Where to find sold out tickets

Who steps up to the plate in this regard? Winner: StubHub. StubHub has built up its reputation to the point where it has formed official partnerships with many of the most popular sports leagues around the globe. Your tickets could arrive late for the event or get lost in the mail , be fake, or be significantly different from the ones you ordered. Or the event itself could be postponed or canceled. Who has your back in these cases?

Vivid Seats has some of the best buyer protections in the business. They also work tightly with resellers and courier services to make sure your tickets are authentic, on time, and accurate… or you get a full refund! Even if you can get tickets to that big event near you, the next biggest hurdle is going to be how much they cost.

Availability means little if tickets are marked up beyond a price that you can afford. Winner: Craigslist. Runners-up: SeatGeek, eBay. Of the sites we listed, we feel that StubHub offers the best balance of geographic availability, price, event selection, and buyer protection.

For example, sites like SeatGeek can find you better prices than StubHub, while Vivid Seats outshines StubHub in terms of buyer-friendly policies and protections. The best place to buy resale tickets, then, like many things, depends on your priorities. StubHub is a great choice for sports tickets, as it has a large selection of events worldwide to choose from. It also has a decent buyer protection policy and occasional discounts.

A general e-commerce website like eBay can be a better bet for finding tickets to venues that other resale sites may not carry, like museums and theme parks. But if a post sounds like it was written by a real person, ideally with a story that explains that they were intending to go to the show—and not a generic or poorly designed one-size-fits-all image, often used for hundreds of different ticket posts—then you might be in luck.

Relax and be free from anxiety Take back good sleep and help alleviate pain. Digital tickets are always preferable, but lead to some roadblocks of their own. Do you time it with a one-two-three-click? Next come Saturday and Sunday matinees, especially for child friendly shows e.

The Lion King; and Thursday evenings. At the Royal National Theatre midweek matinees are also busy as mailing list members seem to prefer them and take many of the available tickets during their priority booking period. Choose Monday to Wednesday Evenings and midweek matinees except at the National Theatre as you stand a better chance in general. Theatremonkey reckons Tuesday evenings and the midweek matinees often see the cast give the best performances of the week.

Extra Performances Extra performances of hit shows are often scheduled outside the normal pattern of Monday to Saturday night plus two afternoons. Tickets often go on sale at short notice and seats are often left over on the day for casual walk-ins to buy. Charity galas may add a donation to the price, but in the cheapest seats it will often not be too much and at least you get to see the play. STAR Agencies Agencies, because they charge a bit more, can have tickets when the theatre has sold out.

Do note, though, that many agents no longer have actual reserved "allocations," instead, they log into the theatre's stock and share that. This means of course that if the theatre is sold out, so is the agent. The only exceptions are the few agencies continuing with their own supplies, and those times when a company has bought tickets in advance and so may have some left. Legitimate companies include embers include Lovetheatre.

Local Coach Trips Some coach tour companies within driving distance of London run inclusive trips combining a ticket with transport from their local area.

These companies often schedule well ahead and will have bought great seats at group rates in anticipation of a new hit show. The result is a package for less than the price of a ticket alone.

They have fifty coach seats to fill from the local population. Why not travel a little way out of town; see a new place in the day then join them for the trip. If staying in the West End just politely tell the driver you will not be returning with the coach to the starting point after the show. Overseas Agents Ticket Agencies in other countries often have access to an allocation of tickets reserved exclusively for London bound tourists.

An overseas call or hit on their website gives access to theses tickets. Some may refuse to sell to UK credit card holders without overseas addresses, but it is worth a try. Packages Booking a hotel room with a theatre ticket included in the price can sometimes be done at short notice. And provide that excuse for the weekend away you always wanted. Capital Breaks and Tickettree. Boxes and Restricted Views Contact the box office by direct phone line or drop in. While increasingly most can be bought online you get a warning when you do, that you have to accept ; there are still some seats in boxes and behind pillars that are not generally publicised as being available to the public.

Theatremonkey notes one occasion where the clerk didn't even know the seats existed, despite being marked on the plan in front of her! Hang around Inevitably, some disgruntled theatregoer leaves a performance early.

Try asking nicely to buy their ticket. Half a show is better than none. Similarly, touts stuck with tickets after curtain up can offer them cheap or even bin the tickets they were holding. Up to your morals to use this method. In theatremonkey's experience though, it never works. While sellers may well be legitimate, and abiding by the trading site's purchase codes, you have no way of telling who they are. Prices are also very high and there is no guarantee the venue will admit you even with your expensive ticket.

Theatremonkey does not endorse buying from these sources. Links from auctions to this website are not made by theatremonkey and theatremonkey. Death Rattles and Suntans If a "star" name is off, either due to plague or scheduled holiday, the box office is often left with seats even if all other performances are sold out.

You'll see the show - often with highly talented actors covering the star role - without having to wait. Note that if an actor does suddenly fall victim to marauding germs, it means tickets often come available on the day as fans swap them for other performances if the producer allows it. Worth asking the box office either by telephone or at the counter if you see "Tonight Mr Wonderful is Off" notices at the theatre.

Final Note Monkey advice is to ignore the "hype" surrounding the concept of "sold out shows". The only time a show really will be a tough ticket to get is if it is staged in a venue with less than to seats - the Donmar Warehouse, Trafalgar Studio 2, Royal Court and Pit only. Other London theatres are much larger and take a little more filling! Very often, once initial press coverage has died down around two weeks in London those who bought tickets have second thoughts - and frequently return them to the box office.

To give one example, a play starring a well known actress was said to be "sold out" for the entire run. In actuality, the theatre was getting back more seats than it could sell - so every night there were a few tickets left Final, final note for Pop Concert fans Like theatre, tickets for press-hyped sold out events are actually often easier to obtain than folk think. If you miss out in the initial ballyhoo when "tickets all sold out in 1 hour on the first day they went on sale," then monkey advice is to "wait and see.

First, when things have settled down a few hours or days later, often checking official websites reveal single tickets left for a particular date. Around 4 to 6 weeks before the show takes place things get even clearer. In addition, StubHub is sometimes cheaper than Ticketmaster resale, since Ticketmaster resale puts limits on how low the price can go relative to the face value of the ticket.

Call a ticket broker. Do you have other tips for finding tickets for sold-out shows? Did we get something wrong? Please help your fellow theater fans by commenting below.