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There are several ways to buy London Theatre tickets, some we have listed below.
Lashmars Theatre Tickets
Ok, a bit biased here mentioning Lashmars Theatre Tickets first, but they are the main sponsors of this site and important for the guide to continue to operate. Lashmars are a reputable agency in London that sell only theatre tickets. They are a founder member of STAR (The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers ). Lashmars is a family company that has been selling theatre tickets since 1926 and are members of the Ticket Agents Association. However, because they are an agency they do, like most other agents, charge a booking fee of approx 25%.
This ticket agency is now almost unique in that all bookings are on a personal basis - they do not offer a 'live' real time booking engine. Instead, you request tickets by an online form or email and they reply usually within 24 hours. Then if you want the ticket you pay by a secure web page. We are confident you will receive a satisfactory service from 'Lashmars', however if you're not happy or have any comments about the company, would you please let us know. This enable us to maintain the high standard and credibility of Londontheatre.co.uk.
Online Booking Agents
There are now dozens of agents selling theatre tickets and deciding which to use is a minefield so it is very important to use an agent that is a member of STAR (The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers), which is a self regulative body. You can find these by using a good search engine like Google or Yahoo.
Phone Theatre Box Office
You can phone the box office of the theatre. Note, many theatres charge a telephone booking fee of around £1 to £5 and sometimes you are kept on hold a while. Also be aware that most theatre box office numbers now have a prefix of 0870, 0844 etc (non-geographic numbers), instead of the normal London 020 number. These numbers will cost about the same to call if calling within the UK from an ordinary phone, but if calling from outside the UK these may be classed as premium numbers by your phone company and so can be very expensive!! The advantage of the phone is that you can specify exactly where you want to be seated and also ask other questions if you have any queries.
Buying when you have arrived in London
If you want tickets on the day, then try the Tkts booth in Leicester Square, which is operated by The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) . They have a large selection of good seats for a few of the shows at 25% to 50% off, although there is a service charge up to £3 a ticket. Note, there are many ticket booths around Leicester Square, so make sure you go to the correct Tkts Booth, which is centrally located in the free standing clock tower building in Leicester Square - the booth is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm, and Sunday 11am to 4pm
If a show you want is not at the Tkts booth then go direct to the theatre box office.
Sold Out Shows
If tickets are sold out you could try queuing for returns. Arrive at the theatre a few hours before the performance and you may well be able to get a ticket. The National Theatre reserve some tickets which only go on sale at 10am on the day of the performance - but get there several hours before hand as there is usually a queue.
If you are really desperate, you can try online auction sites like ebay, but be aware that this can be very expensive and secondly the tickets could be forged, although many auction sites are now offering protection against this.
Ticket Touts
The touts will hang around the top theatres trying to sell you tickets. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy from ticket touts. It is just too big a risk that the tickets could be stolen or forged, as well as being very expensive. I know it is tempting particularly when you are desperate to see the show, but if people would stop buying from them they would soon go out of business.
West End Cares
Charity Ticket Hotline.Tickets for popular West End shows available. Price (twice the face value) includes 50 per cent donation to Aids charities.
TEL : 020 7976 8100
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