Taylor Swift fans share desperate measures they’re taking to bag UK and Europe tour tickets

Taylor Swift sent fans in a frenzy after finally announcing her UK and Europeans Eras Tour Dates this week – with some fans already in strategy mode as they gear up to get tickets.

Speaking to FEMAIL, excited ‘Swifties’ in the UK revealed their joy, shock and fear at the upcoming challenge ahead.

One has even admitted to having called Wembley up to ask about a VIP box and another revealed they’re considering taking annual leave just to stake out tickets.

Another declared they’d ‘happily’ fork out more than £500 to see the iconic singer – whose impressive costume and stage presence in the US shows had made her Eras tour the hottest ticket in town.

Elsewhere, a fan even has even mocked up a spreadsheet to increase their chances of gaining access to one of the shows.

Taylor’s UK and Europe leg will kick off on 9 May 2024 in Paris and wrap up on the 17 August in London, with Sabrina Carpenter joining as a special guest.

Earlier this week, Taylor announced on social media: ‘EXCUSE ME HI I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.  I can’t wait to see so many of you on The Eras Tour next year at these new international dates!’ 

After her performances in Paris in May, Taylor will head to Sweden, Portugal and Lyon in France before making her way over to the UK. 

She will then head to Edinburgh for two tour dates on the 7/8 June, before shows in Liverpool, Cardiff, and Dublin. 

After touring round Amsterdam, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria, Taylor will return to Wembley on the 16/ 17 August.

Here, British fans opened up about the stakes they’re willing to go to to secure tickets, admitting they fear ‘chaos’ – with Taylor Swift UK store Midnights pre-order pre-sale access ticket sales starting on July 10. 

‘This is my Hunger Games – fair weather fans don’t deserve tickets’

Lydia Hawken, 28, from Brighton, is a Senior Writer for Femail

When it comes to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, money is no object. Come hell or high water, I have to be there. 

The moment I first heard Love Story play on the radio on my 13th birthday in 2008, I became something of a diehard Swiftie.  

Her back catalogue of 396 songs have consoled me through my angsty teenage years, my first brushes with heartbreak, finding my feet at university and will no doubt play a huge part of my upcoming wedding. 

So when my Queen of Pop announced that the Eras tour is finally coming to the UK next year, I was overjoyed – and then filled with an overwhelming sense of dread.

In November 2022, US Taylor fans combined with a staggering number of bot attacks managed to crash the Ticketmaster website – making it a case of pure luck who was allocated a Golden Ticket.

In other words, next month will be my own personal Hunger Games. So far, I’ve registered for every London and Edinburgh show she’s putting on – as well as trying my luck with her Vienna gig.

Back in October 2022, I pre-ordered the vinyl of Taylor’s latest album Midnights before I’d even heard it – just so I could access to the Eras tour presale. 

But judging by how poorly that went down Stateside, even that doesn’t fill me with confidence.

In an attempt to cover my back, I’ve even contacted Wembley to enquire about renting out a VIP box for my pals. God knows how much it will be, but I’d be prepared to fork out for a once-in-a-lifetime experience like this.

I was 15 years old when I last saw Taylor perform at London’s O2 as part of her Speak Now.  Even though I was in one of the back rows of the third level, I still held up a sign reading ‘LYDIA AND RACHEL LOVE YOU TAYLOR’ in the hopes that she would somehow see it.

Back in 2010, those tickets were £55 – which I paid for using my earnings working in Starbucks after school.

But judging by how Beyonce and Harry Styles are charging hundreds per ticket, I’m slightly concerned I’ll be parting with the best part of £1,000 when I (hopefully!) bag four presale tickets next month. 

If you ask me, only fans who can recite every word of the All Too Well 10 Minute Version should qualify for tickets. Or those who woke up at 5am to listen to Midnights for the first time. Or threw a Taylor Swift-themed party for their 22nd birthday and then again at their hen do. Are you ready for it, Swifties? 

‘I’ve spent the last month thinking about the fight for tickets – I’ll take ANY SEAT that comes free’  

Ffion Haf, 22, from London, is a Trainee Reporter at MailOnline

I’ve been a huge Taylor Swift fan for years – I have listened to all of the albums and watched every documentary, she’s always at the top of my yearly Spotify wrapped, and I know all of the words to All Too Well (Taylor’s Version and the 10 Minute Version, of course).

So, I am desperately hoping that 2024 will be the year where I watch my favourite artist at the Era’s Tour.

Having seen countless TikToks from American fans living out their wildest Swiftie dream, I couldn’t help but long for the experience myself.

The news of the UK tour dates was announced on my 22nd second birthday – so for me, it felt like it was meant to be.

So far, I’ve registered for every Liverpool, London and Cardiff show, and with any luck, I will be successful with at least one of the dates.

Also having pre-ordered Taylor’s Midnights album in October means I will have access to the presale that takes place a week before the general sale, which I hope will give me an extra shot at getting tickets.

But while I’ve been joking for months about how getting tickets is going to be a difficult task, now that the release dates are drawing near, the reality is soon sinking in.

I have almost a month of stressing to go until the fight for tickets begins – but I am going to give it my best try, laptop in one hand and my card in the other.

At this point, I would be as happy to be sat in the furthest row at the highest point in the stadium just as long as it meant I could attend.

The fear of missing out on the night of a lifetime is treacherous, but the only way forward is to go in fearless.

‘I’m already considering taking annual leave to book tickets – the competition is crazy’

Vanessa Terschluse, 26, from London, works as a Senior Account Executive at Greenhouse Communications.

I can’t wait to see Taylor Swift, but the competition for tickets really scares me. 

Taylor has been a huge part of my life for years – helping me through the loss of loved ones, the pandemic, and other challenges, as well as celebrating important milestones.

