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If you’ve ever had a difficult experience procuring hard-to-get concert tickets, chances are you’re using the wrong credit card.
Most of us think of credit cards as vehicles to earn travel rewards or cash-back; what few people know is that these premium card products often offer useful benefits for concerts (and entertainment, in general).
Fans of live music should be aware of the additional advantages provided by credit cards. So in this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of deciding on the best credit card to get for concert tickets.
Without further ado, let’s get right into it.
In general, there are a few ways where your card can help you in the context of concerts.
First, some credit cards offer exclusive access to unique experiences, presale tickets, and value-added experiences like lounge access.
On the other hand, credit cards may offer enhanced rewards on these types of purchases.
Ideally, you’ll want a card that offers access to those concert-specific benefits and excellent rewards, and that’s the main focus of our guide.
Also, if you have a card that offers benefits beyond concerts, like when traveling, that would be golden!
Lastly, ancillary benefits like purchase protection, zero fraud liability, and no foreign transaction fees aren’t to be taken for granted.
Let’s get into our favorite cards for concert tickets, starting with the best personal cards!
| Card | Welcome Bonus and Annual Fee | Benefits for Concert Tickets |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express |
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| Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card |
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| Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card |
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| Citi Premier® Card |
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| Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card |
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| Chase Freedom Unlimited® |
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Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.
When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 125k (or 150k) points with the Amex Platinum. The current public offer is 80,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
The Amex Platinum card is our top winner in this space, and it’s one of those cards that focuses on delivering exceptional benefits.
You’ll find a terrific welcome bonus, as well as the ability to earn up to 5x Membership Rewards points:
But the reason why you would want to have this card for concerts is that this card confers access to 2 programs:
In particular, the Amex Platinum card offers customized, once-in-a-lifetime event access, ranging from fashion to music and even art. These packages aren’t available to the general public, either, making the Amex Platinum card appeal to those looking for exclusive experiences. You’ll even get elevated on-site perks, like complimentary bag check, additional seating, lounge access, and more.
More generally, American Express Experiences connects cardholders with agencies like Ticketmaster and AXS for exclusive offers, presale ticket access, and more.
To make your life easier purveying hard-to-get tickets, you can also utilize the Platinum Concierge, which can help you secure tickets or avoid having to constantly click refresh when buying concert tickets. They can also help you secure dining reservations in foreign countries, buy flowers, and so much more.
The Amex Platinum card excels in travel benefits, as well, including access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection, elite status with Hilton Honors (Gold) and Marriott Bonvoy (Gold Elite) (enrollment required), and rental car privileges with Avis, Hertz, and National.
Additionally, you’ll be able to leverage a vast array of statement credits, such as:
The Amex Platinum card has no preset spending limit, exceptional travel insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty, cell phone protection, and no foreign transaction fees.
American Express Membership Rewards points are the most valuable points, according to our valuations of 2.2 cents each.
By earning up to 5x points, you can earn a return on spending of up to 11%. You’ll get the best value when using the Amex transfer partners for luxury award travel.
However, if it’s impractical for you to book award travel, you can also use your Amex points for statement credits, Amex Travel bookings, gift cards, online purchases, charity, and cash-back.
Hot Tip: To see if the American Express By Invitation Only experience is worth it, check out our review from the U.S. Open.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Capital One Venture X card is an excellent option for travelers looking for an all-in-one premium credit card.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the premium Capital One travel rewards card on the block.
Points and miles fans will be surprised to see that the Capital One Venture X card packs quite the punch when it comes to bookings made through Capital One, all while offering the lowest annual fee among premium credit cards.
Depending on your travel goals and preferences, the Capital One Venture X card could very well end up being your go-to card in your wallet.
The Capital One Venture X card catches our eye because it’s Capital One’s ultra-premium card offering, which comes with tons of travel and entertainment benefits.
At the moment, there’s a significant welcome bonus available, which will accelerate your rewards beyond the up to 10x Capital One miles earned:
This credit card confers access to Capital One Entertainment, which is where you can book Capital One Cardholder Exclusives.
