Max Brockbank asked:


If you’re like most people, then you enjoy finding a bargain wherever you can. You probably watch out for sales and promotions at the shops around town and take advantage of great deals offered online for a multitude of things. Incredibly, though, many people who love the London theatre scene completely fail to scout for genuine deals on London shows and simply pay whatever price they are quoted by whichever booking agent they run across first.

This is a pity, because there are a number of different ways to get cheap theatre tickets — easiest of all, by booking online.

Avoid The Theatre’s Reservation Line At All Costs

Despite the huge popularity of the Internet, many of us remain more comfortable simply picking up the phone to book tickets for London shows. This is especially true for those of us who’ve done it this way for years — why change our usual habits? The best reason to change a habit of a lifetime is to save a huge amount of money. Did you know that booking your tickets via phone directly through a London theatre’s reservation phone line can tack on £1 to £8 extra per ticket? You can save big and find cheap theatre tickets by booking online instead.

Traditional Booking Agents: Too Many Fees

In addition to calling a theatre’s direct reservations line, many people who frequent West End shows simply call up a traditional booking agent to ensure they get the tickets they need. Many of them wouldn’t do this, though, if they realised how much they could save by booking online. Traditional booking agents generally charge up to an extra 25% fee for every ticket you buy from them. The simple act of picking up the phone, then, means you’re paying 25% more than those who book online.

The Uncertainty Of Standby

If you’re willing to fly by the seat of your pants a bit, you can save serious money on tickets to many London shows by checking for standby tickets. With this arrangement, though, you must be willing to check at the last minute — and you must be prepared for the very real possibility that the tickets you want WON’T be yours in the end. By booking online, you can have your cake and eat it too: you can procure cheap theatre tickets that are booked well enough in advance so you can relax and enjoy yourself on the town.

Save Money — But Sacrifice Convenience?

A relatively well known way to get cheap theatre tickets for people who live in London and the surrounding area is by visiting the TKTS Half Price Theatre Ticket Booth in Leicester Square. The trouble with this arrangement, though, is convenience — or a lack of it. You can get tickets to popular London shows for incredibly reduced rates — without having to make the trek to Leicester Square and potentially standing in a long queue — by booking online. Those in the know always shop around online and book their theatre tickets this way. Why pay more than you have to?

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Vincent Norman asked:


There’s nothing that helps bring about the holiday spirit quite like sitting back and enjoying one of the many different Christmas shows at the theatre during that most special time of year. And now, many ticket and production agencies as well as independent theatres all sell tickets online for their customer’s sheer convenience; which is rather helpful especially when it comes to the busy festive season.

Depending on where you’re interested in going, there are several easy ways of buying Christmas theatre tickets online, and none of them involve waiting in any long queues or standing out in the cold. For example, at the London Theatre, tickets for the London West End and Greater London regional shows may be purchased on a variety of websites, which can sort through the many productions in terms of availability, price and dates. It’s a simple solution to what would otherwise be a time consuming and complicated problem.

Many theatres now feature their own individual website, take for examples National Theatre (NT) in South Bank London, where you can browse through upcoming productions, read information about the shows, compare ticket prices, and view available dates. And, because the NT is a charity and therefore culturally exempt, you won’t have to pay any VAT on your tickets there. It’s a fantastic way to get the tickets to an extra special Christmas experience.

Theatre Tokens, the UK’s unique gift voucher program designed to encourage people to attend the theatre, has a list of participating theatres on their website as well, which makes it simple to buy tickets from more than 230 different theatres throughout the nation. This of course is just one outlet; many others exist to perform similar functions and will allow you to get tickets wherever you are in the country.

Whether you’re interested in Christmas musicals, plays, or dance shows, or any of the many other spectacular performances happening this magical and important season, these vouchers never expire and allow you or the recipient to choose where to go and what to see. Theatre Tokens are available in denominations of £5, £10, and £20.

Making your theatre purchase online is often a great way to save a considerable amount of money on ticket prices as many sites feature sections for special offers and list bargains such as half-price tickets, or package deals that include the tickets along with hotel stays or restaurant meals.

Always be sure to purchase your tickets well in advance of the show, double checking the date to be extra cautious. And if you’re buying them just a few days before the scheduled performance, remember to ask if you’ll be able to pick the tickets up at the box office and at what time to ensure you won’t miss any part of the show.

Many sites that sell theatre tickets and the like are unavailable during certain times of the day, usually late in the evenings or the middle of the night, to perform routine maintenance, another good reason to buy your tickets early.

A word of caution when it comes to buying Christmas theatre tickets online is to beware of touts or scalpers, who don’t only operate on dimly lit street corners as they’ve also taken advantage of the technological age and set up shop online. To be safe, if you have any doubts at all about the seller, take your business elsewhere.

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Roo Sadegi asked:


The World Wide Web has revolutionized the way that many of us Brits do business in the 21st century. Not only has it streamlined the entire shopping process and made it much simpler and quicker to find exactly what you need, but many times you can find your merchandise for much cheaper than the price you would pay for it in a shop. But what exactly are some of the best things to buy online –