Front Of The Line – American Express Cards Best Kept Secret?

American Express has developed a reputation for delivering credit cards packed with features and benefits, not to mention valuable rewards. One of the more underrated benefits might be American Express Front Of The Line, a perk that grants Amex cardholders exclusive access to ticket presales and reserved seating to many of today’s top concerts, musicals, and shows, as well as the ability to redeem points for tickets to these events.

How Front of the Line Works

There are 4 primary benefits of an Amex Front Of The Line membership; access to ticket presales, reserved seating, the ability to redeem points for tickets, and to receive regular email updates regarding special offers and upcoming events.

Ticket Presales

If there’s an event that you really don’t want to miss, you can improve your chances at getting a ticket by accessing the AMEX Invites presale on Ticketmaster. When Ticketmaster makes a concert available for presale, they add it to the American Express page on the Ticketmaster website. While the presale won’t guarantee you a ticket, or a specific seat, you will have an option to buy before tickets are made available to the general public.

If you see a concert that interests you, start by selecting “Find Tickets”. In order to access the ticket presale, you’ll need to verify your Front Of The Line membership. Once that’s done, you can select the Amex presale tickets, and you’ll be able to select the seats that are available.

Reserved Seating

Amex Front Of The Line gives you access to reserved seating for concerts you want to see. This is helpful, especially for in-demand events that tend to sell out very quickly. It works by Ticketmaster reserving blocks of seats for Front Of The Line members only. To access the reserved seating, you need to login to your Ticketmaster account, click on the concert you wish to attend, and then select “See Tickets”.

If reserved seating is available, you’ll see an option for “Amex Front Of The Line Reserved Tickets”. The seating map will open up, and any available seats will be displayed in dark blue. From there, simply choose your seats, confirm payment, and you’re ready to go.

AMEX Points Redemption

If you have an American Express card that is included in the Front Of The Line program, you have the ability to redeem your Amex membership points against the price of tickets. The process is very straightforward:

1. Head to the Ticketmaster website, and select the concert tickets you wish to purchase.
2. When you arrive at the online checkout, you’ll have the option of applying your membership rewards towards your payment.
3. Enter your credit card info, which will confirm the points you have in your account.
4. You can choose to pay for all or part of your ticket purchase with points, although you must redeem a minimum of 2000 points.
5. The balance owing is applied to your credit card, with the points applied as a credit within 2-3 days of the transaction.

AMEX Front of the Line Events

I checked out the Amex website via Ticketmaster for a list of events that are currently available around Canada. Head to Ticketmaster to see what’s on in your area. Here’s a sampling of what I found:

• Green Day
• Fall Out Boy
• Weezer
• Journey
• The Pretenders
• Finding Neverland
• Riverdance

American Express Credit Cards

To become an Amex Front Of The Line member, you’ll need to have an American Express Credit Card. You can check out the full lineup of American Express credit cards directly on their website (trust me, there are quite a few of them), but to make things easy, I’ve boiled the list down to 3 cards that in my mind provide a great value for concert goers.

I’ve included a card with a major bank affiliation (Scotiabank Gold American Express), a top-end Amex travel credit card (American Express Cobalt Card), and a no-frills, no annual fee offering (American Express SimplyCash Card). I’ve provided a brief description of each card below, along with a list of card features.

Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

The Scotiabank Gold American Express is a premium rewards credit card that includes Amex Front Of The Line membership. You’ll earn 5 points for every dollar you spend on groceries, dining, and entertainment, which is great for all of those evenings out. You’ll also get 3 points per dollar for gas, transit, and select streaming services. All other spending has an earn rate of 1 point per dollar.

Card Features:

• Welcome bonus of 20,000 points ($200 value)
• 5 points per dollar spent on groceries, dining, and entertainment
• 3 points per dollar for gas, transit, select streaming services
• 1 point per dollar for all other spending
• $120 Annual Fee
• Low Minimum Annual Income requirement: $12,000
• Purchase and Extended Warranty Protection
• Travel Insurance coverage, including Emergency Travel Medical and trip cancellation/interruption

American Express Cobalt Card

The American Express Cobalt Card comes with Front Of The Line access, as well as a generous welcome bonus of 30,000 points. You’ll earn a whopping 5 points for every dollar that you spend on food and drinks, 2 points for gas, travel, and transit purchases, and 1 point per dollar for all other spending.

I should point out, you will get the most bang for your buck when you redeem points for travel, but you can also redeem your points against the price of concert tickets directly on the Ticketmaster website. Either way, with Front Of The Line membership, you’ll have access to ticket presales, and reserved seating to select events.

Card Features:

• Welcome bonus of 30,000 points ($300 value)
• $120 annual fee ($10/month)
• Access to Amex Front Of The Line
• Redeem points for travel
• 5 points per dollar spent on food and drinks
• 2 points per dollar spent on gas, travel, and transit
• 1 point per dollar on all other spending
• No annual minimum income threshold

American Express SimplyCash Card

If you’re interested in Amex Front Of The Line membership, but would rather not pay a credit card annual fee, the American Express SimplyCash Card might be the one for you. Not only does it not have an annual fee, but you’ll earn 1.25% on all of your spending. It also comes with a modest welcome bonus worth $75. During the first 3 months, you can double your cashback on all purchases (2.5%).

Card Features:

• Welcome bonus value $75
• No annual fee
• 2.5% cashback on all purchases for the first 3 months
• Regular 1.25% cashback rate on all spending
• 19.99% interest
• No annual minimum income threshold

Get to the Front of the Line with Amex

If you love attending concerts, the best way to get to the front of the line is with an American Express Credit card. Even if you don’t redeem your Amex points for ticket purchases, being able to take advantage of the ticket presales and reserved seating is a great perk to have, along with the many other benefits with an American Express credit card.

If you love attending concerts, the best way to get to the front of the line is with an American Express Credit card.