15th May 2026 - 8 min read
Coldplay sold out within an hour. Laufey’s Axiata Arena show was gone before the general sale even opened. Mayday’s KL date went the same way. If you’ve sat through any of these queues, you already know how this goes.
For major concerts in Malaysia now, tickets often disappear during presales long before the public gets access. By the time queues open for everyone else, resale listings are already appearing on Carousell at double the price.
From announcement to sold-out can take less than a week for a major concert, and the best seats often go during bank presales that happen before general sale even opens. If you only find out about a show when it trends on X, you’re already behind.
Our top tip: sign up for your favourite artist’s mailing list now, even if no tour is announced yet, and be the first to know when your band is coming to Malaysia. International touring acts typically send email announcements to subscribers before or alongside the public announcement. Those emails usually include the date and ticketing platform. Sometimes they include a fan presale code that puts you at the head of the queue! If an artist doesn’t offer a mailing list (rare, but possible), follow them on Instagram and X where tour dates are typically announced.
Different concerts sell through different platforms, and you won’t always know in advance which one it will be. Live Nation Malaysia handles the majority of international tours passing through KL. Free member registration gets you into their presale window, which typically opens a day before general sale.
Star Planet is the main organiser for Mandopop and regional acts, and runs its own membership with presale access via Ticket2U and BookMyShow.
The main ticketing platforms to have verified accounts on are GoLive Asia, Ticket2U, BookMyShow Malaysia, MyTicket Asia, Ticketek Malaysia, and Etix.
For every platform you sign up to, make sure your email is verified, and your phone number is linked. Save your payment details too. That way, you won’t be fumbling with card numbers and OTPs while the queue timer is counting down.
If you hold the right credit card, you get access to tickets hours or even a full day before the general public. The presale partner Banks may change from tour to tour, so no single Bank guarantees access to every show, but these four have the strongest track record.
| Bank | Concert Presale Track Record | Best Card for Ticket Buyers |
| UOB | Official bank partner for Laufey (2026), Ed Sheeran, Stefanie Sun, Disney’s The Lion King Live in Concert KL. Premium cards (Visa Infinite, Visa Infinite Metal) get a priority presale window before the regular UOB presale. | UOB Visa Infinite — priority presale tier, 10x UNIRinggit on overseas spend, 12x lounge access. Annual fee RM600 (waived for first year for new-to-bank customers; RM50,000 annual spend required for ongoing waiver). |
| HSBC | Presale partner for Sammi Cheng YOU & MI World Tour KL (2026). HSBC Premier cardholders got exclusive presale access for the Cantopop/Mandopop show at Axiata Arena. | HSBC Live+ Credit Card — up to 5% cashback on dining, shopping, and entertainment (capped at RM30 per category per month). Annual fee RM150 (waived for first year; RM24,000 annual spend for ongoing waiver). |
| Maybank | Presale partner for Mayday #5525 KL (2026), Leon Lai (2025), and past Bukit Jalil stadium shows. Has partnered with Mandopop and large-scale event promoters across multiple tours. | Maybank 2 Gold Cards — lifetime annual fee waiver, 5% weekend cashback on the AMEX card (capped at RM50/month), 5x TreatsPoints on weekday petrol. |
| CIMB | Official presale partner for Coldplay. Partnered with Live Nation for multiple KL shows. | CIMB e Credit Card — 3x Bonus Points on online and contactless purchases daily, 12x on eDay (28th of each month). Annual fee RM80, waived until end of 2026; from 2027, waived with RM6,000 annual spend. |
| Hong Leong Bank | Presenting sponsor and presale partner for G-Dragon 2025 World Tour in KL (two nights at Axiata Arena). | Hong Leong Wise Card — 10% weekend cashback on petrol and groceries (capped at RM15/month for online category), 15% weekend cashback on dining (capped at RM20/month). Annual fee RM98 (not waivable). Minimum RM1,000 monthly spend required to qualify for higher cashback tiers. |
Any Mastercard credit card from any Bank may offer access to presale tickets and preferred seating through priceless.com, part of a multi-year partnership between Mastercard and Live Nation covering 19 markets, including Malaysia. Availability depends on the specific event.
