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YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHY YOU NEED A SITE LIKE THIS...

When looking for theatre tickets on the internet, you might assume that it is a sensible approach to visit one of the leading search engines to find agents with availability. This is not always the case, and here's why:

We search the biggest and best ticket agents in the land to provide you with a definitive list of what's available and at what price. We'll also give you links to where the best deals and offers can be found.

Below we provide some basic information, we also provide details on the suppliers we use.

TYPES OF TICKET SUPPLIER

BOX OFFICE

This is the official box office for the show. This is the place where you can walk up to the theatre and buy tickets and some of them have their own website. In some cases the "box-office" may still be a ticket agent or a call centre somewhere but they will always be the officially contracted provider for the show or theatre. They are usually, but not always, the best place to start your seach. We say "usually" because often, box-offices do not have the discounts that other agents may have negotiated.

OFFICAL APPOINTED TICKET AGENT

There are a number of ticket agents who are officially appointed by the theatre to sell tickets on their behalf. Typically an agent will be given an “allocation of tickets”, more often than not the same seats each performance, the quantity will vary from agent to agent. These agents will have agreements in place with the theatre as well as, where necessary, a financial bond. Most of these agents are members of The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) which provides a good degree of security and consumer protection. In some cases agents may not be members of STAR but are still official agents. The most notable of these is SEE Tickets which is a very reputable company but had chosen not to join STAR for its own reasons. We call these Primary agents.

OFFICIAL SUB-AGENTS

A number of the agents mentioned above appoint sub-agents. These agents can state they are official and may receive a specific allocation of tickets. Some of these sub-agents are represented on Seatchoice.com.

SECONDARY AGENTS/ON LINE AUCTION SITES

These are agents not officially appointed by the theatre or by an official appointed ticket agent. They can trade and sell tickets with no limitation on booking fees. None of these agents are members of STAR. These sites sell tickets that they have either acquired or hope to acquire once they receive an order. Some of these sites also offer a ticket selling platform for people with excess tickets, who genuinely cannot go and wish to trade or may have purchased additional tickets for commercial gain.

Secondary agents can operate from any shop or on line. There is nothing illegal in what they are doing. It is only illegal to trade in tickets for football matches, unless you are an officially appointed agent. Some clubs have appointed such an agent to handle their ticketing exchanges. If you do a search on a site like eBay, you will find what appear to be individuals selling tickets but more often than not they will be secondary agents using eBay as their shop window.

WHY USE SECONDARY AGENTS? - At first glance there is no real reason to use these agents unless you have exhausted all other avenues and that, we suppose, is the point. If there is a concert you must got to or show you must see, sometimes, these guys are the only way to get a ticket, even if you have to pay over the odds to get it. The Secondary ticket agents we list on the site are there for one reason only. They do offer a high level of consumer protection. Each has a policy in place that ensure that they will do all in their power to get you a ticket for the event and if they cannot they will, at the very least, give you your money back. There are no sellers on the site where, in our view, you are not afforded a very high level of protection.

TICKET TOUTS

These are often associated with the private individual outside the venue selling tickets, but these are now more sophisticated and tend to be affiliated to one of the secondary agents above.

You can view details of the Suppliers represented on this website.

TICKET BUYING TERMINOLOGY

FACE VALUE

This the price quoted by the box office for a ticket prior to any booking fee of handling charge.

BOOKING FEES

These are charges quoted by the seller on top of the face value. Officially appointed agents do not charge more than 25% per ticket and many charge less than that.

HANDLING CHARGE

This is fee typically charged as set amount on the whole booking not on a per ticket basis.

BEST AVAILABLE
This means that the client will be given a seat that could be anywhere in the theatre at the discretion of the seller.

HOW SEATING IN A TYPICAL THEATRE WORKS

 For the uninitiated, theatre seating can be confusing so we thought we'd try and explain. Above is a generic example of a theatre and how it works.

Stalls: These seats are often the best and most expensive in the theatre (in the USA this is called the Orchestra). It is not unusual for all Stalls seats to be top price but it does vary from theatre to theatre.

Dress Circle: The first few rows of the dress circle, one level up from the stalls are also usually top price seats. As you move back in the Dress Circle prices should drop.

Upper Circle: Just to confuse you, some theatre have more than one circle.

Balcony: These seats are up again from the Dress Circle and can be quite high up giving you a view of the top of actor's heads. They are usually quite inexpensive.

Box: Boxes are a mixed blessing, they can be quite special and have an air of exclusivity about them but, equally, they do not always give you the best view of the stage. It very much depends on the theatre.

Restricted View: Occasionally you will be offered a ticket that has a restricted view. This usually means that your view of the stage may be partially obscured by a pillar of overhang. The price will reflect this.

Super Seats: Some theatres are offering "super seats", the best views and comfortable too - the price reflects this

LOOKING FOR A DISCOUNT AND FINDING THAT TICKET - HINTS

FINDING DISCOUNTS

Avoid weekends and school holidays - Theatre producers aren't stupid, they know when you want to go and these periods book up fast and rarely are discounts available. 

Try earlier in the week - Most shows discount earlier in the week when sales are harder to find. Even for a hot show, it is worth searching on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Be flexible - Sometimes discounts are offered on a "best available" basis. This means you may not know your seat numbers before you arrive at the theatre but the staff will seat you in the best seats that are not sold at full price. They are often pretty good.

View from on high - Try the balcony and upper circle. Most people who want to see a show want the best seat they can get. This often means that theatres struggle to sell the cheapers seats. If you are really on a budget, give it a try.

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