With TicketSignup’s new Add Free Tickets at Check-In feature in the free, mobile Ticket App, you can now add a hidden ticket level to an existing ticket purchase during check-in. This powerful tool helps you get accurate counts – especially for free ticket categories like young children – without complicating the check-in or ticket purchase process.
Many events offer free entry to children under a certain age. But collecting accurate headcounts for those children has always been tricky. If you include free kid tickets in the purchase path, it slows things down and can lead to inaccurate data – or you have attendees adding free tickets for people that don’t actually qualify. If you don’t include them in the total event numbers, you’re missing critical insights and might run into safety compliance issues.
Add Free Tickets at Check-In solves that. You can check in a paid ticket and instantly add a private, free ticket (for example, “Child Under 5”) right from the Ticket App. It’s fast, flexible, and invisible to the general public.
How to Add Free Tickets at Check-In
There are two steps to add free tickets at check-in. First, on the platform at a private ticket level for the hidden ticket. In this case, we added Kids 5 & Under as the free ticket.
Next, configure the add-on ticket in the Ticket App. Navigate to Event Settings, then create a new or edit an existing configuration. Expand Onsite Sales and Enable Add Ticket. Select the Ticket Type you want to add during check-in.
You can also choose where you want to display the Free Add-on Ticket. On the left is where the Ticket Purchase free add-on displays. On the right is where the Check-in Review free add-on displays. You can also select both, as shown in the above configuration.
In the Ticket App and Ticket Purchase report for the event, you will see Free Tickets for the Add Free Ticket at Check-In. The actual ticket type will display in summary check-in reports in the Ticket App and the platform, giving you the accurate on site headcount that your event needs. Note that if you have “uncheck-in” enabled in the Ticket App, you can also uncheck-in free tickets.
Real-World Example: Zozobra
Zozobra is one of New Mexico’s most iconic events, drawing tens of thousands of attendees each year to witness the burning of a fifty-foot-tall effigy filled with peoples’ glooms. The dramatic fire spectacle is the centerpiece of the event and requires close coordination with local fire officials to ensure crowd safety.
To meet safety requirements, Zozobra must provide an accurate headcount of everyone on-site. This includes young children who attend for free. Now, with On-Site Added Ticket Types, staff can check in paying adults and discreetly add the actual children accompanying them right from the Ticket App. This avoids delays at the gate and prevents older teens from using “kids under 10” tickets to bypass payment. Most importantly, it gives the fire department a reliable total headcount to plan and respond effectively in case of an emergency.
Versatile for Many Events
While Zozobra showcases the safety benefits of this feature, many other events can use Add Free Tickets at Check-In to streamline operations and improve data accuracy:
- Children’s Events with Free Adult Entry: At a kids-focused event like an Easter egg hunt, organizers often admit parents for free. Now, they can check in the child’s paid ticket and quickly add a free adult ticket for tracking, headcounts, or even capacity limits.
- Festivals with Free Child Entry: A summer concert or food fest that allows kids under a certain age to attend for free can now track how many actually show up without slowing down the ticket purchase process.
- Staff and Volunteer Passes: Events can quietly add internal passes during check-in to track staff, security, vendors, or volunteers—ensuring everyone on-site is accounted for, without cluttering public ticket options.
- VIP + Guest Tracking: At premium events, organizers can track guests or “plus-ones” tied to a VIP ticket without issuing a separate ticket in advance.
This flexibility gives events better insight into actual attendance while keeping the public-facing purchase path simple and fast.
TicketSignup continues to add more functionality and flexibility to the Ticket App. Checking in tickets at your event is easy with limitless customization options so that you can have the right on site experience for your event.