Nearly 50 Percent More Air Travelers Heading to Coachella Than SXSW

Allianz Global Assistance Reveals Where Travelers Are Heading This Festival Season, and How Fans Could Save Thousands with Event Ticket Protection and Travel Insurance**

Richmond, VA, March 08, 2019 – Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival®, more widely known as Coachella®, is bringing in 46 percent more travelers by air than South by Southwest® (SXSW®), and 89 percent more than Ultra Music Festival^TM this year, according to Allianz Global Assistance, a leading travel insurance and assistance company. Allianz Global Assistance analyzed customer trips to determine which popular U.S. festivals attracted the most travelers, and from which cities they are traveling.

From early March through late April, music and arts fans from all over the country will travel to participate in three of the top music festivals in the United States: Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.; Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Fla.; and South by Southwest (SXSW), in Austin, Texas.

Past Coachella festivals have drawn as many as 250,000 attendees from across the world, which means hundreds of thousands of people have bought festival tickets ranging from $429 to $1,000, not including the expense of travel to the festival, lodging and more. Tickets for Ultra Music Festival run from $380 to $1,500 per weekend. SXSW badges to access music, film, or interactive events through the festival cost $1,325 each, while a platinum badge to access all three types of events, is $1,650.

“Each year, Americans shell out thousands of dollars to participate in festivals across the country,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications for Allianz Global Assistance USA. “Allianz’s Event Ticket Protector could reimburse up to 100 percent of the ticket price, including taxes and shipping, if you can’t attend an event because you or a family member gets sick, your flight is delayed, you lose your job, or a number of other covered reasons, depending on the product. Alternatively, the right travel insurance plan can additionally protect other pre-paid, nonrefundable costs, like flights and hotels, and assist with travel disruptions, helping you get to your favorite performance in time to enjoy the festival stress-free.”**

Festival tickets are often purchased months in advance, leaving a significant amount of time for unexpected events to occur leading up to the big event. According to Allianz’s internal claims data, the top reason customers miss an event like a concert is due to a sudden illness, which often leaves little time to resell their tickets or transfer their registration.

SXSW, held March 8–17, 2019, is not solely a music festival but an annual conglomerate of film, interactive technology and music. This year the festival is drawing more air travelers from New York and Los Angeles than any other U.S. city. Noticeably missing from this list of top ten departure cities is San Francisco, the home of Silicon Valley’s tech professionals, coming in as number 20 in departure cities for the festival.

The top five domestic departure cities for attendees traveling to Coachella include New York, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia and Boston. Weekend One and Two of Coachella are neck in neck for attendees, with 12.1 percent of air travelers arriving April 13, 2019 and 12 percent arriving on April 18, 2019.

Ultra Music Festival is drawing the most air travelers from cities including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington. Much of the crowd, 36.5 percent, will be traveling on March 27, two days ahead of the festival’s opening day on Friday, March 29.

Allianz Global Assistance offers event ticket protection** through most major event ticketing providers and travel insurance** through most major U.S. airlines, leading travel agents, online travel agencies, other travel suppliers and directly to consumers. For more information on Allianz Global Assistance and the policies offered for travelers, please visit: http://www.allianztravelinsurance.com.

*Methodology: The data of U.S. travelers’ Festival season plans was gathered by analyzing the number of travelers that went through the online booking process of airfare and package paths for partners offering Allianz Global Assistance travel to generate itineraries for roundtrip flights from US airports to specific locations based on the respective location or near the location of the festival.

Allianz Global Assistance USA 

Allianz Global Assistance USA is a leading consumer specialty insurance and assistance company with operation centers in 35 countries. In the United States, Allianz Global Assistance USA (AGA Service Company) serves 40 million customers annually and is best known for its Allianz Travel Insurance plans. In addition to travel insurance, Allianz Global Assistance USA offers tuition insurance, event ticket protection, registration protection for endurance events and unique travel assistance services such as international medical assistance and concierge services. The company also serves as an outsource provider for in-bound call center services and claims administration for property and casualty insurers and credit card companies.

To learn more about Allianz Travel Insurance, please visit allianztravelinsurance.com or Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/AllianzTravelInsuranceUS.