Theatre ticket vouchers as gifts

Claphamite

With Christmas coming up, people might be thinking of giving theatre ticket vouchers or tokens as gifts. Be warned, they can vary greatly in flexibility.

My wife was given £50 worth of vouchers from Theatre Tickets Direct by our son. We found them almost impossible to use: the company's stock in trade is musicals, which we hate, and the theatre offerings did not include anything at the National Theatre, where we go most frequently.

The vouchers expire after 12 months, and the only way to book is by phone through the company, which charges a hefty booking fee. In most cases it seems to deal only in the most expensive tickets on offer. Eventually we found something rather than letting our son's £50 go to waste, but had to stump up another £20 or more ourselves.

Theatre Tokens from the Society of London Theatre seem to be a much better bet. They never expire, they are accepted by almost every theatre in London - and dozens more around the country - and you deal directly with the theatre rather than an agent. You can even use them at the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square.

(Accidentally posted this as a reply originally; meant it to be a new thread)

Lucy_Lastic

I am looking at where to get theatre vouchers/tokens for a birthday gift for a friend. This is useful information as I just searched the internet and there are so many websites that it becomes confusing. Never having bought theatre vouchers before I don't know where to start, so if anyone else has a recommendation I would be grateful.

kt21

theatre tokens are your best bet as their widely accepted. you can get them in wh-smiths

raindropsy

You can also buy them from Ebay. I do that regularly and they work fine.