Limited inaugural parade tickets on sale
Tickets for guaranteed spots along the inaugural parade route go on sale at 1 p.m. EST today, the presidential inaugural committee announced this morning.
The 5,000 seats will go for $25 each, with a limit of four per buyer. Tickets will be available for sale online at Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 202-397-SEAT(7328), 410-547-SEAT(7328), or 703-573-SEAT(7328).
While tickets aren't required to view the parade after President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in, they ensure a seat along the 1.7-mile route from the Capitol to the White House. Elsewhere along the route, it's standing room-only.
The parade is to include more than 13,000 participants from more than 90 music, cultural, and community groups, along with representatives from the Armed Forces.
"We are very pleased to make these tickets available to the public as part of our commitment to holding the most open and accessible Inauguration in history," Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett S. Beliveau said in a statement. "The Inaugural Parade is a celebration of America, and we are working to make sure that as many citizens as possible can take part in this historic tradition."
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Sure, I was in Ticketmaster and as soon as these tickets went up for sale, I was in there....of course, no tickets. And this is 1:00, seconds past 1:00, etc...I don't think there were ever any tickets on sale. Who got them????
I started at 12:50, no tickets, it is now 1:10. Wonder how they all sold out before 1pm??
How is it that when I went to ticketmaster.com at 1:00pm they had no tickets available? It is very disappointing to say the least.
Yeah me too.
i had the same experience. was pressing the keys at 1pm to no avail. wish i'd never even known about it if they weren't really available...
Ya....we had 4 people trying to order them at 1:00 est from 4 different computers and there were never any available. I'm guessing they will all be on ebay in about 30 min.
Well after waiting for an hour at ticketmasters web site I couldn't find any tickets
It is now 1:24 and I haven't seen anything on Ticketmaster indicating such tickets are for sale, or ever were.
Is anyone really surprised? He has broken enough promises already and he hasn't even started office yet!
i tried from 12:45 until 1:25. Ticket Master says they cannot sell these tickets. All 3 telephone numbers above rang constantly busy. No tickets.
Actually, I was in there about 12:45 and kept refreshing the page until it said "Find Tickets". I'd like to see who got these tickets other than ticket brokers.
I was one of the lucky ones - got two tickets for my wife and I - coming all the way from Phoenix....
At least some people got through to T'master. I have been getting busy signals since 1:00pm. Thanks for letting me know to stop wasting my time.
I talked to ticketmaster and they said they're not handling the event. They gave me an 800 number after I was on hold for 10 min. We didn't get tickets either. We're traveling from Arizona to come to the inauguration. I think this was our last chance to get any real tickets.
I was able to get one but I had to try 4 times. At first I tried 4, then, 3, then 2 then when I did 1, I got it. Price came to $47 or so thanks to the TM fees.
It's a SCAM ticketmaster is famous for ticket going on sale and POOF 3 seconds they are all gone? HOW????
This is a slap in the face to the people who have supported this Inauguration Committee, I want my donation BACK!
Yes. I called and got someone at 1:01. One more time ticketmaster is playing games.
We tried starting at 11:55 to get tickets, impossible as always with ticketmaster. Maybe they should have had a more reputable dealer sell the tickets who does not sell them in bulk to resellers.
Speaking as one of the general public - this was a joke. The tickets sold out in 15 minutes and were probably bought out by scalpers. The website was jammed and so were the phone lines. When I finally got thru on the phone I was told the tickets were gone.
Only 5,000 tickets for the general public and this is claimed to be the most open parade ever. Who gets the exclusive seating areas???
didn't work for me either. i don't think tickets went on sale...how is this possible? i was on there right at 1...calling and internet. impossible.
Me too!
looking for tickets since 1:07 no tickets then and no tickets now.
They never had tickets! I was ticketmaster at 12:50, had two cell phones and a land line calling and I didn't get any. I think it was a hoax.
I have been on too - no tickets. It was a set-up. Either someone bought them all and they allowed it or, they were never available in the first place.
I got hung up on, what a great way to help the average american be a part of this moment!
I totally agree I was on-line right at 1:00pm....do a google search and you will see who got them! Ticket brokers who want $ 1500 for the tickets......I'm so sad : (
I was able to get 1 ticket by continually trying through multiple windows. I also called the number but they were sold out. I'm selling one ticket bc it sucks to go by yourself.
I know I should assume that we are at zero day (sold out) but I tend to believe the tickets were phantom in the first place. I know several people in line pior to 1pm at a ticketmaster location and there were no tickets to be found.
I tried from 12:50 until 1:16 with no luck. I also called the telephone numbers listed and could not get through on any of the lines. The circuits were busy.
Me too...I have been calling all the numbers and on Ticketmaster....no answers, no tickets...
It is my understanding that it is ILLEGAL to sell tickets to ANY inaugural event.
