TM Releases Free Tickets – Sort Of

Anyone who bought a ticket from Ticketmaster between Oct. 21, 1999, and Feb. 27, 2013, should have received between one and 17 vouchers, the maximum allowed under the settlement.

To find out how large one’s piece of the settlement pie is, they must first log in to the TM website and access the “My Account” page. A search down the left side of the page to the “Vouchers” heading and a click on the “Active Vouchers” link takes class members to a list of their winnings, in the form of discount codes worth $2.25 off the price of a primary ticket or $5 off and applicable to any primary ticket purchase or UPS ticket delivery, or ticket codes good for two free tickets to “eligible” events.

The “active vouchers” introduction includes a link to a list of the 411 eligible concerts to which a limited number of free tickets are available. It’s rather clunky to use – the list is in order by date and can only be searched by city.

And it turns out “eligible” means certain concerts at Live Nation-owned venues – not for any concert Ticketmaster sells tickets for.

If a class member lives in the state of Oregon, she will have to travel to use her free tickets – there are no eligible shows in Oregon, and many other states.

The best bets are for people in New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Boston, or greater Washington, D.C., area, Charlotte, N.C., or any large city within driving distance of a Live Nation-owned amphitheatre, House of Blues, Fillmore or theatre. But even that’s not necessarily the case:

Southern California has no eligible shows listed in the greater Los Angeles area, unless one counts the Orange County suburb of Irvine as close enough.

And most of the vouchers sold out quickly. Black Sabbath: The End shows have sold out their share of vouchers already. Blink 182, Brad Paisley, Counting Crows and Rob Thomas, Dierks Bentley, Gwen Stefani, the Merry Jane tour with Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, Pitbull, Prophets of Rage, and Rob Zombie and Korn caravan dates available are long gone.

But there appears to be no shortage of shows featuring tribute acts still available. Still, Ticketmaster urges fans to keep checking back for new, eligible additions.

“Under the terms of the settlement, Ticketmaster is to provide tickets to at least 60 percent of the events that take place at Live Nation owned and operated venues,” a TM rep told The Oregonian. “If the initial list of events does not include an event in your area, please check back periodically, as new events will be added.”