SAN ANTONIO – With high ticket prices in the U.S., some Taylor Swift fans are making the journey to Europe to see her in concert.
San Antonio resident Mia Garza-White is making friendship bracelets, a staple at Taylor Swift concerts, to hand out with her husband at an Eras Tour show later this summer.
“How many do you plan to make?” asked KSAT reporter Daniela Ibarra.
“As many as I have time for,” said Garza-White. “I’ll probably. My husband and I will probably spend some time making them together before and or maybe on the plane.”
They’ll have plenty of crafting time on board on their flight to Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
“Why not go see Taylor Swift at one of the U.S. states?” Ibarra asked.
“I did originally want to go see her at one of the U.S. dates, and I did try to get tickets,” Garza-White said. “However, it didn’t work out. The tickets were too expensive. It was too difficult to get tickets.”
It’s why Texas is joining the federal government in suing LiveNation and Ticketmaster, accusing them of monopolizing the concert industry.
Resale tickets to see Swift in the U.S. this fall are high, starting around $1,600.
“Our tickets in Germany are, I think, like in the $300 range,” Garza-White said.
Jacob Tyler, an Air Service Development Officer at San Antonio International Airport, said the aviation industry is seeing more people gig-tripping.
“Why not be able to get a cheaper Taylor Swift ticket and also have a European trip, all tied in for the same price than going to see her in the United States?” he said.
The Garza-Whites plan to take the airport’s new direct flight to Europe.
“We’re able to literally fall asleep in San Antonio and then wake up the next morning in Frankfurt, which is huge,” Garza-White said.
It’s loyalty reaching new heights.
“I hope that other people get the opportunity to go to the concerts that they want to go to and have the affordability and accessibility to do so,” Garza-White said.
Live Nation has maintained that artists and sports teams set prices and decide how tickets are sold. The company’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, Dan Wall, said in a statement Thursday that factors such as increasing production costs, artist popularity and online ticket scalping are “actually responsible for higher ticket prices.”