Jasmine Birtles
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How to find cheap theatre tickets
Reading Time: 5 minutesLondon’s famous theatre district attracts millions of people each year, all hoping to catch a performance of old classics like Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera as well as newer hits like Disney’s The Lion King.
With more than 12 million people flocking to see West End shows every year — equivalent to the population of Belgium — demand is high and so is the price. Fear not, though. In this article you will learn how to find the cheapest theatre tickets in London.
Typically the lowest priced tickets are around £25 for the cheap seats in the back or with restricted views. From there, the prices only go up.
But with a little bit of nous, you can find cheap theatre tickets in London today with a good view of the show. Read on to discover how to find a bargain West End show.
Day Seats
If you are in the West End without tickets booked and want to take in a show, there’s still hope. Depending on the show and the venue, some box offices hold onto a select amount of tickets the day of the performance.
Theatremonkey.com is a great resource and offers lots of tips and tricks on how to get your hands on cheaper tickets for more than 20 West End productions. On the website, you can find front row seats for some top performances for less than £25.
Of course, obtaining day seats takes a little preparation. In most cases, you’ll want to show up to the box office earlier in the morning before they sell out. Often, for popular shows, there will be a queue. It’s best to call the box office itself to get an idea of what time you should come to collect the tickets. Most box offices will take cash or card, but it’s always a good idea to have cash on you just in case as well as an ID that shows your age and name.
Price comparison websites
Whilst you might be more familiar using price comparison websites to hunt for car insurance or last minute hotel rooms, they are also brilliant for finding cheap theatre tickets.
Compare Theatre Tickets compares the price of many different ticket-selling websites and tells you the cheapest ones on any given day. For instance, during September 2019, you can grab tickets to The Lion King for £23.50, The Book of Mormon for £20, Only Fools and Horses for £19, plus lots more.
Lastminute.com is also in on the game. Other good sites to check include the Visit London website, as well as the bargain sections of London Theatre Direct and London Box Office.
Return tickets
Occasionally, a group of people won’t be able to attend a show and return their tickets directly to the box office. A queue full of people hoping to get their hands on tickets for a sold-out show will start a few hours before the show is scheduled to begin. Again, every venue will be different, but this is definitely the case for most of the popular productions that sell out days before the actual performance.
Of course, these tickets won’t necessarily be cheaper but it’s a great way to get something last minute for a production you really want to see. Sometimes the actual ticket holders will come directly to the line rather than handing them over to the box office and won’t hesitate to drop the price they paid by a little – especially if the show is starting shortly. For them, getting a reduced amount back is better than not selling the ticket at all.
Return tickets are a gamble, but you can get lucky! Remember to have cash on you, though.
The TKTS booth
The TKTS booth, located in Leicester Square, is another great way to buy discounted tickets the day of your show. They won’t always have what you want to see, but there’s a wide selection nonetheless. They also display the box office’s price, so you can compare and see how much you’re saving.
For example, on 10 September 2019, top tickets for Bitter Wheat were £75 and tickets for Big The Musical were £54. The TKTS booth sold them for £37 and £22.50 respectively. That saves the buyer £69.50.
TKTS is affiliated with STAR (Secure Tickets from Authorised Retailers), which means buying these discount tickets is perfectly safe and legal. Watch out for other booths in the West End that claim to sell discounted theatre tickets. They’re either scams or the price of the tickets does not match their actual value. A legitimate service will have the STAR logo displayed somewhere outside the booth.
Dos and Don’ts
DO
- Book ahead if you can. If you have a specific show in mind, you don’t want to wait until the last minute.
- Be prepared to wait. If you want return tickets or day seats, these usually require you to wait in a queue for a couple hours.
- Be flexible. If you can’t get tickets to your first choice, make sure you have a mental list of other shows you’d like to see.
- Ask to see a seating chart. This way you know where you’ll be in the theatre. You could also use SeatPlan, which allows you to see user-uploaded view from seat photos so you know exactly the kind of view you’re going to be getting. They do tickets for all the biggest shows including The Lion King, Back To The Future, and Hamilton.
- Buy directly from box offices rather than over the internet. That way you can avoid booking fees.
DON’T
- Buy from a booth that isn’t STAR authorised. Use great caution when buying tickets from anywhere other than the box office and TKTS.
- Buy tickets from a scalper. This is someone who buys tickets from the box office and then tries to resell them at a (usually) inflated price before the show.
- Cut queues for day seats or return tickets just so you can stand with your family or friends. There are usually only a certain number of tickets available, so when you do this you’re setting everyone else back a place in the queue and ruining their chances of getting a ticket.
- Walk away without knowing where you’re sitting. A common scam is selling tickets for a price that does not reflect their actual worth. You could end up paying full price for a seat with restricted viewing.
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Will use these post-lockdown!
Great ideas for saving on ticket prices.