Every cardmember anniversary year, cardholders enjoy a bonus of 10,000 additional miles on top of the yearly $300 Capital One Travel credit.
The Capital One Venture X card has fantastic airport lounge access, which includes Capital One Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and a Priority Pass Select membership. When renting cars, be sure to leverage the top-tier Hertz President’s Circle status, too.
Lastly, you’ll enjoy cell phone insurance, travel insurance coverage, no foreign transaction fees (rates & fees), and up to 4 authorized users for no additional annual fees (rates & fees).
Capital One miles are extremely valuable — worth 1.8 cents per mile in our books — you can stand to get excellent redemption value when you transfer your Capital One miles for award travel.
That translates to a maximum return on spending of 18% with the Capital One Venture X card, though your concert tickets will earn a 3.6% return on spending.
Other ways to use Capital One miles include gift cards, statement credits, online purchases, Amazon.com, PayPal, and Capital One Travel bookings.
An excellent cash-back card that offers rewards for categories like dining, entertainment, popular streaming services, and grocery stores. (Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.)
When it comes to rewards credit cards, you can break up most savvy consumers into 2 camps: those who prefer travel rewards and those who prefer cash-back.
Both options can be very lucrative to you and your wallet, especially if you’re using the right card. For those who fall in the “cash is king” camp, you’ll likely find the Capital One Savor card quite compelling.
If you’re into cash-back rewards, the Capital One Savor card could become your new best friend when booking concert tickets, as well as on entertainment in general.
Right now, this card is offering a welcome bonus. You’ll earn up to 10% cash-back with the Capital One Savor card:
This card also confers access to Capital One Entertainment, which allows you to access ticket presales, Capital One Cardholder Exclusives events, and more.
Other benefits associated with this card include purchase protection, extended warranty, travel accident insurance, no foreign transaction fees, and no additional annual fees for authorized user cards.
Frequent flyers will enjoy 3x ThankYou Points at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, air travel, and hotels.
The Citi Premier® Card is an excellent option for anyone looking for an all-around travel rewards credit card. The card helps you earn points fast with great 3x bonus categories such as restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. Plus, it offers access to airline and hotel transfer partners, doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and has a reasonable annual fee!
The Citi Premier card is arguably Citi’s flagship rewards credit card. Currently, it has a generous welcome bonus, as well as up to 3x ThankYou Rewards Points earned in an array of useful categories:
Moreover, the Citi Premier card gets you access to Citi Entertainment, which functions a lot like similar programs from other banks. You’ll get presale access to events, including concerts, as well as preferred seating and even VIP packages for certain events.
Citi partners with a variety of ticketing agencies, including Ticketmaster. At certain events, you can even get Citi preferred price tickets, including buy one, get one 50% off deals!
The Citi Premier card also enjoys a $100 annual hotel savings benefit whereby you can get $100 off of a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) on stays booked through thankyou.com (once per calendar year).
There are no foreign transition fees with this credit card, and authorized users are available with no additional annual fees, as well.
The Citi Premier card earns Citi ThankYou Rewards Points, which are worth 1.6 cents each.
Citi ThankYou Rewards points can be transferred to airline and hotel partners for some incredible value when booking luxury award travel.
Also, Citi ThankYou Rewards points can be redeemed for cash-back, gift cards, Citi Travel Center bookings, PayPal, Amazon.com, and much more, albeit at a lower redemption value.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesGet 2x miles plus some of the most flexible redemptions offered by a travel credit card!
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is one of the most popular rewards cards on the market. It’s perfect for anyone in search of a great welcome offer, high rewards rates, and flexible redemption options.
Frequent travelers with excellent credit may benefit from this credit card that offers a lot of bells and whistles. And it offers easy-to-understand rewards earning and redemption.
The Capital One Venture card is yet another premium rewards credit card we’d recommend for concert tickets.
