Taylor Swift fan Kelly Hall was elated when she beat the odds and was allocated three coveted tickets for The Eras Tour in Vancouver.

Then she started looking for a hotel.

Hall, who lives in Oshawa, Ont., planned to fly to Vancouver with her husband and a friend for the weekend of the Dec. 8 show, but the cheapest room was about $1,200 a night.

91裸聊视频淲e decided that if this weekend alone 91裸聊视频� just three nights 91裸聊视频� is going to cost us three to five grand in accommodation, it just wasn91裸聊视频檛 worth it for us,91裸聊视频� said Hall, who is a financial adviser.

So, they did the once-unthinkable: 91裸聊视频淲e decided to sell the tickets.91裸聊视频�

The situation facing out-of-town Swift fans now may be even worse, with some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto and Vancouver on show weekends costing 10 times more than other weekends.

Some fans, like Hall, are cutting potential losses and selling their tickets, while others are coming up with creative solutions, including bartering spare tickets for accommodation.

The British Columbia Hotel Association declined requests for an interview about price fluctuations, and the Greater Toronto Hotel Association did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Swift begins the Canadian leg of her record-breaking tour this month with six dates in Toronto between Nov. 14 and Nov. 23.

Hotel rooms near the venue during those dates, including the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, attached to the Rogers Centre, are being advertised for around $2,000 per night. That same hotel is offering rooms for $240 in early November.

In Vancouver, where Swift is closing the world tour with three concerts from Dec. 6 to 8, hotel prices have ballooned. On the previous weekend, downtown hotel rooms can be found for around $300 a night. The same rooms are priced around $3,000 a night while the singer is in town.

Airbnb and VRBO rental costs have also exploded. One Vancouver apartment listed on VRBO as sleeping six and being within walking distance of the BC Place show venue was being advertised for $7,500 a night during the shows, which would amount to more than $10,000 after service and host fees.

The same False Creek apartment, though not listed every week, is available for rent next August at $820 per night.

The rental host did not immediately reply to interview requests.

While fans have taken to online forums to grumble about the prices, economist Thomas Davidoff said he 91裸聊视频渄oesn91裸聊视频檛 really see a problem with surge pricing on Airbnb or hotels.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檒l be a ton of hotel demand and a ton of Airbnb demand, and you know prices will reflect that demand, and that91裸聊视频檚 appropriate. If you didn91裸聊视频檛 have high prices, you91裸聊视频檇 have more random rationing of units,91裸聊视频� said Davidoff, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia91裸聊视频檚 Sauder School of Business.

He said a main problem in B.C. is lack of availability due to regulation of short-term rentals.

In May, B.C. restricted short-term rentals to within a host91裸聊视频檚 home, or a basement suite or the laneway home on the property where they live 91裸聊视频� although a search of rental sites suggests rule-breaking is not uncommon.

Davidoff said the move 91裸聊视频減robably had some benefit to (long-term) renters,91裸聊视频� but it has caused 91裸聊视频渋n moments like this, a very serious shortage of short-term accommodation.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淢ost economists are not so sad about dynamic pricing 91裸聊视频� and if you want to prevent the problem of 91裸聊视频榥ot enough,91裸聊视频� then deregulate hotels or Airbnb,91裸聊视频� Davidoff said.

B.C.91裸聊视频檚 Tourism Ministry said in a statement that short-term rentals were still allowed in B.C. and that Vancouver 91裸聊视频渁lready had a primary-residence requirement91裸聊视频� for short-term rentals before the provincial rules were changed.

Ken Whitehurst, executive director of the Consumer Council of Canada, said the claim that prices should reflect demand is oversimplified and 91裸聊视频渄etached from reality.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭he idea that prices (for) something that91裸聊视频檚 ordinarily affordable to people can fluctuate by large amounts flies in the face of the notions we have in our society about equity,91裸聊视频� he said.

Whitehurst said that while it may not be illegal, it may result in other consequences for suppliers, such as losing future business.

Swiftie Facebook forums are now filled with people trying to trade Toronto and Vancouver tickets because of high accommodation costs, as well as requests for local advice on hotel locations and transit options to avoid high rates near the concert venues.

