This guide explains how to build effective VIP and premium ticket upgrades within TickX, including what to include in a premium offering, how upgrade prompts work, and best-practice messaging and imagery. Learn how to increase average order value, price-anchor general admission, and create enticing experiences that customers are willing to pay more for.
Getting Started with Ticket Upgrades
Having implemented the TickX Flows, you will now have the option to add in ticket upgrades to your purchase journey.
What are Premium Ticket types?
Ticket upgrades offer customers the chance to purchase a VIP or premium offering. This is initially listed out alongside other tickets at Ticket Selection. At this step we can draw attention to the premium offering with a label, catchy description and even imagery.
. 
You can see in this example how the experience offers a range of advantages beyond the initial general admission to entice customers to spend more, and also price anchor the general admission value so that customers regard that as very affordable against the VIP offering.
What are ticket upgrades?
Once a customer has selected their chosen ticket type, TickX provides an additional step which gives you a final chance to sell the benefits of your VIP offering to your customers.
This is successful because:
- We only display the price differential per ticket
- There is more real estate to list out the benefits and display some additional imagery
- We can set upgrade paths to take customers to the next price band up so the differential is always acceptable
- We make it easy to say 'No thank you' so that there is no affect of conversion for customers who want to retain the less premium option
You can see in this example how the value proposition is clearly listed out, and for just $22.40 the customer can receive all these benefits. With a visual showing the target customer enjoying the benefits the message is reinforced.
What can I include in my premium offering?
If you are running a timed entry event we'd always encourage thinking if you can add in a VIP or premium ticket offering as you could be leaving money on the table. Including this also price anchors your general admission tickets leading to more urgency to buy at the cheaper rate for price conscious customers.
Where possible, introducing multiple tiers has been extremely successful for some of our clients.
You may be unsure what you could include but below are some suggestions. You will need to consider the logistical impact at the venue, but some simple changes can mean a lot more revenue.
Non-physical perks:
- Skip the line: Allow premium ticket holders to walk straight up
- Flexible entry: Allow premium ticket holders to arrive outside of their designated slot by +/- x hours
- Anytime: Similar to flexible but allows premium ticket holders to arrive anytime of the day of their booking
- Return again: Allow customers to return to the experience again as many times as they would like within a certain amount of time from their booking
- Reschedule: Similar to flexible entry, but instead allow customers to reschedule their booking. This can help with inventory management.
Physical perks:
- Souvenir programs or tickets: A physical ticket or programme explaining the experience
- Small merchandise offerings: While larger merch items would be better surfaced as an addon at checkout, smaller souvenirs like a mug, collectable figure, or lanyard would be appropriate as part of a VIP offering. We can also dynamically surface addons based on the ticket type, so VIP customers won't see addons they already have included in their ticket. You can read more about add-ons here.
- A drink / snack at the bar: If you have a bar or restaurant onsite providing this as part of your VIP offering is a great way to encourage customers to remain in your ecosystem. Ensure that this is available after the experience so the customers may then stay for one or two more. It's also worth adding a compelling saving into this as it's likely that they will spend more once on the premises.
Top tips for messaging
Keep it easy to digest
It can be tempting to include very long ticket descriptions but we recommend keeping descriptions inviting but to the point. Break down any long text into bullet points to make it easy for customers to read.
But also don't be boring
You have a bit more space in the upgrade prompt to break out the benefits so think about how you can make them sound more enticing and even incorporate elements of your theme.
For example instead of including: 'Free drink at the bar' you could include 'Continue the experience with a cocktail at the hidden cove bar'
Don't be vague
Customers will spend more if they know what they are getting. Even if for operational reasons you can't be extremely specific, try to give as much information as possible:
For example instead of including: 'Free themed toy' you could say 'Free pirate toy from a selection including Captain Tom's Parrot, a secret pirate ship and more!'
Include imagery
Imagery, especially at the upgrade step is really important to help sell the benefits. This could include:
- Lifestyle photography of the additional perks
- Customers enjoying the premium experience
- A quote from a customer who enjoyed the premium experience
You can see more about imagery and the specs required here.
As always with TickX your Account Manager will be able to advise on what to include. You may also want to review our guides on addons and checkbox upgrades which also give you the chance to upsell to your customers.