Right now, this credit card has a fantastic welcome bonus, as well as up to 5x Capital One miles earned:
This credit card allows you to access Capital One Entertainment, which shares most of the same benefits and features as the Capital One Venture X card.
You’ll earn 2x miles on your concert ticket purchases, which is identical to the Capital One Venture X card. That’s a 3.6% return on spending!
You’ll still get a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit and travel insurance, as well as Hertz Five Star status, but you won’t get the $300 annual Capital One Travel credit or 10,000-mile anniversary bonus. You also won’t get unlimited access to Capital One Lounges, but you will get 2 complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounges or Plaza Premium Lounges.
Lastly, you’ll be pleased with the purchase security, extended warranty, no foreign transaction fees, and fee-free authorized users (rates & fees)!
This all-purpose cash-back card offers great bonus categories, including bonus points for every purchase you make!
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® is easily one of the best cash-back credit cards on the market. There aren’t many no-annual-fee credit cards that offer multiple great bonus categories like 5% back on travel purchased through Chase, 3% back on dining and drugstore purchases, and 1.5% back on all other purchases.
When paired with other Chase cards in the Ultimate Rewards family, you can transfer that cash back into points if you wish – making it one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet.
The last personal card we’ll be discussing is the Freedom Unlimited card, which happens to be one of the best cards for everyday spending.
The Freedom Unlimited card gets you access to Chase Experiences, which includes presale ticket access, Chase lounge access at certain venues, and preferred seating from Ticketmaster.
Right now, there’s a welcome bonus being offered, as well as up to 5% cash-back on purchases:
Remember, the cash-back rewards earned from this card can be converted to Ultimate Rewards points (which are worth double) if you also have an Ultimate Rewards credit card.
That means a 5% cash-back structure would be equal to a 10% return on spending! For your concert tickets, 1.5% cash-back can be converted to 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points, equal to a 3% return on spending.
The card will also has purchase protection, secondary rental car insurance, fraud protection, extended warranty, and authorized users for no additional annual fee.
The Freedom Unlimited card’s rewards can’t be transferred to travel partners as a standalone product.
To transfer your points to Chase airline and hotel partners, you’ll want to hold another card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Once that’s done, though, your rewards will double in value because you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for luxury award travel.
If you’re a business owner that spends a lot on concert tickets, from entertaining clients to rewarding team members, fret not! We’ve also compiled a list of the best business cards for you.
Check it out below!
| Card | Welcome Bonus and Annual Fee | Benefits for Concert Tickets |
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express |
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| Capital One Spark Miles for Business |
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| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express |
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| Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card |
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| American Express® Business Gold Card |
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Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis card is ideal for business travelers who enjoy luxury travel and are looking for a card loaded with benefits!
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is a premium travel rewards card tailored toward business owners who are frequent travelers with a high number of annual expenses.
When you factor in the large number of perks that the card offers like the best airport lounge access at over 1,400 lounges, along with tons of annual credits, it’s easy to see why this card can is a top option for frequent traveling business owners.
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
If you’re looking for a business card to help you get exclusive access to concerts and other events, as well as offer fantastic travel benefits, the Amex Business Platinum card is the way to go.
It has a major welcome bonus and earns up to 5x Membership Rewards points:
If the concert tickets you buy exceed $5,000 in price, you can get a return on spending of up to 3.3%! Otherwise, your return on spending will be around 2.2%.
The Amex Business Platinum card entitles you to By Invitation Only and American Express Experiences, just like the Amex Platinum card.
By Invitation Only enables you to enjoy exclusive events that aren’t available to the public, and these events include fashion shows, concerts, art exhibitions, and so much more. Even better, at certain events, you’ll get complimentary perks like American Express lounge access, complimentary cocktails, extra seating, and more.
American Express Experiences offers presale ticket access, exclusive deals, cardmember offers, and more with vendors such as Ticketmaster and AXS.
Remember, the Amex Business Platinum card gets you access to the Platinum Concierge, which can help you book hard-to-get event tickets (including concerts), arrange travel services like chauffeur transfers, and much more.
