Tickets to Beyoncé concerts are now so expensive in the US that American fans are flying to Europe
Music lovers are complaining that the price of concert tickets in the United States are now so expensive that it is cheaper to buy a plane ticket and see the show in Europe.
Beyoncé fan Mercedes Arielle, from Dallas, announced on Instagram that she had saved money by booking a flight to Stockholm to see the Renaissance tour, rather than buying a ticket in her hometown.
And Beyonce is not the only musician whose shows in Europe are dramatically cheaper than those in the United States. Analysis by DailyMail.com showed that, this summer, the same level of tickets for Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Pink and Ed Sheeran can be found at big discounts in Europe.
‘Beyoncé is a ministry,’ said Arielle, explaining the lengths she went to to get tickets.
She told The Washington Post: ‘When I think about the things she is saying in her music about experiencing joy and celebrating black women? She made us feel empowered and capable and strong and worthy.
Arielle told NBC News she bought VIP tickets to the Stockholm show for $366, while her friends in Dallas spent $900.
Mercedes Arielle, from Dallas, shared her tips for getting European tickets for the show.
Beyoncé is seen on stage in Pasadena in July 2018. Her European shows are significantly cheaper than her US ones.
Tickets are available for Beyonce’s show in Stockholm for 2,325 Swedish krona, or $225.
The same type of ticket in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 9 costs $822.
She said she was so close to the stage, ‘Beyoncé is gonna sweat on me. That’s how close I am.
Arielle, whose Instagram account offers tips to ‘hack luxury by any means possible,’ said she was using points from travel loyalty cards to pay for her hotel.
Another Beyoncé fan, Kylyn Schnelle, 28, from Louisville, Kentucky, said tickets for the show in her hometown were on resale sites for over $800.
Schnelle told NBC News that she looked online and found tickets in London, and a flight, with the trip adding up to the same cost as seeing the singer in Kentucky.
‘When I looked in London, it was 167 pounds [about $200]and the flight was, like, $660,’ she said.
‘I was like this is genuinely the same cost.’
Schnelle’s best friend lives in London, so, she said, it took “very little to convince” her to go.
‘If you’re going to spend $800, why would you not milk it as much as possible?’ she said.
The tactic used by Arielle and Schnelle could save music lovers thousands—especially if they have airline points to use, or have already booked their tickets to Europe.
Tickets are currently on sale for Beyoncé’s show in the Swedish capital Stockholm on May 10 for 2,325 krona, or $225.
The same type of ticket in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 9 costs $822.
Coveted front-of-stage tickets have the biggest savings.
To see Madonna up close in London on October 15 costs £1,505, or $1,838.
The same ticket at Madison Square Garden on August 23 is $828 more expensive, at $2,666.
Madonna is seen on stage in New York in June 2022
Tickets to see Madonna, right at the front, in London on October 15 cost 1,505 pounds, or $1,838
The same tickets – right at the front – in Madison Square Garden will cost you $2,666.
To see Bruce Springsteen in his home state of New Jersey will cost you $537 when he performs on April 14.
Yet if you are in Copenhagen, the same level of ticket costs 666 krone, or $96.
A general admission ticket for Ed Sheeran’s tour stop in Chicago, standing in front of the multiple stages, will cost you $149 on July 29.
For those in the Scottish city of Glasgow, the same general admission entrance costs £90, or $109.
Fans of Pink in Poland will find themselves saving hundreds of dollars compared to their US counterparts.
In Warsaw, on July 16, you can see Pink for 550 zlotys, or $126.
In Chicago, however, her August 12 show cost $618.
Both Pink tickets are for her Summer Carnival tour, which begins in London in June and arrives in North America on July 24.
Seeing ‘The Boss’ in his home state will cost you $537 for tickets.
Similar tickets in Copenhagen will set Springsteen fans back only 666 krone, or $96.
Bruce Springsteen is touring with his band for the first time in six years
Ed Sheeran fans pay around $40 less in Glasgow than in Chicago
Sheeran’s general admission tickets are $149 in Chicago
Pink’s Summer Carnival tour takes her across North America and Europe this summer.
Pink’s fans in Chicago pay significantly more than her fans in the Polish city of Warsaw.
Similar tickets for the Pink show in Poland cost 550 zlotys, or $126: in Chicago, they are $618.
The wildly differing prices are just the latest headache for music lovers, who are still furious about the Ticketmaster debacle when Taylor Swift’s shows went on sale.
The website crashed repeatedly, and fans spent days waiting online without any success.
In July, Bruce Springsteen fans were met with similar site difficulties and outrageous prices as Ticketmaster activated its ‘dynamic pricing’ model for tickets to his current arena tour — his first featuring the full E-Street Band since 2017.
Members of Congress launched an inquiry into the fall, accusing Ticketmaster of running a monopoly and failing to look after their customers.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, who chairs the US Senate committee on consumer rights, said that Ticketmaster is responsible for 70 percent of ticket sales in the US.
‘In truth, there is no other choice. It’s a monopoly,’ she told MSNBC last year.
Ticketmaster’s boss in January apologized to Swift and her fans during a US Senate hearing.
‘We need to do better and we will,’ said Joe Berchtold, president of Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company.
A bot attack was responsible for “a terrible consumer experience”, he said.