There are not really any proper exclusive deals in London anymore. Every agent, holiday company, booth and concierge has access to the same prices – it is just up to them what they do with them -within reason! So if you find a deal it is probably that you have asked the right question rather than you have found the right agent!
It is not important to know that, per se, but any knowledge is helpful! In general, deals will be Monday to Thursdays and outside school holidays. Some shows will discount through-out the year and some may include Fridays and Saturday matinees. You can also get some great deals for groups. If you really want to get a deal for yourself organise 10 other friends to come along too, you may even get your ticket for free: Now that is what I call an exclusive deal!
There are probably only three or four shows at the moment in London that have proper, regular, sold out performances and none of those sell out on every performance throughout the week – by the time you read this of course that may have changed one way or the other. Each outlet mentioned above has its own set of seats to sell from. So if they say a show is “sold out” they may just mean they are sold out as they can’t know what other agents have and haven’t got!
This applies just as much to the theatre as it does to the agents, especially for popular shows where some agents will have bought tickets “up front” in the knowledge that they will be able to sell them nearer the time. Also some agents just sell top price seats. If they say that such’n’such a seat is the cheapest, they may only mean it is their cheapest. Again, shop around. A few theatres offer Day Seats – the London Coliseum and the Donmar spring to mind – when they hold a few seats back – great if you decide to do something on the spur of the moment and you don’t mind queuing.
Each agent can get “extras” from the box office, or even swap seats amongst themselves. Of course if you have read this article you will have already checked with the box office and so you will know exactly what is available there and for how much. If you are happy with the price that the agent is offering – after all they have taken the time to go and find your tickets for you – then by all means confirm those seats. But if you are asking for tickets for a family of 4 then that person could be just about to earn £65! Have they earned it, or is it worth doing a bit more work yourself?
Sometimes though, we can’t be flexible. We have to see a show on a particular night from the very best seats in the house and whilst a quick call to the theatre is always a good idea, agents (and concierges) are very good at their job.
The theatres depend on them for hundreds of thousands of pounds of ticket sales each month. The conversation that they can have with a theatre is different to the one you can have. The right agent with the right relationship with the right box office can get almost anything.