How to Get VIP Tickets for Coachella

Having a VIP ticket can make your Coachella experience much more comfortable. There's a separate VIP area near the main stage that only VIP can go into, where there's a full bar you can order from (everyone else just gets beer and wine), better food vendors, comfortable lounge areas with couches and chairs, an elevated area with a side view of the main stage, and last but not least... nice, private bathrooms (no stinky port-o-potties). There's a second VIP area at the other end of the festival, over near the Sahara tent.

Actually, it's not a VIP "ticket" that you get, it's a VIP wristband (which comes with a ticket for admission). It's the wristband that you show to get in and out of the VIP area. It should be noted that a VIP wristband is not an all-access pass. You can't get backstage with it, you'll need yet another wristband for that (like an artist's pass or special guest wristband). The standard VIP pass does not get you any free food or anything, just give you nicer food/drink purchasing options and nicer facilities.

In my opinion, Coachella's (standard) VIP benefits are not as nice as some other festivals. I had VIP for the Bonnaroo and Vegoose fests last year, and they included a nice spread of free food, and at Vegoose there was a special VIP section right up front at each stage. I imagine there might be better perks and freebies if you're lucky enough to have a backstage wristband... I'm not sure. Coachella also typically offers a couple VIP tickets + hotel lodging packages, that are quite expensive. Information on these packages is not publicly posted, but one could get info about them by e-mailing info(at)coachella.com

So anyway, here's how you can get VIP at Coachella:

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• An American Express Gold Card
• Luck
• Connections

1. 

   ORDER THEM ONLINE (WITH YOUR GOLD CARD). Info regarding VIP tickets is not on the Coachella.com website, and there's no option of buying them online thru Ticketmaster... UNLESS you have an American Express Gold Card. Apparently, Coachella makes a limited number of VIP tickets available to the public, but you only get the info if you're a Gold Card holder. And they must be purchased with the Gold Card, and can only be picked up at Will Call, where they check your ID and card. VIP tickets are non-transferable.

2. 

   WIN THEM IN A CONTEST / DRAWING. Many of Coachella's sponsors and affiliated companies give away VIP tickets as prizes. So maybe you can win them by listening to a certain radio station, or entering an online sweepstakes, or something like that. For example, Coachella gave away VIP tickets to a person randomly selected from their MySpace friend list. Try doing an internet search for different variations of "win coachella tickets" and you might get info on some contests you didn't know about.

3. 

   GET ON A GUEST LIST. Coachella sets aside most of their VIP tickets for people on the "guest list." So how do you make the list? Basically, you need to have some affiliation / relationship with one of the bands playing, or one of Coachella's sponsors, or Goldenvoice itself. Each band/sponsor only has a few guest passes in their name, so if you're tight with them, you could try hitting them up to put you on their list.

[bdero550]

on 2/2/2009 I heard you can win VIP tickets on Causecast.org as well. Not sure if that contest is still going on or not...