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Canadians are travelling the world for concerts and other events. Here’s how to see the Eras Tour abroad—maybe for less than what you’d pay at home.
Planning a vacation around a concert in another city isn’t new. But in 2023, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became such a cultural phenomenon that destination concert travel, or “gig tripping,” has really taken off. Many Canadians are taking part in the trend—including those who couldn’t score Taylor Swift tickets in Toronto or Vancouver.
If you’re one of these people, I can relate. I’m a fan, too, and I couldn’t get a ticket in my hometown of Toronto. All six shows in November 2024 sold out within hours to those lucky enough to receive precious presale access codes. (By one estimate, over 30 million people tried for a chance at just 300,000 seats. Officially, Ticketmaster has said that 3.5 million pre-registered for 52 concert dates.) The same goes for Swift’s three shows in Vancouver this December. So, our options are either to pay sky-high prices on reseller platforms or look for Eras Tour tickets in another city—maybe even another country. That’s what I did.
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Unable to get an Eras Tour ticket at face value in Toronto, I risked buying one from Stubhub for the Buenos Aires show on Nov. 9, 2023. I’d always wanted to go to Buenos Aires, and Taylor Swift was the catalyst to make it happen.
I paid about $650 (USD$487.55,) for a single floor seat (which turned out to be standing room—there were no actual seats).
Was it a good deal? For one of Swift’s Toronto shows in November, my colleague got a 100-level seat at the Rogers Centre for $1,096.78 at cost from Ticketmaster—so I saved $446.78 on my ticket in Buenos Aires. The cheapest resale seat on Stubhub with a comparable view was priced at $3,888, which is six times (!) the cost of my Buenos Aires ticket. Together, the cost of concert admission plus my flight to Buenos Aires ($1,300) added up to $1,950—less than the cost of one 500-level resale ticket in Toronto ($2,509, as of late April).
Some travelling Swifties are also paying far less. Ryan Thomas Woods, the Canadian content creator behind LGBTQ+ travel blog Out with Ryan, went to shows in both Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. He bought a presale ticket for Sydney, where his seat in the bleachers cost about $272 (AUD$309.90). Months later, three days before Swift’s sold-out Melbourne show, local concert promoter Frontier announced a ticket release for seats with a partially obstructed view. Woods happened to be in town, so he took a calculated risk and bought a ticket. “I decided that I don’t care if I couldn’t even see her, as long as I could hear her, I would die happy,” he says.
The risk paid off. “They only had single tickets, so I secured one and didn’t even look where on the map it was,” says Woods. “Little did I know it would be three rows from the floor…so close!” The seat? C2. The total cost: $77.31. That’s $194.97 less than his Sydney bleacher seat.
According to ticket reseller Stubhub, these are the five most affordable cities to see Taylor Swift for the rest of 2024, based on the average price of tickets recently sold on its platform. (All prices here are in U.S. dollars and are subject to change.)
After a two-month hiatus, the Eras Tour resumes in Europe in May 2024—with stops in France, Sweden, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria—before heading to the U.S. and Canada in October.
According to travel app Tripit, 40% of American music fans are planning a trip to see their favourite artist this year, an increase from 22% in 2023. Like I did, Swift superfans wanting to live out their wildest concert dreams might realize it could be cheaper to jet abroad to belt out “Cruel Summer” than to get a ticket in North America. Research from Skyscanner, a travel search aggregator, found that nearly half (49%) of Canadian music fans would consider gig tripping overseas this year if it would help them save money.
It’s no surprise that in 2023, Swift was the most-searched artist on Stubhub, where fans from more than 110 countries bought tickets to the Eras Tour. (For its role, Stubhub takes a hefty sales fee based on the ticket price.) Toronto was a top international travel destination for American travellers, who get a favourable exchange rate on the price of tickets in Canada. (As of late April 2024, USD$1 is worth CAD$1.37.)
Canadians are following suit—except they’re heading to Europe. According to Stubhub, for Swift’s remaining shows in 2024, some of the most popular international Eras Tour destinations for Canadian fans are Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Warsaw and Vienna.
Fandom doesn’t come cheap, though. In this new world of post-pandemic “revenge travel” and a newfound craving to create special experiences in our lives, in terms of dollars and cents, is the Eras Tour worth it?
“Swiftonomics” and its effect on the economy is staggering. The Eras Tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, and the first to gross USD$1 billion. Everywhere the tour touches down, the local economy gets a major boost.
According to the CBC, the estimated economic impact of Swift’s three shows in Vancouver is $700 million. And a study in Denver—where Swift played two shows last summer—found that the average amount an Eras Tour concert-goer spent was USD$1,327 (about CAD$1,800) on expenses such as tickets, travel, merchandise, lodging and food. That adds up to more than USD$200 million in direct consumer spending.
Woods’ advice is to take advantage of last-minute ticket releases. To find out about these sales, follow all the legitimate local ticket sellers and promoters on social media, especially in the days leading up to the show. “Any place where you can get a cheap ‘obstructed view’ seat with last-minute releases is the best place to go,” he says. “You could easily fly to a nearby European city—for Swift’s upcoming tour dates—and take the train or a flex bus to lower costs if airfare is expensive, as it’s quick and easy to travel between European cities.”
For accommodations, hotels and Airbnbs will likely be pricey or even sold out. Try work-arounds: Do hotels have a waiting list in case of cancellations? Can you rent a room rather than a whole apartment, or find lodgings farther from the city centre? Alternative accommodations like hostels, B&Bs and non-hotel accommodations are possibilities as well.
