BTS Singapore Concert Presale Leaves Fans Frustrated After Hours In Queue, Website Glitches & Ticket Losses

The launch of the first BTS concert ticket presale in Singapore on June 3 quickly turned into an exhausting and frustrating ordeal for some BTS fans, aka ARMY. 

Instead of a smooth transaction (who expected that?), fans spent their afternoon battling overwhelming digital queues, platform glitches, and scalper exploitation.

Ticketmaster reminded fans that that more tickets would become available during the Live Nation presale and general sales on Jun 4 and 5.

The K-pop group will perform at the National Stadium in Singapore on Dec 17, 19, 20 and 22 as part of their Arirang world tour.

Here were some frustrating moments from day one.

And if you're hoping to secure BTS tix, may the ticketing gods be ever in your favour over the next few days.

Queue numbers peaked at 144K

Within minutes of the ARMY membership presale opening at 12pm, queue numbers had already reached eye-watering levels.

Numbers reportedly peaked at 144K for the December 19 show.

Other queue numbers reportedly exceeded:

• 91,000 for December 20
• 83,000 for December 22
• 74,000 for December 17

According to discussions seen in Singapore-based BTS Telegram groups, some people admitted joining the queue despite not having the required Weverse membership access code.

Ticketmaster later urged those without valid eligibility to exit the waiting room.

Getting logged out after waiting for hours

For the small percentage of lucky fans who waited hours and finally made it to the seat selection page, they then faced more problems due to the high traffic that caused severe backend lag.

TikTok user kittymarsRN shared her frustration in a post, writing: “Waited two to three hours in the queue then my stupid iOs suddenly blocked the Ticketmaster site.”

“I had to disable web protection, exit the site, and re-enter, only to be thrown back into a new queue,” she ranted.

Ticketmaster has previously advised users not to open multiple tabs or devices simultaneously, as this can sometimes trigger bot-detection systems.

Payment gateways crashed

Unfortunately, reaching checkout did not guarantee success either.

Many fans reported the website freezing during payment processing.

Others claimed they selected tickets successfully but never made it to the payment page.

According to CNA, one frustrated user said: “I had a horrible experience trying to book tickets on [the Ticketmaster] platform. Even after meeting all the criteria and the tickets being available, I wasn't able to book them. After selecting seats, the page wouldn't go to the payment page. And this happened with both me and my friends who were trying for all different dates. The page interface was really bad.”

Fans trying to select high-tier VIP tickets also reported the website crashing or throwing error codes up to five consecutive times, forcing them back to the end of the line or making them settle for restricted-view seats.

Scalpers & official bans

Within 15 minutes of the launch, tickets were reportedly being listed on unauthorised resale platforms like Carousell and X at massive markups.

A quick check by 8days.sg found at least one listing asking for S$1,000, while many others ranged between S$50 and S$380 above face value.

Some fans say these prices were listed as such so as to avoid scrutiny from the authorities and might not be real.

This sparked intense anger among empty-handed fans and triggered immediate, stern warnings from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and CASE

According to CNA, SPF added that it has reached out to resale platform Carousell to remove ticket listings for the upcoming Arirang concert.

CASE president Melvin Yong said that ticket service providers may void tickets that have been resold, meaning buyers face the very real risk of losing thousands of dollars and being denied entry at the door.