No Scalpers?

Danielle went to see Mylie Cyrus at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island last night (note to self, do not go to concerts in Long Island – traffic was ridiculous). The Mylie Cyrus tour is selling their tickets via TicketMaster using a new paperless, supposedly scalper-free method.

You put the tickets on your credit card and when you go to the concert you have to swipe the exact credit card to get the tickets. Hidden in the fine print was the fact that you also have to show photo id.

That last detail was a problem, because I bought the tickets but my wife was taking Danielle (with best friend and best friend’s mom). I was assuming that I could just give my wife my credit card and she’d swipe it. But I actually had to go with them to the Coliseum (hence me complaining about the traffic).

And the photo id part seems stupid anyway. I appreciate trying to slow down scalpers. I was able to get pretty good seats at list price. But the credit card swipe part on its own limits scalpers. And what if I had the flu or something? I’d still have to drag my ass out there so Danielle could go.

And in truth, there was still scalping going on. But when you saw tickets online, they all said “meet at venue”. So it inconveniences scalpers, it doesn’t stop them…