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This is one of the most common questions I receive from fans!

First, the Good News:  all Saturday Night Live Tickets are free.The Bad News:  Saturday Night Live tickets are one of the three toughest tickets to get in

The email should include all of your contact information:  Name, Address, Phone Numbers, and E-Mail Address.  You cannot specify a date you would like to attend.  One entry per household.   You must be 16 or older to receive tickets.The email must be received during the month of August for that season - so August 2007 for the 2007 - 2008 season.  Emails that arrive before or after that month are discarded.  The process has been the same for years.  If selected you will receive 2 tickets.  If you would like 1 or 3 or 10, you are out of luck.  You will also be given a date and time randomly, so you cannot specify when you will be visiting NYC.  Lastly, you may be selected to receive tickets for the dress rehearsal, instead of the real show.  Still an incredibly tough ticket, but not quite the same.There is no real way to increase your odds, other than to send the email with different email addresses, mailing addresses, variations of your name. There is no secondary market for tickets because they are assigned to you and cannot be transferred.  Your only other option is a stand by ticket,  You must get in line prior to 7am the day of the taping on the 49th Street side of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  If given a standby ticket (1 per person) you can then return to stand in line for either the dress rehearsal or live show.   Make sure you are in line for standby tickets as early as possible.  And once you have a standby ticket get to the show as early as possible also - as standby tickets are not guaranteed. 

Do standby fans get into the show?  More than you may think.  It s a tough ticket, but remember people all over the world request tickets in hopes they can get tickets during a trip to NYC.  That creates a ton of no shows - and opportunities for standby fans!

Good luck and please continue to send me your questions.  Feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed or weekly newsletter.  Both will provide links to my articles and information about tickets going on sale in the near future.  Thanks!

Absolutely!  In fact, I have one strategy that will guarantee you will be on the phone with a live Ticketmaster agent the minute tickets go on sale.

If the event goes on sale at 10am, call at 9:30am. 

First you spend about 15 minutes playing in the automated system.  “Press 1 to hear about Disney on Ice.  Press 2 for the Dallas Cowboy’s Home Schedule.  Press 3 to hear about Britney Spear’s comeback tour.”  Keep pressing buttons and listening to the recorded message.  “Press 4 to repeat this message.” 

Around 9:45am everyone you know is starting to dial now and they are getting a busy signal.  Meanwhile, you have memorized the dates and times for Dancing with the Stars for upcoming weekend in Chicago, Illinois. 

At some point you will make a mistake and hit a wrong button, the system will kick you out because you have been on too long, or it will get to about 5-10 minutes before the tickets go on sale.  In any case, you are now on hold waiting for a representative.  Once connected, you should still be a few minutes early.  As such, it is time to ask everything you can about upcoming events.  “Did I hear there is a rodeo coming to town?”  “Is Disney on Ice sold out?  My husband sure loves Minnie Mouse.” 

At 10am rolls around and you say “I would like to purchase 6 tickets for the World Series please.”  It works every time.

Here are a few other strategies that will help your odds buying tickets through Ticketmaster.

1. Recruit everyone you know to call on your behalf.  Even if you end up with a few extra tickets, they should be easy to resell on eBay. 
2. Do not call Ticketmaster Express (866-448-7849.)  It is 100% automated, leaving you with no options if you need live help.  Also, Ticketmaster Express allows automated purchases for most events, but not all events.
3. Do not call the Ticketmaster local access number for your area.  Ticketmaster does use regional call centers, so you can’t call a California access number for a Miami event.  You can however call a Tampa access number for a
   Miami event.  This will help you avoid a busy signal.
4. Call from a landline.  It’s not faster, but it is less likely you’ll lose the call mid way through your order.
5. Know exactly what you want – number of seats, sections that are acceptable.  Every second counts!

Good luck and please continue to send me your questions.  Feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed or weekly newsletter.  Both will provide links to my articles and information about tickets going on sale in the near future.  Thanks!