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I don't like tkts. I think it's kind of a rip off and not really worth it. Every time I see the lines wrapping around the tkts island at 47th and 7th, I normally think something along the lines of "Haha, suckers..." But then I thought about it, and in a
4 Reasons Why tkts Sucks
1. The Line During the summer and on weekends, the line for tkts can be ridiculously long. Most tourist guides will probably suggest getting in line as early as possible for best ticket availability. But honestly, who goes on vacation to wait in lines? The time spent in line for tkts is time lost from something else you could be doing/seeing, like the Empire State Building or the Met.
And while it's true that those first in line will have first crack at the tickets available for that day, it's not necessarily true that they'll get the best tickets for that day. More than once I've waited hours at tkts, only to see people from behind me in line show up with tickets five rows in front of me at the show later that day.
Something else to keep in mind is the fact that theatres may decide to "release" tickets to tkts later in the day. That means when you finally reach the window at 3:05 after having waited in line for the past two hours, the show you want to see may not be available, but a couple hours from now when the line is short it may be there.
2. The Lack of Choice The tickets at tkts are those that theatres believe are not likely to sell at full price over the course of the day. Thus, by definition, they are almost always the worst tickets in the highest price brackets (side or rear orchestra/mezz). When you reach the ticket window at tkts, you will provide the teller with a show. He/she will then give you a price and (if you agree to it) print you the tickets. Unless you push and prod, there will be no real discussion about the location of the seats. This experience contrasts with that of a typical box office (in person or even online), in which you can select among the available seats, which tickets you wish to purchase.
For some, the lack of choice in seat location is not a big deal. After all, you are getting these tickets last minute at a discounted price. But like I mentioned above, it's not like tkts sells the tickets from best location to worst location. You can't just assume you are receiving the best available seats simply because those are the ones you receive. After waiting in line as long as you have, why wouldn't you want the best seats available?
3. The People In my experience, the employees at tkts are not very personable with behavior that borders on rude. Part of this is understandable. They deal with countless people day after day asking them the same questions day after day. But they seem especially unwilling to help. They will only provide you minimal information about the show, and little else unless explicitly asked. Often, even when asked, they don't seem to have very knowledgeable answers.
I first visited New York City with my family as a child many years ago. We waited in line at tkts. As my father finally approached the window, he asked the teller which shows would be especially good for childen. The teller responded with "Les Miserables." So my younger sister and I got our first official dose of Broadway in a performance of Les Miz, packed with prostitutes, death and poverty (I believe my sister fell asleep she was so riveted by the travails of Jean Valjean). In retrospect, I'm glad I can say I saw a performance of the original Broadway production of Les Miserables. But as a show that was suitable for children? I'm not quite sure what that employee was thinking.
4. Discounts with Fees The standard for tkts discounts has been 50%. However, over the past year or two, I've noticed the discounts decreasing to 40% or even 30% for some shows. Keep in mind, these reduced discounts are still often being applied to the highest full price ticket bracket (which for most shows is well over $100 now). Compile this with a standard fee per ticket of something like $7, and the tkts ticket price no longer seems like such a great steal.
The Alternative
A popular alternative to the tkts line is of course the rush and lottery route. I'll save a discussion of the pros and cons of lottery and rush for another post. If you wish to avoid tkts, and you don't want to leave your Broadway experience up to chance, I recommend discount codes.
Discount codes, are codes accepted by the box office, which provide discounts on Broadway tickets. This may seem like an obvious alternative, but I think it's one of the best. Often these codes are pulling from the pool of tickets that will ultimately be released to tkts (high price bracket rear/side orchestra and mezz), but they can be purchased in advance through Ticketmaster or Telecharge. You can even bring the codes to the box office to use in person ("in advance" doesn't have to be weeks or months, it could be just a few days).
In the end, by using an appropriate discount code, you can avoid waiting in lines, select your own seats, and still pay about the same as you would with tkts. To me, the advantages are clear.
Some things you should keep in mind when using discount codes...
They may only apply to weekday performances. If you're on a family vacation to NYC, however, it's likely you'll be spending at least one weekday here for your trip.
If you order your tickets online, you will have additional fees per ticket, often larger than those at tkts. However, if you use the discount code in person at the box office, these fees can be bypassed.
Here are some of the websites I use to find discount codes:
Playbill (you will have to join the free members club for discounts)
Season of Savings
Broadway Box
NY Tix
Daily Monku: I wait IN lines, not ON them. I wish others (particularly those over here on the East coast) would learn to do the same.
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