Warning for Taylor Swift fans travelling to The Eras Tour in Melbourne, Sydney
If you are travelling to Melbourne or Sydney for Taylor Swift’s concerts – there is one thing an expert says is too risky to forget.
Aussie Swifties travelling to see the pop star in Melbourne and Sydney next month are being urged to take out domestic travel insurance.
Taylor Swift is bringing her famous The Eras Tour to only two locations Down Under, Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney’s Accor Stadium, meaning many fans are flying in to the big cities for shows.
With flights, accommodation, themed outfits and friendship bracelets sorted, Compare the Market’s general insurance manager Adrian Taylor has warned fans to ensure they are protected financially if issues arise – something many are likely to have not even thought about.
“As concerts become bigger and more extravagant, artists may skip certain cities, forcing diehard fans to travel interstate or internationally to see their idols in the flesh,” he told news.com.au.
“And while locking in tickets, flights, accommodation and concert outfits are top of mind, people may not even be aware that they should consider safeguarding their experience with insurance.
“This is because when you see a concert in your local city or hometown, you’re usually not forking out hundreds or thousands of dollars on flights, hotels or other expenses that come with tour tourism.”
He said Australia’s wild weather was of particular concern, and fans needed to take out a travel insurance policy before a major weather event.
“The east coast is continuing to be smashed with torrential weather, parts of Queensland are feeling the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily and with thousands of fans expected to pack airports around the country in February, travellers are being encouraged to allow extra time ahead of flights,” he said.
Mr Taylor said the reality was disruptions could affect Aussie Swifties’ travel plans.
“For example, we know that Cairns Airport was recently closed due to wet weather; we’ve seen technical outages bring some of our busiest airports to a halt and there’s always a risk that you’ll arrive in Sydney or Melbourne without your luggage,” he said.
Mr Taylor explained policies that cover you during a natural disaster – like a major weather event – need to be purchased before the natural disaster turns into a “known event”.
“Basically, you don’t want to wait until a major weather event is happening to take out cover, as you likely won’t be able to get cover,” he said. “This is because insurers tend to provide cover for insured events, which are events that are unforeseeable or unexpected.”
However, if Swift delays or postpones the concerts, Mr Taylor said that is an issue fans will likely need to take up with the concert ticket provider.
“As we saw late last year in Argentina – Taylor Swift was forced to postpone a sold-out show due to torrential weather,” Mr Taylor said.
“While your concert ticket provider will typically assist with refunds or rescheduling if a show needs to be postponed or cancelled, travel insurance may help if you need to fork out extra money if something happens that’s out of your control or prevents you from getting to the show on time,” he said.
“For example, you may need to organise another flight to get to the concert on time if your original one is delayed or cancelled. Your luggage may not arrive, your perfect Eras Tour outfit may be stolen or damaged in transit or there may be issues with your prepaid accommodation. Travel insurance can provide some help in these scenarios.”
Dr Paul Strickland from La Trobe Business School said Melbourne and Sydney locals were expected to spend on average $300 on tickets, plus food and beverages, while interstate tourists will spend around $1100 for additional accommodation and travel.
“We can expect this will inject more than $1.2 billion into the local economy,” Dr Strickland said.
“Mega concerts such as these are fantastic for the local economy, they inject huge amounts of money and small businesses particularly benefit.”
He said from a tourism and major events perspective, The Eras Tour was a huge win for Melbourne, following the cancellation of the Grand Prix twice during Covid and more recently the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games.
“Taylor’s concerts are massive for Melbourne, those lucky enough to secure tickets are helping us ‘shake it off’ and get ‘out of the woods’ financially,” he said.
Before tickets even went on sale to the general public last year, airlines and hotels reported a huge spike in bookings for flights and accommodation in Melbourne and Sydney.
Virgin Australia alone saw a whopping 656 per cent increase in bookings to the cities for Swift’s concert dates after the Frontier pre-sale.
What to do in Sydney during Taylor Swift’s concerts
For those travelling to Sydney for The Eras Tour, Destination NSW has curated its ultimate guide for Swiftie tourists.
For fans feeling ‘fearless’, it recommends climbing the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge with BridgeClimb, or taking to the waters under it for a sunset or sunrise with Sydney Harbour Kayaks, flying with Sydney Seaplanes, and taking a jet boat ride with Oz Jetboating.
Over at The Crown Tea House, there’s a Swift-inspired, three-tiered high tea, which will boast sweet and savoury treats inspired by the Eras Tour, including the ‘you need to calm down’ teriyaki wagyu slider and ‘reputation’ charcoal meringue with burnt vanilla ash and elastic coffee.
And the team says while there won’t be any ‘snow on the beach’ at the iconic Bondi Icebergs, there will be rock pools aplenty for that perfect Instagram snap.
If fans are looking for a day trip, Destination NSW recommends Palm Beach, one of the state’s most well-known thanks to its cameo on Home And Away.
If you’re leaning into Swift’s Evermore era, the Southern Highlands are said to have the folk inspiration of your ‘wildest dreams’.
Wine tasting at Centennial Vineyards is recommended, or inspire your inner songwriter and poet at Berkelouw Books – “one of the quaintest bookstores you might ever step foot into”.
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What to do in Melbourne during Taylor Swift’s concerts
Visit Melbourne has also curated its own guide for the ultimate Swiftie getaway.
It includes being ‘fearless’ and taking a hot-air balloon ride with Global Ballooning Australia, dining at ‘State of Grace’, and visiting the Rain Room, an immersive experience, for those ‘midnight rain’ vibes.
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