7 essential tips for your gig-trip to Asia this 2024

According to Skyscanner's Travel Trends 2024 Report, “Gig tripping” - or flying to catch your favourite band or artist abroad - is one of the top trends to look out for. With many big names announcing international tours, the interest to catch a show abroad continues to increase, with 44% of US travellers would fly short haul and 18% of them willing to fly long haul to see their favourite artist live.

While gig tripping has been increasing in popularity for US travellers in recent years, the concept of 'concert tourism' isn't new. In fact, it has been rather prevalent in Asia from even before COVID, with tour agencies often offering exclusive packages for concerts overseas - typically for K-pop acts.

If you are planning to travel to Asia to watch a concert in 2024, here are some tips and tricks to help you.

1. Check your concert dates. Book your flights and accommodation early.

First things first, check when and where your concerts are going to be held at.

With most international acts, they release the concert dates way in advance, making it much easier for you to plan for your trip. Once you have the dates, it will be way easier for you to compare the prices of the air tickets and to help you decide which shows you want to go for.

If you have decided which show you want to go for, you can start to monitor the prices of your air tickets. Typically, prices tend to increase the closer you are to the date of departure, so we recommend that you go ahead and purchase your ticket once prices are relatively reasonable.

We also recommend that you book your accommodation early. If there are big acts performing, it is highly likely that accommodations would be fully booked and/or prices will become exceptionally high. Secure your accommodation early. If you have found a place that you are satisfied with but still want to explore alternatives, make a booking with free cancellation while you search.

2. If there are no date announcements (yet), check for trends and make an intelligent guess.

Great if your band announces their concert dates early. But, if you are planning to watch an Asian act in Asia, it's unfortunate but announcements don't usually happen very early. In fact, most times, the announcements are only a month or two from the actual show - and air tickets could become really expensive by then.

If you wanted to buy your air tickets early, but the shows are not yet announced, it is sometimes possible to make a guess of when the shows would be held. But, remember that the dates are not guaranteed. So, if you are planning to make a guess, it is important that you get air tickets that allow date changes or cancellations.

However, most Asian acts follow a general schedule for when they will perform - especially at their home venue. Check the schedules of their previous tours to help you get an idea of the rough dates. You can also check the schedules of the different concert venues to find out if bookings have been made or if a show is happening to help you narrow down your dates.

3. For the best experience, watch the act at their home venue. Learn about concert etiquette.

Where possible, watch the act at their home ground. While the set list may be rather similar across all stops of their tours, the atmosphere at the home ground will definitely be different.

When performing at their home venue, there's often more communication with the fans and audience; and the overall atmosphere of the shows is often much better. Shows at the home venue are also often longer in duration, and ticket prices are lower.

Concert etiquette varies not only from act to act, but also across each destination. Do a quick search of the act that you are watching, and what you should take note of! Some of the most common things that you should watch out for include using an official light stick or official colours; and etiquette surrounding standing or sitting while watching the gig.

Something to note also is that photography and videography could be rather strict in Asia. Phone cameras are usually allowed and audiences caught taking photos or videos will be let off with a warning, but it is not uncommon for audiences to be dragged out of the concert venue if they were caught using a professional camera.

4. Check ticketing requirements.

This is very important. Ticketing requirements could change from act to act. Once you have decided on the show that you want to watch, remember to look out for any ticketing requirements.

Some acts will require balloting of tickets, while others require that you need a verified account or local identity document to make a purchase online. It is important to note that not all acts have international ticketing online.

In such cases, you could try your luck at purchasing tickets at the door, assuming they are not sold out. Alternatively, if you have a local friend to help you, that would be very helpful as well. There are also proxy ticketing services all over Asia — but we don't really recommend this unless you are really desperate. If you decide to go with a proxy ticketing service, do your research and read up reviews to avoid being scammed.

5. Increase your chances at ticketing: Priority ticketing, single tickets, internet speeds

Check for opportunities for priority ticketing - these are usually offered to certain credit card holders or fan club members. Being able to go through priority ticketing often increases your chances of securing a ticket.

Even if you are planning to go with a friend, getting single tickets can drastically increase your chances of securing a ticket (as opposed to getting tickets next to each other). Of course, this also very much depends on how popular the act is, and whether you are comfortable with being away from your friend while at the show.

Internet speeds play a pretty crucial role in whether you can secure a ticket. It is pretty common for Asian concertgoers (and scalpers) to be camping out at LAN shops during ticketing. You might want to consider doing the same.

6. Didn't secure a ticket? Camp for cancelled tickets.

If you didn't manage to secure a ticket when it first opened, you can camp out for cancelled tickets. However, this largely depends on where you will be watching the concert.

For example, if you will be heading to South Korea or Taiwan, most ticketing sites allow for free cancellation of tickets within a certain number of days. Resellers who attempted to buy tickets to resell or actual concertgoers who managed to get better seats will often end up cancelling their tickets. These cancelled tickets will also be re-released, so you will still have a chance at snagging those tickets.

Check when the cancelled tickets are usually released, and camp for those cancelled tickets instead. Some ticketing systems also support payment via ATM transfers. Payment via ATM transfers usually have a longer payment window. Tickets that are unpaid for would also be released when the payment window has lapsed.

So, don't give up, and don't be quick to get a ticket from a reseller, if you didn't manage to secure a ticket!

7. Get a Nomad eSIM to stay connected while you gig-trip!

Staying connected while gig-tripping is very important. Whether it is to get the latest updates on the show you are planning to watch, or whether it is to share your experiences with your friends - having good connectivity will help to make your trip even better!

Nomad offers data plans in over 170 countries, and you can be sure to find one that is suitable for your travel needs. And if you will be touring together with your favourite act, there are also regional plans available so you can stay seamlessly connected as you hop between countries. Data plans are available from as low as $1.50/GB.