An expert’s guide to getting tickets in the Glastonbury resale

If you’re still without a ticket for the greatest festival on earth this summer, Thursday evening is one of your last chances to get one.

At 6pm tomorrow, the last ticket and coach packages for Glastonbury 2016 will be released for sale. A few days later, on Sunday morning at 9am the last general admission tickets will be released. By the time The Big Questions is finishing on BBC1, that will be it: all gone.

Of course, even if you do miss out there are still other ways to get to Glastonbury (which mostly consist of jumping the fence or volunteering to pick up rubbish) but only getting a ticket means it’s guaranteed. Here’s how to do it.

Firstly, stay calm

Try not to get so panicked that you forget how to use a computer. Maybe put some Coldplay on to keep you calm (not recommended if Coldplay normally sends you into a blind fury).

Always, always try for a coach ticket

It doesn’t matter if you hate coaches and want to drive there, not trying for a coach ticket and then failing on Sunday is too big a risk. Try for a coach ticket and be grateful if you get one. You’ll even be doing the planet some good. On a similar note, don’t be one of those people who thinks taking a Thursday coach ticket is beneath them and will only try for Wednesday. Yes getting there on Thursday means missing a day but, again, just be glad you’re there.

Use multiple browsers, not multiple tabs

When you try to get your ticket, you will inevitably end up in a Seetickets queue. At this point, having 20 Chrome tabs open and constantly refreshing all of them might seem like a great idea. Actually, this is terrible. Without getting too techy, this doesn’t increase your chances by 20, it just divides your one chance into 20 smaller chances. If you want to maximise your chances of getting to the front of the queue, you’re much better off using multiple browsers. Have one of each open and constantly refreshing (yes, even Internet Explorer) and keep your fingers crossed.

Use multiple devices

In the same way that using lots of different browsers will marginally increase your chances of getting through, so will using as many devices as possible. Get every laptop, tablet and phone in action and rotate between them, hitting F5 in every browser window. Eventually, hopefully, you’ll get through.

Rope in friends and all try for each other

In the initial ticket sale, it’s possible to buy tickets in groups of six, meaning you can club together with five friends and all try for each other. While you’re not allowed to buy in such a big group in the resale (it’s reported that coach tickets will be limited to two per transaction and general admission to four per transaction), it’s still worth clubbing together with some mates. If you do, try for tickets in different locations rather than all sitting in the same house: that way if one of you has terrible WiFi or any other problems connecting to the website the rest of your group will still have a chance of getting you a ticket.

Keep a constant eye on Twitter

Twitter will provide a constant narrative on how other people are getting on. If you’re seeing a lot of tweets complaining about not getting through, you know you don’t need to panic yet. If the number of people celebrating they’ve got tickets starts to rise, that’s a sign you need to be even quicker at refreshing the page: the floodgates have opened. If Glastonbury have tweeted all the tickets are gone and you’re still trying, the worst has happened.

Don’t get carried away and start celebrating because you’ve got through to the next screen

Your ticket is not your ticket until the money has come out of your account. Until that point, assume everything will go wrong. Getting through to the page where you enter your card details doesn’t mean shit so don’t start dancing and telling your mates you’ve got the tickets.

Have your details ready to copy and paste in Notepad

Notepad is pointless. Almost every computer has it yet nobody needs to use it. However it’s super useful for making a really small box at the corner of your screen with all your registration details/card info in etc. If you’re the kind of person who types with one finger then you’ll be much quicker if you just Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v that information across once you get through and minimise the risk of losing your ticket.

Have enough money in your bank account

Once you add in booking fees you’ll need at least £241 in your account per ticket, plus the cost of a coach ticket from wherever you’re travelling if you’re buying on Thursday. Don’t have your payment bounce and your summer ruined because you forgot how broke you are.

Put on the Glasto playlist because you’ve got yourself a ticket