fan club, I recommend you join it as soon as possible. Membership very often includes access to ticket presales and advance notice of new shows or performances.

Also consider signing up for venue mailing lists. For example, the Grove of Anaheim has a Friend of the Grove newsletter that includes periodic presale notices for shows scheduled at the Grove. Once you know the tour stops for your favorite band, see if any venues near you have a mailing list. By signing up, you'll be notified of the presales sponsored by those venue.

Radio stations are another great source of presale passwords. Surf on over to your favorite station's website and look for a listen club or other promotional group like the KROQ Street Team. This listener club, sponsored by radio station KROQ in Los Angeles, sends out regular emails that include presale passwords for many of the popular, and not so popular, acts passing through Southern California. I recommend you sign up for any similar clubs at radio stations near you. 

Finally, here are the specific links I promised. The information on them can be hit or miss, but there's a good chance someone will have the password if you ask for it. The first one is to www.fatwallet.com, a general consumer site with a variety of money-saving tips and information. The presale password discussion has its own thread in their forums section.

The second site used to be a much better resource, and was in fact where I got many of my presale passwords. Unfortunately, BlueBucs Tickets recently made changes to their blog and now there is a catch to the free passwords. They don't make them available until a few hours after the presale starts. That's not a big deal if it's a presale for something like Sesame Street Live or Disney on Ice, but probably won't help much with a hot concert. You can see the presale information on their blog.

Finally, spend some time snooping around in the nooks and crannies of the Internet. A quick Google search for "presale passwords" yields 19 pages of results. That should give you enough research material to keep you busy for some time.

Purchase Concert Presale Passwords

If you're willing to spend some money, you will greatly increase your chances of finding the password to a specific presale.

First, see if your favorite band has a fee-based fan club. If they do then join it. Membership benefits will almost certainly include presale passwords and special links for purchasing tickets. This requires very little time on you part, but could result in front row seats to a sold-out concert.

Next, you should search eBay. On any given day there as many as 100 auction listings for presale passwords so there's a good chance someone will be selling the password you need. Typically the ones you'll find on eBay will be valid, but that doesn't mean you won't get a lemon from time to time. With prices from ranging from .99 to 4.99, you're really not risking much, but remember this: Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware! I have seen sellers offering passwords to presales that I knew didn't require a password or selling passwords even after the presale had sold out.

Finally, I would recommend you consider joining a presale password website. Some allow you to join for just a few days or only for a specific presale while others charge a monthly fee for unlimited access. Monthly fees range from 19.99 to 65.95. These membership sites eliminate much of the time-consuming work of finding passwords.

Here is a list of the most popular presale password sites. I list them here for information purposes only and make no claims as to the information they provide.

http://www.presalenow.com/default1.asp

http://ticketdreams.net/manyevents.php

http://www.presalepassword.net/

http://www.bluebucs.com

The last one is for serious ticket brokers or someone who wants to become a serious ticket broker. It's the most expensive site around, but provides the most complete and valuable information I have seen. I am currently a member, and would recommend you give it a try for a month if you want to join the ranks of "big time" ticket brokers. If you do decide to join, please list my email address cgcenterprises@cox.net as the referring email. Thanks!

Using Presale Passwords to Purchase Concert Tickets

Now that you've got your password, what do you do with it? Well, most of the presale passwords you'll get will be fore Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing company. Usually you'll get a link with the password, but if not, you can search for the concert from the main Ticketmaster page. Since most presales run for a limited time (sometimes less than a day), I recommend you give yourself plenty of time before the presale to find the correct page.

Once there you'll see something like this.

This is a sample page for an Aerosmith concert at the Peoria Civic Center. First you'll see this concert has a PCC VIP PRESALE with the password "wings". You will also see this presale started on 2/15/06 and ended on 2/17/06. After entering the password, buy tickets just like you would during a regular ticket sale. If you want to know if a particular concert will have a presale, look in the lower right side of the concert page to see if one is listed.

Good luck and happy hunting!