Beyond these benefits, you’ll get over $1,000 worth of value every year from these statement credits:
Of course, you’re entitled to these luxury travel benefits:
Lastly, the Amex Business Platinum card has no preset spending limit and has cell phone insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty coverage, and no foreign transaction fees.
The Capital One Spark Miles card is a low-annual-fee business card that earns 2x transferable miles on every $1 you spend. (Information collected independently. Not reviewed by Capital One.)
The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is a great option for business owners looking for an uncomplicated rewards card that earns double miles on every purchase they make and offers access to transfer partners, all for a low annual fee.
The Capital One Spark Miles card is a fantastic choice because it offers industry-leading rewards, access to Capital One Entertainment, and solid cardholder benefits.
Right now, there’s a welcome bonus available on this card, but your long-term focus should be on the rewards:
Earning 2x Capital One miles on your concert tickets is equivalent to a 3.6% return on spend, which is terrific.
Also, you’ll be entitled to access Capital One Entertainment benefits, which include presale ticket access, cardholder exclusive events, and more.
There’s also a Global Entry/TSA Precheck application fee credit, purchase protection, extended warranty, roadside assistance, no foreign transaction fees, and employee cards for no additional annual fee.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesEarn Membership Rewards for your business spending the easy way: get 2x points for the first $50,000 in purchases per year.
As a business owner, getting a credit card that maximizes each dollar you spend does not have to be complicated or expensive. Especially when you opt for The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.
With the Amex Blue Business Plus card, you’ll earn 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday business purchases throughout the year (up to $50,000; 1x thereafter) and receive purchase protections and no-additional-charge employee cards all for no annual fee (see rates and fees).
The simple and straightforward earning structure makes it a great fit for those looking to earn flexible rewards, without having to fixate on which purchases earn the most points.
Let’s take look at all that the Amex Blue Business Plus card has to offer.
The Amex Blue Business Plus card is one of our favorite business credit cards for small business owners, simply because you can earn 2x Membership Rewards points on everyday purchases for your business, up to $50,000 every calendar year. After that, you’ll earn 1x points.
Unfortunately, the Amex Blue Business Plus card doesn’t come with access to American Express Experiences, so the main motivation to get this card would be to maximize those rewards.
Other perks include purchase protection, extended warranty, and fee-free employee cards (rates & fees).
The Ink Business Unlimited card is a stellar option for business owners looking for a no-fuss uncapped 1.5% cash-back card without an annual fee.
As a business owner, you likely keep pretty busy and probably prefer a credit card that just keeps things simple.
If so, the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card might be just the card for you. From zero annual fee to a flat cash-back rate, the card is a no-frills option that you don’t have to think twice about.
Don’t forget too, 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months; variable 18.49% - 24.49% thereafter
The Ink Business Unlimited card is a fantastic credit card to have in your wallet as a business owner.
New cardholders can get an awesome welcome bonus, which also includes a 0% introductory APR period.
This product earns you 1.5% cash-back on all purchases without any caps. Your rewards can also be converted at a 1% to 1x ratio to Ultimate Rewards points if you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Chase Sapphire Reserve card. This would double your return on spending from 1.5% to 3%.
At the moment, the Ink Business Unlimited card doesn’t enjoy access to Chase Experiences, so you’d want to get this card if you’re looking for rewards on concert ticket purchases.
Lastly, you’ll enjoy primary rental car insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty, zero liability protection for unauthorized purchases, and employee cards for no additional annual fee.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesGet 4x points in 2 select categories where your business spends the most each month (on your first $150,000 spent each year).
The American Express® Business Gold Card is excellent at racking up rewards for your business spend.
The card earns a whopping 4x points per $1 in the 2 categories (from a list of 6) that your business spends the most money on each month. With no need to opt-in or preselect your categories, so you can focus on what matters most — running your business.
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 110,000 points with the Amex Business Gold card! The current public offer is 70,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
The very last card we’ll be including in this guide is the oh-so-important Amex Business Gold card.
