Buying tickets to see your favorite artist in 2026 can feel like gearing up for battle, and the best way to get concert tickets now starts long before the public on-sale window opens. Ticket sites have become battlegrounds where one wrong click can mean losing out, so a little planning goes a long way.
What Is the Best Way to Get Concert Tickets in 2026?
The best way to get concert tickets in 2026 is to line up presale access before the general on-sale, understand the seating map and know what you are competing against. Presale tickets are almost always the same price as general sale tickets, so the benefit is early access and better seat selection rather than a discount.
Each artist and tour handles things a little differently, which means the work happens before the queue even opens. Research what your artist’s presale requires, and expect that a credit card and sometimes a photo ID will need to be saved to your account for verification well in advance of the on-sale.
How to Get Presale Concert Tickets and Codes for 2026 Tours
To get presale concert tickets, stack as many legitimate access points as possible. Credit cards are one of the biggest unlocks, with American Express, Citi, Chase and Capital One all offering cardholder presales that often open even before artist or fan club windows, according to Seat Insiders.
Streaming can also help. When you listen to and follow an artist on Spotify, the platform may select you to receive a presale code for certain shows, according to Ticketmaster. Venue and promoter newsletters are some of the most reliable presale sources, Seat Insiders also notes.
Not every presale uses a code. Some artist presales skip codes entirely, and fans who sign up through a dedicated page before the window closes will have their account automatically recognized when the queue opens, according to Ticketmaster’s blog.
Are Floor Seats Worth It or Should You Pick a Seated Section?
Floor tickets are not automatically the best seats, and the right answer can heavily depend on whether the floor is assigned seating or general admission. GA floor spots operate on a first-come, first-served basis, according to SeatGeek, which is why fans sometimes camp outside venues to secure a front spot.
Lower-level seated sections often strike the best balance, with an unobstructed view of the stage, less pushing than GA floor and typically cheaper prices than floor tickets, according to GotStubs.
Two other factors matter. Anyone with hearing sensitivities may prefer sitting back from the stage, where sound is clearer and more balanced. And because floor seating is level rather than angled, your view depends entirely on your height relative to the crowd in front of you.
How Do Scalpers Get Concert Tickets Before Real Fans?
Scalpers rely heavily on bots and presale exploitation. In one recent high-profile concert sale, 96 percent of traffic came from bots, with only 138,000 of 3.3 million requests coming from legitimate fans, according to Queue-it. Automated software can buy more tickets than a human could ever select, and scalpers constantly update that software to slip past new anti-bot rules.
They also game presales by joining multiple fan clubs, buying presale codes on open marketplaces, creating dozens to hundreds of fraudulent accounts to receive promotional emails and obtaining multiple credit cards eligible for partner presales.
Regulators are pushing back. In a September 2025 press release on the FTC website, the agency said, “The Federal Trade Commission and seven states sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for tacitly coordinating with brokers and allowing them to harvest millions of dollars worth of tickets in the primary market. Live Nation and Ticketmaster then sell the illegally harvested tickets at a substantial markup in the secondary market, causing consumers to pay significantly more than the face value of the ticket.”