Her songs really just are a part of my life and always bring me back to my sense of self.

Taylor’s music makes me feel seen and understood in a way I never thought an artist who I never met could.

It would mean so much to see her in concert – but the competition is scary.

I hear stories from bots buying tickets, tickets being re-sold for £14,000 – it’s crazy!

I know how much she means to a lot of people, so I really hope we all get to experience the magic of her concerts.

I am already considering booking annual leave for the day her tickets go on sale. I have registered and have access to a pre-sale code, but I still think it will be chaos. 

Some people were in the queu for more than eight hours last time. I just know it will be super stressful.

‘I’d happily pay more than £500 per ticket – and I want to go to more than one date’

Xavier Lewinski, from London, is a Senior Account Manager for Capsule Communications 

I cannot explain how long I have been waiting for the announcement that came on Tuesday. 

After what feels like years of watching US-based Swifties flood their concert videos on TikTok, exchanging friendship bracelets with the likes of Blake Lively and Gigi Hadid and have every surprise song imaginable played to them – I was in the office when the news dropped along with a few other colleagues who are also equally Taylor-obsessed fans. 

We dropped everything to register and were both equally frantic, confused and overjoyed to see she is doing four London dates – ideally I would be able to go to all of them. 

What if she plays Out of the Woods on a day I am not there?!

We all registered to London but I have friends in all base camps who have registered for various cities and countries. Have to branch out and extend your chances right?

I did have a budget in mind that I have been keeping hold of for when tickets did arrive. It was up to £500 for a ticket. 

But now I want to go to more than once in London and feel I may need to increase that even further… God help my savings.

The thing is, she will not be over here touring again for another couple of years and I don’t want to take my chances.

The FOMO will just be way too much to handle and I will probably never be able to listen to a song of hers again out of emotional damage.

The 18 July is going to be an absolute bloodbath but me and my devices and bank account are ready!

‘We’ve got an action plan and a spreadsheet’

Bridie Pearson-Jones, 29, from London, works as a Senior Writer for Femail 

I’ve been a huge Taylor Swift fan since her first album and managed to score tickets to her Reputation tour which was a completely unforgettable night.

Since the US tour was announced, I’ve been patiently waiting for her to announce UK dates and got very excited when got a message from one of my friends in our group text seconds after it was announced on Tuesday.

I have some very organised friends who have put together a spreadsheet and we’ve all been assigned a date and time to try and get tickets for. 

I’m already stressed and it’s nearly a month until we find out if we’ll even be able to get tickets. 

We’re lucky that the UK is so well connected so we’re going to attempt tickets in other UK cities and Paris if we don’t score them for London – fingers crossed with a bit of organisation and a lot of luck we’ll get to go – if not I may have to camp and listen from outside Wembley.

‘I’ve registered in cities across Europe – I’m manifesting tickets’

Ceara Sutton-Jones, from London, works  in marketing

I’ve entered pretty every giveaway going, and have also registered to different European cities as well like Lisbon, Madrid and Lyon.

I’m thinking I can make a holiday out of it if I don’t get a UK city tour date.

Price is DEFINITELY a factor for me as a recent grad with a new job, which is why I’m so desperate to get tickets first time round as looking at the US resell values.

It’s saddening because everyone should have equal access to music, especially for super fans.

A certain artist’s music plays such a huge part of their life and identity that the prospect of not being able to see them when they are so accessible proximity wise is so gutting.

I’m super excited and am manifesting getting tickets, I’ve even started planning my outfit! 

I can’t decide which era I’m going to try and emulate yet, I think a year is necessary before her tour just so I can make the decision haha.

I’m trying for every city in the UK – this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’

Tererai Maenzanise, 22, from London, works in Digital PR employee

I’ve been a fan of Taylor for more years than I’ve not been a fan of her, worked it out to be 15 years. 

I heard Love Story once and thought she must be a princess and now I’ve grown up listening to Taylor Swift. 

I’ve never been able to secure tickets to her tours, so getting a ticket to the Eras Tour, where she’s performing songs from all of her albums, just makes total sense for me to go.

So far in my efforts to get tickets I had registered two emails to her Midnights pre-sale offer last October and from that I have two Ticketmaster accounts pre-loaded ready for presale.

This is on top of registering to all of the dates and venues across the UK and near Europe countries in case I am unable to get dates during presale – both emails. 

I think this will give me a better chance at an opportunity to get a ticket if I have two avenues to get them as well as 26 date opportunities across the UK and Europe.

I am happy to travel to see her because I think this is truly going to be a once-in-a-lifetime tour experience. 

I will draw a line at ticket prices, just because I don’t think I could afford the higher-end ticket prices but I think having so many possible opportunities to get the lower priced tickets will work in my favour and help me fulfil my dream to see Taylor live.

Extra note, I’m gunning for an Amsterdam ticket because she is performing on my birthday.

I don’t think there will ever have been a more special and perfect birthday present to myself.

I think it would be an incredible memory to spend my birthday with the artist who shaped my adolescence and transition into being an adult.

‘I’ve blocked time out of my work calendar to get tickets’

Ash, 31, from London, works at Moda PR 

I’ve registered for Liverpool, London, Dublin and Amsterdam. 

I really did think she would play Manchester so I’m even more desperate to get Liverpool dates as it’s closer to home for me.

I’ve blocked out my work diary for the time they go on sale and my colleagues have also said they will try for tickets too, so that’s three laptops, four phones, and an iPad.

It seems excessive but I’m taking no chances after what happened with the US dates.

I’m more than happy to go abroad to Europe but the wider-international dates are not attainable and will be so expensive. 

It seems strange as a 31-year-old woman but I don’t think anything will ever beat being with my closest friends, together watching Taylor Swift live and screaming at the top of our lungs to the bridge of ‘Cruel Summer’.