If you need an awesome business card for rewards, need a card without a preset spending limit, but don’t feel comfortable shelling out for the Amex Business Platinum card, the Amex Business Gold card is one of the best options in the business.
This card earns 4x Membership Rewards points on the top 2 categories in which your business spends the most every month (up to $150,000 in combined purchases every calendar year):
That’s equal to a maximum return on spending of 8.8%, which is amazing! On other purchases, including concert tickets, you’ll earn 1x points.
The Amex Business Gold card has no preset spending limit, making it much easier to make larger purchases without worrying about a traditional credit limit.
At the moment, though, you won’t be able to get access to American Express Experiences with the Amex Business Gold card, so just keep that in mind.
What you will get access to, however, the ability to book stays at The Hotel Collection, travel insurance, and no foreign transaction fees (rates & fees).
Lastly, you won’t need to pay any additional annual fees for up to 99 total employee cards after the first employee card of $50 per year (rates & fees).
Numerous card issuers offer benefits for booking concert tickets; some of the best card issuers are American Express, Chase, Capital One, and Citi.
And even though these banks all provide their own platform for browsing these experiences, we think American Express offers the best overall benefits, thanks to its 2 programs: By Invitation Only and American Express Experiences.
All in all, we favor the Amex Platinum card, Capital One Venture X card, Citi Premier card, Capital One Venture card, and Freedom Unlimited card as the best personal cards for concert tickets. In fact, all of these tickets offer presale ticket access, among other features.
On the business card front, we love the Amex Business Platinum card, Capital One Spark Miles card, Amex Blue Business Plus card, Ink Business Unlimited card, and Amex Business Gold cards to maximize concert ticket purchases.
Just remember that the Amex Blue Business Plus card, Ink Business Unlimited card, and Amex Business Gold card do not offer presale ticket access; rather, they’re great business cards to have for rewards.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
Enrollment required through Capital One website or mobile app. Upon enrollment, eligible cardholders will remain at upgraded status level through December 31, 2024. Please note, enrolling through the normal Hertz Gold Plus Rewards enrollment process (e.g. at Hertz.com) will not automatically detect a cardholder as being eligible for the program and cardholders will not be automatically upgraded to the applicable status tier. Additional terms apply.
For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefits of The Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/
For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefits of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/
For the extended warranty and purchase protection benefits of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/
For the purchase protection benefits of the American Express® Business Gold Card, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/
The information regarding the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
Information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
The best Amex card for concert tickets is the Amex Platinum card. With this card, you’ll get access to By Invitation Only, which includes special, unique experiences like VIP Monaco Grand Prix access, U.S. Open Tennis Championship experiences, meet-and-greets, celebrity chef dinners, cooking classes, and so much more. You’ll also get special presale ticket access and other cardmember-only events through American Express Experiences.
Chase has a partnership with Ticketmaster through Chase Experiences that allow you to get discounts, preferred seating, merchandise deals, and premium experiences. In addition, other cards like the Amex Platinum card can get you access to ticket presales, too.
Our favorite personal cards for concerts are the Amex Platinum card, Capital One Venture X card, Capital One Savor card, Citi Premier card, Capital One Venture card, and Freedom Unlimited card.
Our favorite business cards for concerts are the Amex Business Platinum card, Capital One Spark Miles card, Amex Blue Business Plus card, Ink Business Unlimited card, and Amex Business Gold card.
There are a handful of cards that offer access to Ticketmaster presales. For example, American Express offers access through American Express Entertainment, Chase offers access through Chase Experiences, Capital One offers access through Capital One Entertainment, and Citi offers access through Citi Entertainment.
Our favorite options are the Amex Platinum card, Capital One Venture X card, Citi Premier card, Capital One Venture card, and Freedom Unlimited card.
You can take part in Chase presales and preferred seating by booking through Chase Experiences with an eligible Chase card. This includes the Chase Chase Sapphire Reserve card, Chase Sapphire Preferred card, Freedom Unlimited card, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, and more.
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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
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