American Beyonce fans are flying to Sweden to see her because it's cheaper than buying tickets for US show
Katherine Sidnell
Featured Image Credit: dpa picture alliance /Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo
Some American fans are going to extraordinary lengths to see Beyonce perform live, with some even taking a 15 hour flight to Sweden just to see her.
After her Renaissance world tour was announced on February 6th, the Bey Hive (see what they did there?) set out to get their ticket as soon as they could.
However, while some struggling to see her Stateside, some of Beyonce’s fans have found a cheaper option elsewhere, literally.
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Among them was Jess McCraney, who hadn’t been able to secure a ticket in the US.
Despite allegedly waiting for hours in the presale queue on Ticketmaster and still struggling to get a seat, she purchased tickets for the concert in Stockholm instead - after a friend apparently tipped her off.
She claims it was the ‘only place’ she could get a ticket and as the Scandinavian country was on her bucket list anyway, Jess thought she might as well spend the money for the 'Drunk in Love' singer’s show.
But she isn't the only one.
Joann Mauricette will also be making the roughly 15-hour long trip to Stockholm, having scooped floor seats for supposedly just $95 (£78) - which is less than the average ticket costs in London (roughly £144).
She said: "What am I going to do? Go to Sweden for Beyoncé?
"That sounds ridiculous.”
With the May 11 concert also being her 24th birthday, it seemed for Joann that the timing was right.
“It was really a series of just incredible circumstances coming together that I didn’t even realise were happening,” she told Buzzfeed, adding that she's already has family that she can stay with in the UK as well.
With the concert still months away, many fans are sharing their experiences about securing a ticket overseas.
Taking to Twitter, one fan wrote: “About 95% done planning our trip to see Beyoncé. This will be my 3rd tour. when the wife and I were dating, we discussed who we would travel out of the country to see perform. Another off our bucket list.”
While another joked: "Beyoncé got folks that ain't ever left their home state before buying Renaissance tickets in Barcelona.”
Though resale tickets are starting to become available, it will still costs anywhere up to $295.18 (£245.19) for standard admission at the LA show, for example - depending on how close you want to be to Queen B.
By comparison, the Stockholm show still has standard seats for 835 Swedish Krona or $80 (£66.50).
However, fans travelling overseas will also have to take into account airfare and hotel costs as well.
UNILAD has contacted Ticketmaster for comment.
2023 wasn't a very good start for Ticketmaster after the company and Live Nation were brought before Congress in January this year, after the nightmare that was the Taylor Swift’s Eras tour sale.
Live Nation's president, Joe Berchold, told Congress that bots and cyberattacks had tried to 'unfairly gain tickets' which contributed to an 'awful consumer experience'.
However, he added: "In hindsight there are several things we could have done better – including staggering the sales over a longer period of time and doing a better job setting fan expectations for getting tickets."