To 'Bama Drama' - Are you serious? You say 'He has broken enough promises already and he hasn't even started office yet!' - in relation to 5,000 tickets being available? Lets see - how many people were trying to actually get tickets? Millions - easily. I got lucky - I got tickets for my wife and I. I'm not a scalper. I've had this trip planned since May. My wife and I traveled from Phoenix to Denver and Albuquerque campaigning for Obama. I was really hoping for Swearing In Ceremony tickets - put my request into my local Congressman well before the election. Got shut out there. So I'm thrilled that I was able to at least get tickets to the parade.
We got 4 tickets from ticket master and we're not ticket brokers.
I guess I was a lucky one too, I just refreshed several times at 1pm and my order was processed by 1:02pm.
The same experience here. I had two phones going and was just about to go a ticketmaster location when I came across some of these comments. Oh well. I tried.
Was logged into Ticketmaster at 12:45 pm, hit refresh at 1:00 pm, and snagged 4 tickets with no problem.
Okay, I've looked all over and called all phones and still no tickets. Oh, I did get through to GreatSeats.com and they have some seats available for $ 1,395.00. Okay, what happen to the seats for $25.00?
I went on Ticket Master and there was no information for the tickets!
I also called all the numbers and there was a recording!
I think this was a hoax.
Who got the tickets??????????
This wasn't a scam - it is not surprising that WELL over 5,000 people tried to buy these at one time and most couldn't get through. I was one of the lucky ones and got 4 tickets. It was max 4 per person, so I really don't think these were all bought up by evil brokers. Come on, not everything is some giant conspiracy to screw you.
THIS WAS A BIG JOKE
I tried for 30 mins online to get tickets starting at 11:59 central time. Then I tried call 202-397-7328 & 1-800-551-7328. No tickets! Now this is some bull.
I started right at 1pm and have given up 56 solid minutes later. After reading that ticket brokers want the tickets for $1500, I think those folks should be arrested!
I was able to buy tickets. I have a coworker who also able to buy them.
I know people are upset, but to blame obama or to inflate it to the level of snubbing average americans is kind of hysterical. As for the brokers, welcome to america! I agree that I don't think they were ever on sale! But that's ticketmaster's fault.
There is a listing for 4 tickets on Ebay already for $2009.09.
Typical Ticketmaster deal...sold out in seconds (or before the sale). Ticket brokers seem to have them all, and up they go on Ebay immmediately.
I was able to purchase 3 tickets. Took several attempts but I finally got them. It really was cross your fingers and hope you could beat 20,000 people elsewhere trying to buy them.
Yes Guys.....if you have never dealt with any hot events that are sold on ticketmaster......this might be a surprise for you.....I have had this happen on many events.......however, the professionals get in and buy up as many as they can and everyone thinks it was a hoax.......If you are going.....go and mix with the people.....it really will be the best place.....I was at Grant Park on the night of the election and it truly is the everyday people that make it special.......Good Luck
I was able to buy 4 tickets! I guess I have Verizon FIOS to thank for that ;)
was it easier to get them on the phone for those who called at 1? ticketmaster was definitely a scam.
I had to re-enter five or six times before I was able to buy, but I was able to buy.
The first few times it told me there were no matches for this event. I just backed up and tried again.
I got four tickets at 1:06.
Unfortunately, I was not aware that tickets could only be purchased online or by phone. Ran out to ticketmaster here in River Oaks, Il to be told I could not purchase there. Had everyone I could think of trying to connect as a back up b4 going directly to ticketmaster. No luck!!!! I too am sad :(
I do not like to purchase from ticketmaster due to "convience fees". I always go directly to the venue!!!! This only confirms my belief in not paying "convience fees"!!!!!
When dealing with Ticketmaster where demand is going to be extremely exponentially higher than supply - never go to an outlet and never use the telephone. Best bet is online (and dial-up would be a huge disadvantage). As someone mentioned earlier - if you're not familiar with Ticketmaster - that would increase your frustration. Again - this was for 5000 tickets for one of the most demanded events in history. Compare that to a concert tour with 20,000 seats per night and 50 dates scheduled! 5000 seats spread over 50 states equates to just 100 tickets per state. The tickets were available - just sold out ridiculously fast. And just some advice for future Ticketmaster purchasing - I have a Verizon cell phone - and the TM on sale timee is about 10 seconds after the Verizon clock hits the event on sale time. That's helped me out many times in the past.
Again - just glad to be able to have gotten tickets for this. Will stand in the mall with the hordes for the swearing-in ceremony then head over for the parade.
How can you blame Obama for the fact that there are no tickets (Comment #9). i am glad that you didn't get tickets because you obviously were not going to support the whole thing anyway. Watch the thing from your home where you can make all the assanine comments you want!!!!
