A trip to New York wouldn’t be official without seeing at least one Broadway show! Prior to going to NYC, we heard about many ways to get cheap Broadway tickets, but upon arriving we realized everybody was lying.

That’s not to say there aren’t ways to get cheap tickets; it’s just that most people I talked to have never tried them out. So we set out to discover the secret of saving a few bucks while seeing Broadway. These are our findings:

1. One of the most popular ways to get discount tickets is by going to TKTS. TKTS sells discount tickets to Broadway shows the day of the performance. Discounts can be as high as 50% and the plus is that you can select from a wide range of tickets. This is good because if they sell out of “Mama Mia” tickets, you can still get “Jersey Boys” tickets. There are three locations (we went to the one in Times Square). Tickets go on sale at 3:00 p.m. but I recommend you arrive at least an hour early. Once we got to the front of the line, we realized they weren’t selling tickets to any shows we actually wanted to see, so if you decide to go through TKTS, check the display to see what tickets are available that day.

2. Another way to get a discount is by purchasing rush tickets. These tickets go on sale a few hours before a performance so the box office can liquidate any remaining tickets. But be aware, not all theaters offer rush tickets. We inquired about them at the box office for “Mama Mia” and the gentleman behind the counter seemed pretty offended by our asking.

3. While some places may not offer rush tickets, they usually do have another way of liquidating unsold tickets for same-day shows. Lotteries are one of these ways. We used this method to win cheap, second row, “Wicked” tickets. Essentially, we entered our names into a drawing 2 1/2 hours before actual show time. 30 minutes later, approximately 10 names were drawn, each winning a pair of first or second row tickets for only $26.50 per ticket. We participated in the drawing twice and each time there were about 150 people vying for the same tickets. While this may be the least guaranteed way to get tickets, it is the best way for those of you who are on a budget and are looking for a few hours to waste.

So there you have it. My last recommendation would be to do a little research before you go to New York. Choose three or four shows you’d like to see and once you get there check with the theaters about their ticketing options. We decided to see “Wicked,” and it was worth every penny.

Dan Sorensen is a Salt Lake based public relations professional that prides himself in his quirky antics. When he’s not working for the man, you can usually find him doing something outdoors, traveling or playing Xbox. For the writings, rantings and ravings that don’t make it past the editor at www.dottingthemap.com, Dan runs a personal blog at www.sorensenpower.blogspot.com. He also declares himself a Twitter fiend, where he’s known only as @sorensenpower.

Tags: broadway shows, budget, Wicked

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 10:43 am and is filed under Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.