Just one last principle… be sure you check the ticket carefully. It is not unknown for scammers to print a fake ticket and pass it off to an unsuspecting buyer. Usually before buying a ticket, Mr. Thrifty will look at several tickets from sellers to get the feel of the paper stock, style of the ticket, and note any holograms or other anti-counterfeit technologies used on the tickets.

The other thing before buying a ticket is to check the ticket date and seating assignment. Mr. Thrifty found one person trying to sell a ticket for a game that happened the week before. Another trick that some scalpers try to use it to have two single seats and sell them as a pair. If you are buying several seats together, make sure you check the section, row and seat numbers to ensure that they are together. You don’t want to end up on the other side of the stadium from your friends.

Good deals can be found on tickets if you are patient, can tolerate a little bit of uncertainty and are careful. Overall it can be well worth it to get great seats at a great price to a great game.

The best Mr. Thrifty ticket story took place in Colorado. Driving back from a wonderful ski trip, our car was blasting the radio as we were heading down the highway. About 30 miles outside of Denver we figured out that the Broncos were going to play the Pittsburgh Stealers in a Division Championship Playoff game. We simply pulled off of the highway and into the parking lot of Mile High Stadium two hours before the game. With out tickets or a lot of money we split up to try to find tickets. Mr. Thrifty ended up with 10th row, 50-yard line tickets to an unbelievable football game. One of the best memories from the whole trip!