Last Minute Options when Alcatraz Tickets Sold Out
There are two ways you might be able to get last minute tickets when the cityexperiences.com Alcatraz City Cruises website is sold out on days when you’re intown (and they’re the only legal source for cruise tickets to the island). But the choices are either expensive or they’re a hassle.
Note: We do not receive any money if you click on these links – we are not “affiliates” and our revenue is ad-based. If we have a business relationship with any company we list on the website we always disclose it.
Option 1: Buy a Combined Alcatraz and San Francisco Tour. Outside tour companies often pre-buy the Alcatraz tickets in bulk and then offer “Alcatraz and San Francisco All in One Tours” at a combined price. It’s more expensive (sometimes a lot more) and they can sell out as well, but at least you get two tours instead of just one. The Google search “Alcatraz tickets sold out” will often put ads at the top of the search listings from companies with these tickets saying, “We’re not sold out!”
Option 2: Check the Alcatraz island nighttime tours and the “Behind the Scenes” tours, not just the daytime Alcatraz tickets. These alternatives are offered on the same page as the daytime Alcatraz tours. They will sometimes remain available after the daytime Alcatraz tickets sold out. The Behind the Scenes tour is expensive, but covers areas you otherwise would not be allowed to see.
Option 3: Buy the “Escape from the Rock” Blue & Gold Fleet Alcatraz Cruise Tickets for a tour that sails around Alcatraz without stopping to walk around on the island. They have a dramatic soundtrack and you get to see parts of the prison you can’t see from land.
Option 4: If you are staying at a major San Francisco hotel their concierge desk may have relationships with different tour companies. Anyone they recommend when Alcatraz tickets sold out will have been vetted by the hotel so you’ll be able to proceed more confidently.
Option 5: The Annoying Might-Not-Work Option: Keep checking your possible dates on the cityexperiences.com website (the only legal direct way to buy tickets — they’re the official national park vendor) at all times of day and night. Check for each day you’ll be in San Francisco ad can go on the tour. They do get cancellations for Alcatraz cruise tickets and when that happens tickets reappear on the website for sale even when the rest of that week is sold out.
Note: All visitors under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult to visit Alcatraz. Younger teens and children may not visit alone.
Alternate Sources of Alcatraz Tickets
Beware of Scalpers! Re-selling Alcatraz tickets at inflated prices is against the law. If someone walks up to you at Fisherman’s Wharf and offers to sell you tickets on a day when the Alcatraz tickets sold out, we strongly recommend you do not buy from them. The tickets they are selling may be fakes or counterfeits, which will not be honored and throwing away your hard-earned cash. (The old rule is true, as usual: “Anything too good to be true probably isn’t!”) If the tickets are real you’ll still over-pay to get them.
Craigslist: There are some legitimate tickets sold on Craigslist’s tickets page, but there is real risk involved if you pay cash for Craigslist tickets because FRAUD IS RAMPANT on the site. Unlike StubHub, Ebay, Paypal etc., Craigslist does not qualify or identify its users, so thieves can use it to sell counterfeit tickets or to prey on people in other ways.
Insiders Tip: If you do use Craigslist, paying via Paypal or another service that will refund fraudulent payments instead of paying in cash does give you some chance of getting your money back if the tickets are fraudulent or counterfeit. Sellers who are trying to rip you off won’t accept Paypal because when you report the bad transaction to Paypal will reverse the charges and could provide evidence to the police if you elect to press charges.