American Heather Cox is travelling to Vancouver from Atlanta, Ga., for the Dec. 7 show after securing six tickets. After one of her party couldn91裸聊视频檛 make the show, she agreed to swap the spare ticket for fournights at a fellow Swiftie91裸聊视频檚 penthouse apartment in the city91裸聊视频檚 West End.

91裸聊视频淗otel prices were out of control,91裸聊视频� Cox said. 91裸聊视频淚 then started an Airbnb hunt and, again, the prices were out of control.91裸聊视频�

Cox said they signed a 91裸聊视频渓egal barter agreement91裸聊视频� as well as a liability form and intend to make the ticket trade in person. The apartment91裸聊视频檚 resident will stay with a friend.

Both parties felt it was fair, since the resale price of a ticket and that of accommodation near the stadium were similar, Cox said. Ticket resale site StubHub lists single tickets to the show from about $3,000.

91裸聊视频淭he unique thing, I think, about Taylor Swift fans is they really appreciate other Taylor Swift fans,91裸聊视频� Cox said, noting she has seen others strike similar deals. 91裸聊视频淲e all want everybody to be able to enjoy it.91裸聊视频�

She said it was 91裸聊视频渄isappointing91裸聊视频� to see exorbitant accommodation prices.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 such a shame that it91裸聊视频檚 just about money,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 mean, come on, you could still raise them more than their usual rate, but not to the degree where you are pricing people out of being able to just attend it all.91裸聊视频�

Whitehurst, with the Consumer Council of Canada, said dynamic pricing is often 91裸聊视频渁pplied pretty aggressively91裸聊视频� within the travel industry, including by airlines and hotels.

He said a main reason is that provisions about what constitutes price gouging are not well defined.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 probably nothing in consumer protection law that91裸聊视频檚 going to regulate that federally (and) the Competition Bureau probably would not take a look at it unless there was an indication of collusion in setting the pricing or misrepresentation of prices,91裸聊视频� he said.

Kristina Prasad from Maple Ridge, B.C., is trying to help a fellow Swift fan experience a show in Vancouver.

Prasad 91裸聊视频� who has spent more than $10,000 to buy tickets to all three shows 91裸聊视频� said she connected with another fan on Instagram and they met in person during the Eras Tour show in Seattle in July 2023.

Their friendship is centred around mutual adoration of Swift91裸聊视频檚 music, and Prasad has agreed to allow the woman stay at her home during the Vancouver shows, even though she hasn91裸聊视频檛 secured tickets yet.

91裸聊视频淪he91裸聊视频檚 asked me if she could stay at my house to basically (spend) as much funds as she can towards the tickets, because hotel prices are about $1,200 a night,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 think I would let just anybody stay at my house. I think outside of the fandom it might seem a little bit weird.91裸聊视频�

Alexander Cohen, a spokesman for the Tourism Ministry, said the federal government is 91裸聊视频渃oncerned by reports of high prices for hotels in Toronto and Vancouver.91裸聊视频�

However, he added that 91裸聊视频渃onsumer legislation remains a provincial responsibility.91裸聊视频�

Ontario91裸聊视频檚 Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement said businesses are 91裸聊视频渘ot allowed to engage in unfair practices91裸聊视频� under the Consumer Protection Act.

That, it said, includes charging a price that grossly exceeds the price at which similar goods or services are readily available to consumers. It did not respond directly to the example of hotel costs during Swift91裸聊视频檚 concert dates.

Despite giving up on the Vancouver show, Swift fan Hall hasn91裸聊视频檛 given up on seeing an Eras Tour show closer to home. She will be looking for last-minute tickets outside Rogers Stadium in Toronto.

But she says she91裸聊视频檚 frustrated that 91裸聊视频渁verage people91裸聊视频� are being priced out of concerts by accommodation and ticket costs.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 definitely been frustrating. Taylor Swift isn91裸聊视频檛 the only one, but it91裸聊视频檚 definitely the most prominent one that I91裸聊视频檝e seen thus far,91裸聊视频� Hall said. 91裸聊视频淒efinitely, as an avid concertgoer, it91裸聊视频檚 becoming a little bit disheartening.91裸聊视频