I logged in right at 1:00 PM and it went through FIRST TRY! Got 3 tickets for myself, my dad and my brother. Worked quite well. Only thing is, this is for the parade after the inauguration. Not for the inauguration itself. Would have liked to see the actual swearing in but am still happy to be witness to this American cultural tradition.
I started hitting Refresh at 12:55 and right at 1, I started getting the same "no tickets available" message other folks here got. I started with trying for 2, but then just kept hitting back for just 1. After about 10 minutes and I was going to give up, I got 1 ticket to come up. I was very shocked. So Ticketmaster must have been holding several tickets back at the 1:00 time.
I logged in at 1:00 pm EST on ticketmaster.com and was unable to get any tickets using 2 different computers simulatenously. I called Ticketmaster's customer service and they had no idea what I was talking about and referred me to some office in DC who couldn't help me either. This was a scam; what happened to the tickets.
I tried for 1 hour on the phone and online simultaneously. My only comment is that, if in fact the tickets sold out by 1:30 or whatever time, the cool thing for Ticketmaster to do is to tell people by posting it on their site - saying "Sold Out" or blocking the attempts to buy somehow that way people wouldn't waste time, and be as frustratred. Agree that it's seems a bit off base to blame pretty much anybody for this. Supply and demand = capitalism.
This is an outrage!!!! It seems ticket brokers bought most and are now selling for insane prices starting at $1400! This just seems wrong.. IT IS WRONG!!!
People are seriously shocked that 5,000 tickets went poof in a matter of a minute? Come on people, do the math. Assume nearly everyone who bought got the max - that means only about 1250 people got tickets at all. How many people do you think were trying? 100,000? A couple hundred thousand?
And you're SHOCKED that you weren't one of the lucky 1250? Seriously? This was a crapshoot from the beginning.
We had 4 people refreshing from 12:55 on with good connections, only one of us got in and bought tix. All the others never got the option.
I didnt have a problem at all getting tickets through ticketmaster on my PC, another guy in the office got them too.
was it easier to get them on the phone for those who called at 1? ticketmaster was definitely a scam.
On ticketmaster at 12:58 and phone in at 12:59 --- SOLD OUT AND ALL CIRCUIT ARE BUSY was the respones. I thought that I was alone in my belief that this was a HOAX. I told the guys at the Virginia DNC to remove my name from their list and expressed how disappointed I was that the Democratic party had stumped so low...
Another loser here! I spent an hour of my time today waiting and retrying on Tickmaster's website starting just before 1pm. Also kept trying to dial in on telephone. Busy. Busy. Busy.
When I got through they said the tickets were gone. Now the people who jammed the lines keeping me from getting tickets are trying to sell what they bought at a huge profit.
What a country!
I was able to purchase two...and I consider myself extremely lucky. Then I found out that I can't get off work that day. So I'll be selling them I guess (but not at rip off prices like those brokers...that is just too terrible).
I woke up today at noon ...college student on winter break....checked the p.i.c website and found out tickets would go on sale at 1pm. I went to ticketmaster and it said in order to speed things up to create an account and put in your credit card info...i did...sync'd my laptop to official USA time...dragged myself in the shower @1230...fed the dogs...then started refreshing my screen at 12:59:15...at exactly 1pm they released the tickets at i got 2 since i only had 70 bucks in my account. guess i got lucky. since i only have 2 tickets and many friends im trying to decide who to take. 94+% of tickets were sold online..i dont think thats fair since many people dont have the internet
I'm not sure why the complaints about scalpers. Search eBay for Obama & Parade. Count the tickets in the completed listings that actually sold (in green). Right now there are 8. Count the active listing tickets. 83. A total of 91. Now look at StubHub. There are 37. A total of 128. May be double counting tickets since a good scalper uses Buy It Now on eBay & lists on SH for more exposure. When they sell on one site they remove the listing from the other. There are 34 on Ticketnetwork. Ever notice all the other sites seem to have similar ticket listings? It's because they're using the shared inventory of Ticketnetwork. Each site owner gets a cut when other people's tickets are sold on their site & vice versa. All those sites don't really have all their own tickets. Your perception of scalpers having all the tickets, because of all the sites with tickets listed, is incorrect. But back to the point. 34 added to 128 is 162. That's a measly 3% of what was made available. You simply had a case of 5,000 tickets & tens of thousands of people looking for tickets. The scalpers really aren't your problem.
Some of you on this message board are just plain silly. It was not a Hoax! Imagine how many other people were trying to get through just as you were....it was not a scam, there were just lots of people all trying to do the same thing at the exact same time. I tried once and I was fortunate enough to get two tickets - only two tickets. I am not a donor. I am not a special interest. I am a normal person in Chicago who just wanted two tickets. It was the luck of the draw. Please stop being so bitter over some parade tickets and look forward to what comes AFTER the inauguration. Sheesh. If you call the DNC to pull your name becuase you didn't get tickets to a parade, then you should never have called yourself a member of the party in the first place. Disgraceful.