Tutorial: How to get the best seats on Broadway
Part 1: Buying tickets on Telecharge.com and Broadwayoffers.com
Telecharge.com is the largest Broadway ticketing company, owned by the Shubert Organization, which owns about half the theaters on Broadway.
Their regular ticketing site is www.telecharge.com, while all discounted tickets are sold on www.broadwayoffers.com. Both sites use the same software, so everything we will learn today will be applicable for both sites. BroadwayOffers has excellent tools to help you find the best seats.
Our mission: Getting the best seats in the house!
The BroadwayBox purchase link, provided on each discount on our site, will get you directly into the BroadwayOffers.com site. Make sure your pop-up blocker allows pop-ups from BroadwayOffers.com. All you need to do is enter the number of tickets you wish to buy and start the reservation process.
Tip #1: Select from a range of dates, not just one
Your best chance to get better tickets is to search for tickets on several performances at once. BroadwayOffers has two unknown features to allow you to search more than one performance at a time:
Pick a range of dates: Specify the START date and the END date. A third field allows you to be more specific within that range: you can select Any Time or only Evening/Matinee/Weekday/Weekend. Alternatively you can select just one day of the week. It is a great feature if you live in NY, and can see a show only on Thursdays, for example.
Pick from the show calendar: When you select this option, the performance calendar opens up, and you can mark each date that you can see the show. This is the most flexible option. Very useful for visitors who have a limited time to to see a show, or locals with a very busy schedule
Continue the purchase process until you get the first ticket offer.
Tip #2: Never pick the first ticket you are offered
You have probably selected to get the best seat available and this is what you will get according to the computers determination. It is easy to get additional choices to see if you may like them better. At the bottom of the Tickets page under I don’t want these tickets! you have the option to get more ticket choices for the same performance or for other performances in your selected range.
BroadwayOffers will warn you that you may lose the tickets once you go for another set, but the (very small) risk often pays off (unless it is the first few minutes after a best seller show goes into public sale). The good news is that BroadwayOffers provides you a HISTORY of all the tickets that were offered to you, so you can always regret and go back to any of the sets of tickets offered. You click on the History link on the right hand side and see the complete list. More choice means better seats. This requires quick reaction, since following a break of over 3 minutes, Broadwayoffers stops your session and you will lose your History list (but not the tickets).
Always keep the seating chart open on your screen to compare the tickets offered.
Tip #3: Select from several sections of the theater
The default option during your purchase session is: I want the best seat available. Since you and the computer may have different opinions on what is the best seat available why not try the choose by section of the venue option. You can select the orchestra, or mezzanine, and see which seats are available in each section, and for which price. Combining this strategy with the History (tip#2) can yield some great seating options.
Once you decided on your best ticket, go ahead and select I want these tickets. You have 7 minutes to complete the transaction.