Woods found a house-sitting opportunity in Melbourne, which meant his accommodation was free. (Score!) If you’re willing to take care of a home and possibly a pet in exchange for a free stay, start with one of the leading house-sitting networks, Nomador. If you don’t mind staying outside of a city centre, check out homestay.com, which connects independent travellers and students with host families. You could save a lot of money and experience more of the local culture.
Woods also advises taking advantage of Swift-related activities, discounts and promos. In Sydney and Melbourne, he says, “your ticket to Taylor gets you free public transit.” And in Melbourne, “the Queen Victoria market had a Swift-themed night market, and one of the booths was a make-your-own-friendship bracelet.” (Swifties make these and trade them at concerts. It’s also how she met her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who plays football for the Kansas City Chiefs.)
What about Eras Tour official merchandise? Concert-goers can buy everything from T-shirts and sweaters to tote bags and glow batons. Prices can vary depending on exchange rate, and due to strong demand, tour merch is usually sold the day before the shows. But many fans are also making their own outfits, and as Woods says, “It could be as simple as doing artwork with a marker on a plain T-shirt.”
As for me, a ticket for $650 may have been a good deal compared to Toronto prices, but it’s still a lot of money. To offset that cost, I sacrificed doing a few other things—the biggest was a two-day trip to nearby Iguazu Falls, which would have cost as much as the concert ticket.
Though the Argentinian exchange rate was favourable, I saved money on meals by grocery shopping and having cheap meals with popular staples like empanadas and pizza. And instead of staying at a hotel, I booked a modest Airbnb, which was affordable for its hip location ($60 per night). I likely saved money by booking a few months in advance.
Another way to save a bit of money before and during your trip: use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees, or a credit card with travel insurance. Or you can get a Wise card, which works like a debit card and can hold more than 40 currencies.
If you’re travelling to see the Eras Tour or any other event, check any loyalty or rewards programs you belong to—you might be able to save on flights, accommodations and other expenses by redeeming rewards points or booking through their travel portals. (If your card doesn’t offer travel rewards and perks, check out MoneySense’s picks for the best travel credit cards.)
In addition, two loyalty programs are attracting new members in Canada with Eras Tour–related promotions. RBC is the official financial services partner and ticket access partner for the tour’s Canadian dates. Through its Avion Rewards program, the bank is giving away hundreds of tickets leading up to the shows. You must be an Avion Rewards member to win; it’s free to sign up, and you don’t have to be an RBC customer.
Annual fee: $120
Welcome offer: Earn up to 35,000 Avion points ($750 value)
Card details
| Interest rates | 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash advances and on balance transfers (21.99% for Quebec residents) |
| Income required | $60,000 per year |
| Credit score | None specified |
| Point value | 1 RBC Avion point = Up to $0.023 when redeemed for travel using RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Schedule. |
Marriott Bonvoy is offering fans a chance to win one of three prizes: a trip to see three shows in three countries; the ultimate concert experience in Vancouver; and tickets to the tour in select cities. Again, you must be a member of the loyalty program to enter—it’s free to join.
Marriott Bonvoy members can also use their points from travel and everyday activities to redeem for once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like seeing the Eras Tour in select cities around the world.
“People today are craving community and connection through shared experiences,” Peggy Roe, Marriott International’s executive vice-president and chief customer officer, said in a press release. “We designed Marriott Bonvoy to give members access to people, places and passions they love, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be extending this unforgettable experience to new and existing members.”
“Was it worth it?” Several friends have asked me that, and the answer is, yes, it was worth it. In addition to paying less for a ticket than I would have in Toronto, the concert itself was an amazing experience. Over nearly three and a half hours, Swift sang 44 songs from across her discography. Add to that the fandemonium in Buenos Aires: 85,000 fans decked out in costumes or Swift paraphernalia, chanting “Olé, olé, olé, olé! Taylor, Taylor!” showing that language is no barrier to the shared experience of music.
The venue itself, River Plate’s Monumental Stadium, was a big part of the experience: it’s an outdoor stadium, so it could accommodate the fire effects and fireworks extravaganza at the end of the song “Karma,” our lighted wristbands swaying in harmony. (In Toronto, the roof of the Rogers Centre will likely be closed in November 2024.)
Moreso, I didn’t realize how much my experience would connect me to other fans, whether it was meeting Swifties in Buenos Aires or talking to others on social media because they saw my concert photos and wanted to share their excitement about their upcoming show.
And, of course, it was a thrill to see the most popular artist in the world right now—at the height of her craft—live. I became a fan after listening to Swift’s album 1989, and became more deeply immersed in her music over the years, especially the albums Lover, Folklore and Midnights. Each expanded on her personal storytelling and musical genius.
But it wasn’t until the Eras Tour that I became a true Swiftie. It was my first time seeing her live, and it was at the concert that I fell more in love with her album Reputation, which was her response to a series of personal betrayals. Swift’s resilience has made me aware of my own. Her lyrics are about heartbreak and scorn but also joy and sweetness. They have universal meaning, and each fan interprets her thoughtful words to fit their own lives.
Seeing the Eras Tour in Buenos Aires was the experience of a lifetime, and it was well worth the time, effort and money (and saving for it). My advice: if you can afford it, take the trip, go to the concert and live in the moment. You won’t regret it.
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