Some promoters have also run presales for debit card holders and e-wallet users on selected shows, so check the presale details even if you don’t hold a credit card.
For the Laufey 2026 KL show, UOB Reserve and Visa Infinite cardholders had access from 10am, while all other UOB Visa cards got in from 6pm the same day. The full order runs premium cardholders first, then regular cardholders, then Live Nation members, then the general public.
You don’t need to choose just one Bank. Holding cards from two or more Banks lets you cover whichever presale comes up next. If that’s the route you’re taking, compare your options on RinggitPlus and look for cards with no annual fee or waived annual fees so the cards don’t cost you anything to hold.
What about tips to help you with online ticket sales? Well, firstly, using multiple browsers, tabs, or devices on the same Wi-Fi network can trigger anti-bot detection on platforms like GoLive Asia. The system may flag your IP address and bump you out of the queue entirely. Pick one device, ideally your phone or laptop, and commit to it. Then keep trying.
Home broadband can slow down during peak hours, especially if other people in your household are also online. A stable 5G mobile connection often performs better during high-traffic ticket drops. If you’re using your phone, close all background apps beforehand. Focus!
Once you’re in the queue, the instinct is to refresh. Don’t. The page updates itself, and refreshing resets your position to the back of the line. Close the tab, same thing. Just let it run.
The other thing that will cost you is indecision. Before the sale opens, decide with your group which seating categories you’d accept as alternatives. If Cat 1 sells out while you’re picking seats, you don’t want to be the one typing “so… Cat 2?” in the group chat while the timer runs down. Pre-agree on a maximum price per person and a fallback section, and whoever gets through the queue first makes the call.
Keep your credit card within arm’s reach and the card number saved in your ticketing account. Confirm with your bank that online transactions are enabled. Some Banks require you to activate online transaction settings separately in their app, and failing a payment at checkout after waiting 45 minutes in a queue means you lose the seats.
Within minutes of a sell-out, resale listings appear on X, Carousell, Facebook groups, and Telegram channels, typically at two to five times face value. While some listings are legitimate fans who can no longer attend and are selling, plenty of them are scams.
Watch out for accounts created in the last few weeks with no transaction history. On Carousell, scam listings for concert tickets often use stolen photos of someone else’s booking confirmation, sometimes with the barcode or QR code still visible. The same screenshot may have been sent to multiple buyers.
Sellers who refuse to meet in person or insist on full payment via bank transfer before handing anything over are another warning sign. Prices that are suspiciously low are often used to hook buyers quickly before the seller disappears with the money.
Some concerts disable ticket transfers entirely or require name-matching at the door. Before you agree to buy a resale ticket, check the event’s FAQ page (usually linked on GoLive or the promoter’s website) to confirm whether transfers are even allowed for that show.
The safest way to buy resale tickets is a face-to-face transfer through the ticketing app. For GoLive Asia and Ticket2U, the original buyer can transfer a digital ticket directly to your account through the app. Don’t forget to bring a friend with you, safety first!
Make sure you meet in person and watch the seller initiate the transfer on their phone. Confirm the ticket appears in your account before you send any payment via DuitNow or cash. If they insist you pay first and “wait for the transfer”, then it’s most likely a scam. Don’t be afraid to run away if it happens to you!
If a face-to-face meeting sounds too risky, promoters occasionally release additional tickets closer to the event date, often returned inventory or newly opened sections. Follow the official promoter pages and the venue’s social media for last-minute announcements.
What’s worked for you? Which bank’s presale have you had the best luck with?
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As a creative content writer, Eloise has covered finance, business, lifestyle topics, and even moonlights as a singer-songwriter outside of RinggitPlus. Her current interests are learning the best ways to optimise spending and credit card hacks to gain more airline miles.
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