Imagine you're organizing a large conference. You have general admission tickets available to the public, but you also want to set aside a block of complimentary tickets for your speakers and sponsors. You don't want those tickets showing up for everyone to grab — you just want the right people to be able to find and claim them.
That's exactly what an Access Code does. It hides certain ticket or registration options from the general public and gives specific people a "key" — the code — to unlock and see those hidden options.
Access Codes are not about discounts. They're about visibility and access. If you're looking for something that takes money off a ticket price, that's a Promotion Code — see our Promotion Codes guide for that.
What Can an Access Code Unlock?
1. Hidden Ticket or Registration Types
The most common use. A ticket type (like "Speaker," "VIP," or "Staff") is hidden from your public event page. Only people with the code can see and select it.
Example: You're running a music festival and want to offer a backstage pass tier — but only to artists, crew, and media contacts. You hide that ticket type and share the Access Code privately so it never appears on your public page.
Example: You're hosting an annual gala and need a "Table Captain" registration type for committee members. You don't want that option visible to general registrants, so you hide it and share the code with your committee directly.
2. Early Event Access
Give specific people the ability to register before your event opens to the public.
Example: You're organizing a popular 5K and want to reward returning participants with early registration — a week before it opens to everyone else. Send them an Access Code and they're in as soon as you're ready.
3. Specific Seats (Assigned Seating Events)
Lock individual seats so only people with the right code can select them.
Example: You want to reserve the front three rows of your theater production for press and sponsors. Mark those seats as locked in your Seat Editor, share the Access Code with your VIP contacts, and those rows stay out of reach for everyone else.
How Does an Attendee Use an Access Code?
Your attendees enter the code on the event registration page — the page where they're choosing their ticket type, before they get to checkout. A code entry box will appear on that page. Once they enter the code, the hidden option reveals itself and they can proceed to register normally.
📌 Note: The Access Code entry box only appears on your event page if you have hidden options configured. If an attendee tells you they don't see a place to enter their code, double-check that the code is active and correctly linked to your event.
⚠️ Using Both Code Types? If your event uses both Access Codes and Promo Codes, make sure your attendees know the difference. Access Codes are entered on the registration page to unlock hidden options. Promo Codes are entered at checkout to apply a discount. Mixing these up is one of the most common points of confusion for attendees.
How Are Access Codes Created?
You can create and manage Access Codes from your Organization Dashboard under the Access Codes section.
When creating a code, choose from three types:
| Type | What It Does | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | One code, one set of rules | Most situations |
| Template | A blueprint for generating codes — not usable by attendees directly | When you need many codes with the same settings |
| Dynamic | Auto-generates a batch of unique codes from a Template | When distributing unique codes at scale |
When building your code, you'll configure:
- Code – The word or phrase your attendees will type
- Description – Notes for you and your team (always fill this in — future you will thank you!)
- Active Dates – When the code is valid
- Usage Settings – Single-use or multi-use
-
Relations – Whether it applies to your whole event, a specific ticket type, or specific seats
Limitations to Know
- When your code expires, the hidden option becomes public. After your Access Code's expiration date, whatever it was hiding will become visible to everyone. Plan your expiration dates carefully so nothing goes public before you're ready.
- The code entry box won't appear if nothing is hidden. If you haven't configured any hidden options tied to that code, your attendees won't see a place to enter it.
- One-time-use codes can only be claimed once. The first person to use it "claims" it — no one else can use that same code after that. If you need multiple one-time-use codes, create a Template and generate Dynamic codes from it.
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Seat Access Codes require extra setup. Creating the code alone isn't enough — you'll also need to go into your Seat Editor and manually apply the code to the specific seats you want to lock.
- Access Codes don't apply discounts. If you want to offer a hidden and discounted ticket, you'll need both an Access Code (to reveal it) and a Promo Code (to discount it).
Frequently Asked Questions
- My attendee says they can't find where to enter their code. What's going on?
First, make sure they're looking on the event registration page — not at checkout. If they're in the right place and still don't see the entry box, check that your code is active, hasn't expired, and is correctly linked to your event and the right ticket type.
- Can one Access Code unlock multiple ticket types?
Yes! When setting up your code's Relations, you can select multiple attendee types for a single code to apply to.
- What's the difference between an Access Code and a Promo Code?
Access Codes control visibility — they reveal hidden options on your event page. Promo Codes control price — they apply discounts at checkout. They do different things and are entered in different places. See the Promotion Codes guide for more.
- An attendee says they entered the code but nothing happened. What should I check?
Run through this checklist: Is the code spelled correctly? Is it within its active date range? If it's set to one-time use, has it already been claimed? Is it linked to the correct event and attendee type?
- Can I see how many times my code has been used?
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Yes — code usage can be tracked through reporting in your Organization Dashboard.