Advice from a FORMER ticket tout

peanutseller

A long time ago when times were tough I worked as a ticket tout...Can i just say now I dont do that anymore...teenage idiocy lets say............

Ive read with interest a lot of this thread about people wanting tickets for shows some here is some advice.....


Firstly NEVER buy tickets from anyone outside a theatre main reason being you will be charged an enourmous price and for most of the shows in London you really dont need to do that................

Now if you a visitor to London you will notice a large number of half price ticket shops offering tickets for all the Big shows......AVOID AT ALL COST'S you will not be getting half price tickets im afraid its a con to lure you in....The only genuine legit place in the West End to get Tickets is in Leicester Square at the Half price Ticket booth which is opposite Capital Radio .....This is 100 per cent LEGIT and you can get some great bargains for some great shows...Im hopefully popping down this week so if I do will try and make a note of what shows are on.

Now like a large number of people theatre at Christmas is a great place to go but if you can wait till January there can be some really good deals and bargains to be had probably worth searching online and looking up the society of west end theatres as they normally run some great deals at the start of the year to encourage bums on seats. Also check places like the National Theatre as they do a deal for a tenner a ticket.

Last minute well ive never had no probs went to see blood brothers last week with Mel C in had a japaneese meal before and with good seats it came to 40 quid....so worth checking

Lloyd Webbers new show is in new year and tickets for that will be tricky to get but search again and see if Sir Andy has a website sign up for newsletter and that will be a way of finding ticket availability.....

The real big show in London that tickets are tough to get hold of is Dirty Dancing best deal on last min last week was £250 for 4..............


Concerts if you dont get them from the venue or Ticketmaster avoid unless you have deep pockets.

Sugarsnap_2

If you go to the Official London Theatre website, in the Tickets window it will show you what's on sale at Leicester Square and Brent Cross for that particular day - you could avoid travelling up to London if they don't have tickets for a preferred show. I am hoping to go up tomorrow to see La Cage, for the sixth time!!

Mrs_Ryan

The theatre itself can be a good bet for returns as well - I managed to get two 8th row stalls tickets for Chicago for £40!! However this doesnt always work out - I wouldnt recommend this if the show is likely to be busy.

boonkoh

Thanks Mrs_Ryan for the insight! It is really good advice, and is similar to what I have heard before.

One resource that I found to be immensely useful which I discovered a few months ago is an article with the top 10 ways to get cheaper musical tickets, from the TKTS booth you mentioned in Leicester Square to queuing up on the day itself for returns and day tickets. I've had the article bookmarked in Firefox myself and find myself returning to it everytime I have wanted to book tickets. The URL is:

london-insider.co.uk/2009/07/top-10-ways-to-save-on-west-end-musical-tickets/

Quentin

Direct link:

http://www.london-insider.co.uk/2009/07/top-10-ways-to-save-on-west-end-musical-tickets/