A friend can't come to the event — can I give their ticket to someone else?

Usually yes: most PDF and print-at-home tickets aren't name-checked at the door, so the barcode is what matters. Reassign the actual ticket file to the new person — TicketFae moves the original seat and barcode, never a guess.

Should the new person pay the one who dropped out?

Common practice among friends is full or partial reimbursement — be explicit up front. If you organized with TicketFae, the expense records show exactly who was billed for the seat, which keeps the conversation factual.

What if the person keeps some tickets and gives away others?

Partial redistribution works: e.g. Petra keeps one of her three tickets and two move to Peter. Each moved ticket carries its own seat and barcode.

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How to Transfer a Ticket When Someone Can't Come

Two days before the show, the group chat delivers the classic: "So sorry, can't make Saturday 😩". The seat is paid for, someone else would love it — but their ticket has a specific seat and a specific barcode. Here's how to hand it over without a mix-up at the door.

First: can tickets be passed on at all?

For most cinema, theatre and many concert tickets bought as PDFs — yes. The door scans the barcode; nobody checks a name. (Some large venues run personalised tickets with official transfer systems — check the small print there.) The real danger with PDF tickets isn't legality, it's logistics: sending the wrong page, sending the same page twice, or "editing" a ticket so the barcode no longer matches the seat. Any of those means someone stands at the entrance while the scanner beeps red.

The clean handover, step by step

If you organised the outing with TicketFae, the tickets were split from the original PDF and every seat and barcode is tracked. Redistribution is then a supported operation, not surgery:

Open the event in the Events tab and tap the card for full details.
Reassign the ticket. Move the drop-out's ticket to the new person. TicketFae transfers the original ticket with its original seat ID and barcode — it never regenerates or guesses. If the new person already had tickets, the extra pages are added to their PDF.
Send the updated ticket from the new recipient's row — AirDrop, WhatsApp, or automatically via the Buddy app. Delivery status shows when they have it.
Sort the money knowingly. The expense records still show who was billed for that seat, so "you owe Petra €14, not me" is a fact, not a negotiation.

TicketFae event card showing per-friend seat assignments that can be reassigned — Seats are tracked per person — so a reassignment moves the real ticket, not a copy.

All the drop-out shapes are covered

Full handover: Petra's 3 tickets all go to Peter, who had none. Petra is removed as a recipient.
Partial: Petra keeps 1 ticket, 2 move to Peter. Both remain recipients with correct seats.
Top-up: Petra's 3 seats go to Almut, who already had 2 — Almut's PDF now holds all 5 tickets.

Money etiquette, briefly: among friends, the norm is that the new attendee reimburses the drop-out fully or partially — but only if someone says so out loud. Be explicit when you hand the ticket over; the app's records make the amount undisputable.

Frequently asked

Does the barcode still work for the new person?

Yes — it's the identical ticket file. Barcodes aren't tied to a phone; what matters is that only one person holds each ticket, which is exactly what redistribution enforces.

Can I undo a reassignment?

Reassign it back — the tickets keep their identity, so moves are repeatable and traceable.

Are the expenses adjusted automatically?

No — deliberately. Redistribution moves tickets, not debts, because friend groups settle drop-outs in different ways. The records show who was billed so you can settle it your way.

Drop-outs happen. Chaos is optional.

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How to Transfer a Ticket When Someone Can't Come

First: can tickets be passed on at all?

The clean handover, step by step

All the drop-out shapes are covered

Frequently asked

Drop-outs happen. Chaos is optional.

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