7: Comeback Diaries - Juliette Tran

READY, SET, TICKET!

by

Juliette Tran

Reflecting on my first successful BTS concert ticket(s) experience.

Having tried for the final Seoul concert tickets in 2019, I was on the fence as whether or not I should go ahead and try for BTS concert tickets again, as it could inevitably lead to heartache. Since a few friends were trying again this time around, I also entered the raffle and hoped for the best.

February 5
I have been checking my email frequently, as I am not familiar with USA time zones and I did not want to risk missing an email in my junk mailbox. The BTS group chat I am part of announced the ARMY membership raffle – I quickly checked my inbox and there it was, the Ticketmaster email containing the only words I was hoping for – "Congratulations".

This was not the end of the BTS concert ticket hunger games, it was only the beginning.

Research starts now, on how to maximise my chances of being successful in ticket purchases tomorrow; I watch some YouTube videos, ask BTS fanclubs and groups for some sound advice. I go to sleep at 10pm, knowing tomorrow would be an early start to what was set to be the best day ever.

February 6
4am and I’m awake, ready to log into Ticketmaster, set up my account details and make sure the laptop is sufficiently charged. I am somewhat ready for what was to ensue, but not really, 55 minutes before the tickets go on sale, my friend messages the BTS group chat and informs us there’s a waitlist room we can join an hour ahead, so we are automatically transferred into the queue come 7am. The panic begins, as this was not a step I had prepared for, meaning I had missed my chance to join early by 5 minutes, despite logging in 2 hours earlier. I still, however, feel positive about getting these tickets. I joined two waiting rooms – one for Orlando and the other New Jersey. I chose these two cities as I have family in both, which means less hassle regarding accommodation and more time for Bangtan.

7am and I have successfully entered the queue, the purple walking man I had read so much about appears on the screen, he walks at a steady pace, sometimes slower or faster than average, but he’s moving and I am reassured the page is active via the green refresh rate button below his path. All is going well 30 minutes in, I still have the tally of people before me in the queue at 2000+, 45 minutes on and the queue figure freezes at 264 – again panic sets in and I am worried something may have gone wrong. Deep breaths, tears and praying that I would make it to the top of the list soon, and sure enough at 7:54am and I am into the purchasing room! I see floor seats for Orlando - I click onto one of the sections and successfully add to cart. This was a little easier than I had thought, until the payment page pops up and I overlook the question regarding payment country (it is set to USA by default), I enter my credit card details and address, however it’s not budging from the USA cities. But why?? I then received a message that the address I’ve entered is not correct. My first failure just happened. Luckily, I was able to salvage floor seats again in my cart and this time, I’ve gone through the payment process without a problem.

I now check the New Jersey queue tab and I’m close to the front, the timing was perfect. I added a ticket in the stand – front-ish facing, which would give me the chance to see them at a different angle. After payments processed and now around AU$800 poorer I sit down to regroup. I did it, I was able to purchase what I thought was an enigma. I messaged my BTS chat and we all successfully got tickets to the shows we wanted, 3 of us will be attending the New Jersey show together, in adjacent sections! How is that for chance. We never discussed the sections as I was purchasing on my phone and computer in tandem; it was all meant to be.

When I had finally realised what happened I burst into tears, my dream of finally seeing the seven amazing men of BTS live was going to happen. I have no idea how or when I’ll be flying to see them, but now that the hard part is sorted, the rest will happen easily!

4pm as I leave work and enter the car park, the BTS chat is active – my friend tells me she wasn’t successful for the Seoul raffle, we all console her and remind her that at least we’re all going to the States to see them. I open up my Weply app to check my entry result and my heart stopped as I got to my car. Again, all I saw was the word "congratulations", was this really happening? I could not believe how blessed I was to be the receiver of such good news all in the same day.

12am and I am still trying to get into the Interpark Global site to verify my account to complete my purchase for the Seoul concert. I tried 3 different computers, asked ARMY on Facebook and other chats for help on verifying my membership. My luck had not run out, I was just about to give up, an Aussie Army on Facebook messaged me and advised me my surname and first name had to be swapped around on the Interpark Global site for it to work, I tried… and what do you know... I was in. Finally a gush of relief and excitement took over. I was well onto my way of purchasing a ticket to the Seoul concert April 11th in the P section aka floor, and I would actually be seeing BTS for the first time, in their hometown, in their element.

I will never forget this day, it felt like a belated birthday present from BTS. Rewind back to this time last year, I had only ever heard BTS mentioned briefly until I actually began to follow them in April 2019; and now to actually be attending 3 of their concerts overseas I am still trying to comprehend how lucky I am and how happy I will be in the coming months! If this has taught me anything, as my ARMY sister put it “luck is when preparation meets opportunity” and that is the best way I could describe my first BTS concert ticket experience.