EXCLUSIVE: I paid £1,320 to take my 15-year-old daughter to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Edinburgh – but when we arrived our view was blocked by the VIP tent and a toilet

A furious mother has slammed ticketing companies after forking out £1,320 for two tickets to see Taylor Swift with her 15-year-old daughter, only for her view to be obstructed by a VIP tent and portaloo. Katrina Hutchinson O’Neill, from Brechin, Scotland, travelled two and a half hours to Edinburgh to see the pop megastar open the UK leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour on Friday.

She took her daughter Addison, 15, to the show, for which she paid £662 per ticket after opting for the It’s Been A Long Time Coming Package. The tickets, which were billed as part of the VIP-style package, was set to include a merchandise bundle and promised an ‘unforgettable seat’.
But on arrival at the 73,000-capacity Murrayfield Stadium Katrina discovered her seat was blocked by the ‘V-VIP’ tent – where celebrities and guests of the artist stand during the show.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Katrina explained: ‘I took the whole day off, my daughter had permission to have the day off school. ‘We left the house at 8am and drove two and half hours south to Edinburgh’. ‘Addison was so excited. She loves live music and I love going with her. I’m getting to relive my youth. ‘But it was super disappointing. We had the shine taken off it. ‘I wouldn’t be upset if I’d paid for an obstructed view, but I paid a lot.’

Katrina added that she was put on the waitlist but didn’t manage to get tickets initially, so her friend brought the expensive package for her. When her friend purchased the super-pricey tickets, she also picked up two more tickets for just £57 each; which, while cheaper, came with a warning that there was an obstructed view. However, according to the furious mother, the people who took the obstructed view tickets ‘had a better view than us’.

When Katrina arrived at the stadium she quickly realised her seats did not have a clear view of the stage. Other people with seats near her complained to stewards who were moved – but the other seats were also obstructed. ‘I didn’t want to make a fuss in front of Addison and I was pretending it wasn’t an issue. ‘But we asked around and other people paid £180 for seats in our section.’

Those with the It’s Been A Long Time Coming Package were offered a reserved seated ticket, four prints, a tote bag, a pin, stick and postcard set as well as a souvenir ticket and lanyard. But as the seats in the same section were offered without a VIP package for £180, Katrina was effectively paying £482 for a few pieces of merchandise. ‘I didn’t want to make a fuss in front of Addison, so I pretended there was no issue,’ she said.

‘There were a lot of parents and kids, a lot of young people, a lot of teenagers in our section. ‘Hundreds of people paid a fortune and were excited and it ruined and two V-VIP tents housing 6-8 people who didn’t pay anything to go. ‘The cast of Outlander were in one on night. Our view was looking at private portaloo for guests.