Not long ago, a ticket was a piece of paper you held in your hand. Today, most tickets for sports, concerts and theater live on your phone. Mobile tickets are convenient and harder to counterfeit, but they also come with new questions. How do transfers work? Why can't the seller just text you a picture? What happens if your phone dies at the gate? Here's a plain-English guide to mobile tickets and what to expect.
What a mobile ticket actually is
A mobile ticket is a digital ticket stored in an official app or a mobile wallet on your phone. Most major teams, venues and ticketing companies now use them instead of paper tickets. Many mobile tickets use a barcode that refreshes every few seconds, which makes a screenshot useless. When you arrive at the venue, you open the ticket in the app or your wallet and scan it at the gate.
How ticket transfers work
When you buy tickets on the resale market, the seller usually sends them to you through a transfer. The seller enters your name and email address or phone number in the official app, and you receive a message or email inviting you to accept the tickets. Once you accept, the tickets appear in your own account, and the seller no longer has access to them. That's important, because it means the tickets are truly yours.
To accept a transfer, you'll typically need to create or log in to an account with the team, venue or ticketing company, using the same email or phone number the tickets were sent to. If you don't see the transfer, check your spam or promotions folder and make sure the email address you gave was correct.
A screenshot is not a ticket.
Why screenshots are a red flag
If someone offers to text or email you a screenshot or photo of a ticket instead of transferring it, be very careful. A screenshot can be sent to dozens of people, and only the first person to scan it gets in. Rotating barcodes are designed to stop exactly this kind of fraud. A legitimate seller will transfer tickets through the proper system, not send you a picture.
When to expect your tickets
Some tickets are available to transfer right away. Others aren't released by the team or venue until a few days before the event, or even the day of the show. That's normal, and it's designed to cut down on fraud and scalping. At ABC Tickets, your tickets will arrive in time for your event, and if you have questions about delivery timing for a specific event, our agents can tell you what to expect.
Getting ready for game day
A little preparation makes entry quick and stress-free. Before you leave home, open the app and make sure your tickets are in your account. Add them to your phone's wallet if that option is available. Charge your phone fully and consider bringing a portable charger. Turn up your screen brightness at the gate so the scanner can read the barcode. And if you're with a group, decide ahead of time whether one person will scan everyone in or whether you'll transfer each ticket to its owner.
Sharing tickets with your group
If you're going with friends or family who might arrive separately, many apps let you transfer individual tickets to each person. That way everyone has their own ticket and can enter on their own schedule. Just make sure each person accepts the transfer before the day of the event, and remember that once a ticket is transferred, you no longer control it.
What if something goes wrong?
Phones die, apps glitch and Wi-Fi at crowded venues can be spotty. Load your tickets before you get to the gate, and if possible, add them to your wallet so they're available offline. If your tickets won't load or scan, head to the venue's box office or guest services window with your ID and the email address on your account - they can often help. And if you bought your tickets from ABC Tickets, call us and we'll help you sort it out.
Paper and print-at-home tickets
Some events still use paper tickets or PDF tickets you print at home, especially smaller venues and certain theater productions. If your tickets come in one of these formats, keep them somewhere safe, don't post photos of them online and bring them with you to the event. Each format has its own rules, and we'll let you know which one applies to your order.
Buy from someone who stands behind the ticket
Mobile tickets make fraud harder, but not impossible. The safest way to buy is from a seller you can call and hold accountable. Every ticket from ABC Tickets is 100% authentic and valid for entry, arrives in time for your event and comes with a full refund if the event is canceled and not rescheduled. Call 1-800-355-5555, Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm, with any questions.
