Event Ticket Insurance Provides Peace of Mind for Missed Events

Note: Event Ticket Protection currently cannot be purchased through this website. Please visit your ticket provider to see if Event Ticket Protection is available.

When you have to cancel your plans to attend the concert or big game that you’ve been anticipating for months, there is little that can be done to console you.

Watching the game on TV and or listening to the artist on your earbuds just isn’t the same. And just when your frustration over getting sick, having a flight delayed or even getting in a car accident is about to boil over, you realize: you’re not getting your money back.

It’s tough to stomach, especially when you consider the average ticket prices for the most in-demand events. The average price for an NFL ticket is about $84; but that’s just for one seat, imagine that you bought tickets for your entire family of five.¹ As for musicians, Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Celine Dion, the Eagles, Paul McCartney and Sting are among the A-listers it costs more than $100 to see live in concert. Remember, these are the average prices.² Box seats, front-row perches and other premium seating options can cost several times those average prices.

That’s why event ticket insurance exists – to protect the investments fans make in seeing their favorite teams, acts and shows live. Allianz Global Assistance’s event ticket insurance product, Event Ticket Protector™, provides coverage if you cannot attend an event for a number of covered reasons. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you decide whether or not ticket insurance is right for you:

Life Can Upstage Your Planned Events

Whether you believe you’re a walking case study of Murphy’s Law or simply a practical person who likes to protect your investments, event ticket insurance can seem like a pretty good idea. It works quite simply; for a small percentage of your ticket price, you gain coverage that provides you a refund for your purchase. For Event Ticket Protector™, covered reasons include serious unforeseen illness (for you or a covered family member), traffic accidents, issues with your home or business, airline delays and even termination of employment.³

Stuff happens. And ticket insurance such as Event Ticket Protector™ can give you the proactive peace of mind and reactive solution for dealing with a number of unanticipated circumstances.

Reselling Tickets Comes with Risks

You want to see Bruce Springsteen sing “Born in the USA” – but you’re stuck in Toronto during severe snowstorms. Your alma mater is playing college football in the marquee came of the week, but your Strep test came back positive. And the 15F tailgate temperatures, unfortunately, are less likely to bring you back to health than plenty of rest and medicine.

If you didn’t purchase event ticket insurance, you have options for figuring out what to do with the tickets you won’t be able to use. Maybe you can give them to a friend – if they have the same taste as you, don’t have already plans and can find a babysitter. That’s a lot of “ifs.”

You could always resell the tickets. Online services such as StubHub, TicketNetwork and VividSeats.com serve as popular marketplaces for ticket sellers and buyers, but they do come with some cautionary notes. First off, there are no guarantees that your tickets will sell. That said, you can price them aggressively to attract more buyers’ attention, but depending on the demand for the event, you may not be able to recoup the face value. When it comes to using these ticket marketplaces, the earlier you can advertise your seats online, the better. However, in the case of illness, missed flights and other unfortunate scenarios that may impact your ability to attend the event, you may not have a sufficient window of time to advertise your seats online and get them sold. This brings us to one final note: if your tickets aren’t transferrable online or able to be picked up at a Will Call window – and need to be snail mailed to the seller – you’ll need sufficient time to get them there.

Be aware that reselling, commonly referred to as “scalping,” may be prohibited by some state, local and even venue laws. Some factors that weigh into this include whether you’re selling tickets above their face value and if you’re selling the tickets on the premises of the event.⁴

When compared to these reselling options, event ticket insurance is not only more efficient and reliable, but it may be the only option you have to receive the full value you spent on your seats on short notice.

You probably won’t be happy that you need to use your event ticket insurance. But you’ll be happy you purchased it when you’re refunded the ticket price for a show, game or concert that you simply couldn’t attend for a covered reason. And with that money back in your pocket, you’ll be able to book seats the next time your favorite act, team or superstar returns to your backyard – or wherever the tour or schedule schedules them.