Economy already feeling the Swift effect despite millions missing out on Taylor tickets

More than four million fans tried to buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, but with only 630,000 tickets up for grabs, many were left broken-hearted. There was one big winner, though.

It was the three days when the world’s biggest popstar stopped a nation.

Millions waited — in hope, on hold, ditching school, calling in a sickie — beside their phones and laptops.

More than four million Australians attempted to purchase tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which will run between February 16 and February 26, fighting to get their hands on one of the 630,000 tickets up for grabs.

What cost-of-living crisis? Some truly devoted Swifties were willing to fork out up to $1249.90 for a single premium ticket.

And the star’s concerts have already been good for the economy. Since Swift announced she was coming to Australia, booking volumes for the Hilton Sydney and Hilton Melbourne went up by 1129 per cent and 9400 per cent respectively.

Taylor Swift performing her mega-popular Eras Tour in Chicago last month. Picture: Shanna Madison

According to AMP Capital’s chief economist Shane Oliver, many industries will benefit from the extra spending.

“There’s no doubt it’s going to be good for Sydney or Melbourne and around those venues,” Mr Oliver said.

Fans were in a frenzy trying to secure tickets to Swift’s Australian shows. Picture: Lisa Lake

But first you had to get a ticket. And a system designed to block bots and scalpers instead left many fans ­heartbroken.

Rather than a traditional queue, Ticketek used a “lottery system”, where people waited in a “lounge” before being selected at random to order tickets.

However, many fans have criticised the system, saying it punished megafans.

While some fans were able to get through to the waiting room multiple times, others never had the chance.

One Swiftie, 20-year-old Esther Ye, fears she was incorrectly flagged as a scalper or bot, after she waited for more than 16 hours to buy tickets but didn’t get past the lounge room.

“I don’t understand how big fans who dedicated so much of their time and effort into trying for tickets, logged on early and followed everything Ticketek said missed out, while some people who casually logged on hours later, got tickets to multiple shows. It feels so unfair,” Ms Ye said.

More than half a billion bot attempts were repelled by the Ticketek system. Ticketek would not confirm if fans had been incorrectly flagged as bots.

Jennifer Vodar, a fan who was able to access the site more than 10 times, used the opportunity to help others who weren’t as fortunate.

“We were all trying to get through in the office and then one girl who wasn’t even trying logged in and immediately got through. Every time she refreshed, she immediately got let in,” she said.

Ms Vodar ended up buying more than 30 tickets for friends and family she knew couldn’t access the site.

“We knew how ridiculously hard it was to even have the opportunity to buy, and how many people were missing out,” she said.

Others, “hacked” the system by queuing for their tickets in person.