Avid Taylor Swift fans are flashing their dollars to attend the Eras Tour, with some spending up to $20,000 to see her as many times as possible

• Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has taken the US by storm as Swifties do all that they can to see it.
• Insider spoke with Swifties about how much they're spending on Swift's tour and why it's worth it.

Jake wants to stay in the lavender haze of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour — and in the past four months, he's spent roughly $20,000 to do just that.

"I haven't looked at it a single second and been like, 'Oof, I spent too much money,'" he told Insider. "I've been looking at it the other way and saying, 'God, I wish I could do this again.'"

Jake, a 38-year-old marketing director in Massachusetts whose last name is known to Insider but withheld over privacy concerns, estimated he'd seen Swift nearly 20 times since 2009, going to every tour he could. He's been to the Eras Tour eight times and sat in the front row for five of those shows.

"I remember sending a text in 2019 to someone saying if there was ever a Taylor Swift best-of tour, money becomes no object," he said.

Jake is one of the hundreds of thousands of Swifties doing something that the country desperately needs: pouring money into live experiences, food, and travel. It's providing a much-needed boost to local economies across the country. QuestionPro, a research company, found that the Eras Tour could result in $4.6 billion in consumer spending in the US.

On average, the report found Swifties were spending $1,300 to head to the Eras Tour. Insider spoke with eight Swifties who, according to their receipts, spent between $300 and $20,000 to see the Eras Tour. In the interest of full disclosure, I've attended twice, seeing shows in two states and spending an embarrassing amount of money on merchandise (at least $100).

Fans from all economic backgrounds consider the Eras Tour a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that perspective has been validated by the thrill of seeing a generation- and industry-defining artist do what she does best.

"It's unlike anything I've ever been to, in terms of that kind of dopamine high that you're getting," Jake said. "It's really, really special."

'A little bit concert, a little bit vacation'

When the Eras Tour was announced, Bridget Doyle quickly noticed there was no show scheduled for her then-home state of New York, but she wasn't going to miss the experience.

While many New Yorkers gravitated toward shows in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Doyle and her friends wanted to travel somewhere that would be a new experience. So they chose to see Swift in Nashville, Tennessee.

"I hadn't taken a good vacation since pre-COVID. I hadn't taken a trip at all since 2019 that was more than going to visit family for a weekend," Doyle, a 28-year-old who works in higher-education administration, said. So she road-tripped to Nashville over the course of two days, stopping at places such as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

She spent four days in Nashville with her friends. Doyle estimated her total costs — which included her lodging, rental car, tickets, gas money, concert outfit, and friendship-bracelet supplies — came to around $1,500. That doesn't include how much they spent on food in Nashville.

"People are like, 'Oh, you spent that much on a Taylor Swift concert?' I'm like, 'I spent that much on a vacation and experience with my friends.' My favorite artist was a big part of that," she said. "But it was way more of the time spent with people I love and the experience of getting to see an artist that we mutually love."

Meanwhile, Christy G plans on spending around $4,000 to attend the Eras Tour in Denver later this month. She and her husband are set to make a weeklong trip out of it and plan on going to several restaurants and at least one museum exhibit.

"It's a little bit concert, a little bit vacation," she said.

Lindsey Lisalda, a 35-year-old astrophysics Ph.D. student in St. Louis, similarly went on Swiftcation. Between four shows, her family of three is set to spend around $2,750 total on the Eras Tour this summer. That includes hotels, parking, gas, and tickets for trips to Glendale, Arizona; Nashville; Chicago; and Kansas City, Missouri.

"This is the summer of Taylor," Lisalda said. "Whatever we would have set aside for vacation has been set aside for Taylor."

Overall, a Swiftcation costs less than an all-out vacation would have for the family.

"The first night of just seeing everybody on the same page, singing every word, and just really in unison, I think is what continues to draw me to want to do this again," she said.

Megan Crowley, a 27-year-old who flew from Salt Lake City to Phoenix for a whirlwind first weekend of the Eras Tour, spent around $1,000 in total. She slept in her Airbnb for only two hours before jetting back home. She plans to make a proper trip out of attending Swift's Los Angeles dates and anticipates spending $1,300 there.

"We were awake for like 24 hours straight, and it was pure chaos," she said of her Arizona experience. "I would never do that for any other thing in the world except Taylor Swift."

Swifties are masterminds of budgeting, whatever that looks like for them

If there's one thing to know about Swifties, it's that they're masterminds. While looking for sources for this story, Insider quickly found a slew of fans who had itemized spreadsheets, photos, and a clear strategy for getting the most bang for their buck.

For Jake, the Eras Tour has been a game of strategy: He watched TikTok livestreams of the show's first night to understand how he should upgrade his seats for optimal viewing. He sold off two obstructed-view seats in Foxborough, Massachusetts' Gillette Stadium for an almost 4,000% markup and bought his front-row seats shortly after the first Glendale show, anticipating that buzz would push prices even higher.

He said that his nearly $20,000 in ultimate spending accounted for seven shows, expenses for flying to and staying in two cities, and around $435 for special outfits.

Meanwhile, Kat, who lives in New Jersey and works in public relations, strategically structures her spending on something she loves — concerts. Kat, whose last name is known to Insider but withheld over privacy concerns, lives with her parents and doesn't have to pay for rent or groceries. That means she's putting upwards of $10,000 towards the Eras Tour, and might spend even more at future dates.

She's been to five shows and has at least three more scheduled. Part of her concert savvy included booking hotel rooms at one stop with credit-card points before tickets even went on sale, predicting a hotel price spike in that city.

"In this part of my life, I have the time and I have the money and I get a lot mentally and happiness level out of going to multiple shows," she said.

While Swifties with smaller budgets might feel a squeeze in trying to get tickets, there are ways to keep costs low. Moira Rodriguez, a 25-year-old graduate student in Nebraska, caught the Eras Tour in Minneapolis — and spent just about $350. Her round-trip flight cost around $100, and she and her friend were lucky enough to score face-value tickets for around $150 each. They stayed with a nearby relative and paid just for transit to and from the stadium, merchandise, and food while there.

At one point, out of curiosity, she looked up how much their tickets were worth on the resale market.

"The tickets were like $1,600. That's 15 times what we originally paid," she said. "I knew I would never sell them, but the thought did cross my mind like, 'Oh, that could cover a month and a half of rent.'"

But if there's one thing all the Swifties — whether they spent $350 or $20,000 on the Eras Tour — could agree on, it's that the cost was worth it. The camaraderie at the shows themselves only helped: As Swift once said, the best people in life are free.

"When the tour went on sale, and I was able to get tickets, I was like, 'You know what? I haven't really done anything that exciting in three freaking years, so I'm just going to go HAM and spend money on Taylor Swift,'" Crowley said.