Buying tickets from Broadway.com

[karen24]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 12:03pm

A friend (who doesn't have that much experience buying theater tickets, apparently) just e-mailed me that she bought two tickets to Gentleman's Guide and it cost her almost $400. The tickets were $137 each, but they tacked on "service charges" of $47.95 per ticket, plus $30 for "insurance." I had never heard of getting tickets from this site before but this seems outrageous. I hated to tell her that there are discounts available for GG on Broadwaybox.com.

For the future I told her to go directly to either Broadwaybox, or if no discounts are available, to the show's Web site. She said she tried that but that she got a message that her "browser wasn't supported" and she somehow wound up at Broadway.com. Yikes. Of course, also, she lives in NYC and could go directly to the box office too, although she lives/works in Brooklyn so it is a bit of a schlep.

I worry that people like her, and tourists, get trapped like this because everyone knows that Broadway tickets are expensive, so they think even fees this outrageous are "normal."

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 12:12pm

Yikes. Yes, Broadway.com is a broker. That's what you get when you buy from them. Please teach your friend not to do that in the future.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 1:11pm

Your friend doesn't seem to be computer savvy either. Just always tell her to go to the show's website or theatermania.com, which always lets you know if there's a discount for every show (broadwayoffers.com). Or, she can get to the box office, and save a lot of money.

Updated On: 5/28/14 at 01:11 PM

[rlb237]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 1:16pm

OUCH. She lives in NYC and didn't about the theater brokers? That's a bummer. I feel bad for her too! I think it's pretty much a guarantee that plenty of tourists and especially first-time Broadway goers probably do get duped by sites like that. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in business. Such a shame.

I've been looking at GG tickets for myself but that promo code is only good for performances through June 8th. Is she going before or after that?

Updated On: 5/28/14 at 01:16 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 2:00pm

A GG code through July 6 just got released today.

[karen24]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 3:15pm

I didn't mention the GG promo code as she's already bought these tickets and I didn't want her to feel worse But hopefully she will know for next time. She said that she did go to the show's Web site, but got some message that the "browser was unsupported" (?) so she somehow wound up at Broadway.com. I don't know, she's lived in NYC for a long time and goes to shows frequently, so I'm not sure how this happened, although now that I think of it, whenever I go with her I always buy the tickets!

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 5/28/14 at 6:00pm

Where did you find the code good through July 6?

[rlb237]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 12:37pm

Damn, that new code for GG wouldn't help me either. I'm going at the end of July. I do have an Audience Rewards offer that will net me some extra bonus points for shows through September though, so I guess that's something.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 12:43pm

"Where did you find the code good through July 6?"

Theatermania e-mail.

GUTMC528

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 12:57pm

There is no excuse for someone who lives in NYC to not go to the box office for tickets. A quick subway ride will save you $$$. I live in NYC outside of Manhattan and always buy my tickets at the BO. If you print a copy of the discount code the BO will honor it.

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 12:57pm

There is no excuse for someone who lives in NYC to not go to the box office for tickets. A quick subway ride will save you $$$. I live in NYC outside of Manhattan and always buy my tickets at the BO. If you print a copy of the discount code the BO will honor it.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 1:22pm

Fees are usually around $10 total, so it is hard to justify an unnecessary $5 round-trip subway ride and an hour of time to save $5, no?!

[Pammylicious]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 1:25pm

On what site are fees only $10....Most I've seen are at least $17-20 and that's for one ticket....buying two, we're talking about a nice lunch.

[little_sally]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 1:34pm

I've never seen fees lower than $10 a ticket on Telecharge/Ticketmaster.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 2:30pm

I have a friend here from out of town, so I have been buying him a lot of tickets this week, and it looks like I did forget to factor in the extra order processing/handling that they add on after they break down the other fees, but the other fees are all under $10.

This week's breakdown:
For Cabaret, they only accepted Will Call for the seat and charged $6 over the ticket cost.
For If Then, I got a $97 ticket, with $9.50 service charge and $3.20 order processing for a total of $109.70.
For Beautiful, I got a $159 ticket with $9.50 Service Charge and $2.75 Handling for a total of $171.25
For Hedwig, I got a $152 ticket, and the total charge was $163.25 (can't find the fee breakdown)

So, removing Cabaret, that averages out to $12.07 in fees. So, for a single ticket, I'd still not waste the time to save $7.07.

If I was buying two tickets, though, then it becomes more compelling...

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/29/14 at 2:45pm

I live in Manhattan and I occasionally buy single tickets online if I don't have the time to get down to the box office (since I usually only buy tickets in advance a couple of days to a week out, depending on when I can get them for). When I'm buying more than one ticket I pretty much always go to the box office, though, since that then becomes a significant amount of money to be saved.