My Personal Go To Sites For Buying Tickets

Last year as my number of shows crept up, I found myself asking myself ‘where is the best place to sit?’ and ‘how do I make my money go further?’

I want to pass on what I've found and learnt starting with how I very rarely pay full price for a ticket. It's the reason why I've been able to afford to see so many shows. In a later post I will provide an insight on the sites I use that provide reviews of the view from your seats.

Read how I rarely pay full price below.

Shopping Around

The first thing you can do is shop around. There are lots of ticket agent sites online so it is worth comparing prices with these and the show websites. Some sites may have offers not featured elsewhere and you may find yourself a bargain. If you do buy tickets from an online agent make sure they have the STAR – Secure Tickets from Authorised Retailers.

Shopping around takes time until you know what the best websites to go to are so initially it will take you a while.

I personally don’t find this to be the best way so I normally do the following…

Sign Up To Mailing Lists

Not everyone likes receiving marketing emails however I sign up to all the theatre mailing lists I can as most of the time I book tickets, its because I've had a promotional offer come through. Some of the mailing lists I am signed up to are:

LOVEtheatre - www.lovetheatre.com

What’s On Stage - www.whatsonstage.com

See TICKETS - www.seetickets.com

Ticketmaster - www.ticketmaster.co.uk

Get Into London Theatre - www.getintolondontheatre.co.uk

I’ve had great luck with many of these, LOVEtheatre in particular. I wouldn't normally book tickets from them as the booking fees are quite high but they regularly have flash sales. For example, last year I got a £67.50 ticket for Bend It Like Beckham for £15.00 in one flash sale! Get Into London Theatre have periods of releasing tickets for a set period of time for set prices. In December I purchased £40 tickets (originally £67.50 or £59.50) for 3 different shows – and for 2 of those shows I'm in the second row of the stalls.

So if you want to get good deals, I’d suggest starting to let you mailbox get full with these promotional emails!

If I Do Pay Full Price…

… I normally buy direct from the theatre to avoid paying booking and transaction fees that some third party sites charge. The main times I go direct is for top shows that rarely have discounts such as Les Miserables and The Book Of Mormon. Both of these shows can be booked through Delfont Mackintosh and I've always had a positive experience with them. Also sign up to theatre chains’ mailing lists as they also do good ticket deals – I've had good deals for Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Mamma Mia! in the past.

So with that in mind, see if you can grab a deal and if this has managed to help, let me know in the comments below.