Telecharge vs Box Office

[Courtney2]

Posted: 2/10/14 at 11:35pm

I was wondering if there was a difference between the tickets Telecharge has and the tickets the box office has? Do the box office have more tickets they don't give to Telecharge? Also, if you see an available seat on Telecharge but don't want to pay their huge fees, can you request that same seat at the box office? Help needed. Thanks.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 2/10/14 at 11:46pm

I've always been under the impression they have access to all the same seats. Anything not on Telecharge is because the seat is being held for some other service: house seat, audience reward redeemed seat, etc. so would also be unavailable at the box office. It is possible that Telecharge isn't showing you everything available if there are lots of seats at a particular performance.

And yes, you can ALWAYS request specific seats at the box office. Box offices tend to be very accommodating and will work with you to find the exact seat you want at the price you want. If I'm not getting seats from rush or TDF or other comps I almost always try to go to the box office to avoid the huge fees and Telecharge's horrific website.

[bobs3]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 1:42am

If it is convenient for you the box office is always preferable. In my experience the box office staff will go out of their way to find you the best seats possible (even making recommendations) and as someone noted earlier you don't have to pay those outrageous Telecharge/Ticketmaster fees.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 8:10am

"It is possible that Telecharge isn't showing you everything available if there are lots of seats at a particular performance."

This is absolutely true. Seats are often put into what is called a Select Your Own Seat Suppression hold to make the house appear fuller.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 2/11/14 at 9:58am

If you have a discount code you can show it to the box office attendant and they will apply it. I did this to get a 5th row center seat at the Glass Menagerie for $89 with a code from a Theatermania email blast. Saved a lot on Telecharge fees!

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 1:13am

OK - I'll be the odd man out here. I love TeleCharge.
- I can compare seats and prices in different sections
- I can easily weigh the advantages of second row mezzanine vs seventh row orchestra on the aisle.
- I can quickly compare availability on several days and see if the seat I want becomes available later in the week.

And after weighing the price, the time, the location, and type of show - I finally buy seats.

I would drive box office personnel crazy.

I remember the bad old days when theater tickets were "iced" and every box office manager on Broadway had their own little scam doling out bad seats to the public and saving the good ones for the hotel concierge's that would slip him an extra $20 for the privilege.

Today everything is much more transparent, and I always have access to the inventory that is available. I am willing to pay for that access.

[bobs3]

Posted: 2/12/14 at 1:32am

Computer technology has changed the way box offices are handled now. It's true in the old days box office personnel were often thieves (there was a big scandal at the Nederlander Organization in the late 1980s involving box office staffers at their theaters and the General Manager of Nederlander Broadway resigned under pressure) but software changed all of that. Box office personnel have very little say on how tickets are released. It is all done by computer models these days. If the computer determines that a certain number of $477.00 premium seats for THE BOOK OF MORMON haven't sold, the computer knocks the price down to $135.00.