Broadway Discount Tickets: BroadwayBox.com, Offers and Codes

(photo credit: TheHopefulTraveler)

Many visitors to New York are still unaware of discounted tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway productions outside of the TKTS discount booths. One resource for reduced-priced tickets is BroadwayBox.com which has become a valuable central resource in finding discounts up to 50% well before the day of performance.

Behind These Discount Offers
Most of these discounts are offered in association with marketing campaigns for each production. Some offers present efforts by producers to secure an advance box office. But most are to to fill those unsold seat for show times in the next few weeks. Where the TKTS discount booth is known for its last-minute half-price tickets, the discounts on BroadwayBox.com help producers fill unsold seats with audiences willing to purchase tickets in advance. The ticket buyer receives discounted tickets up to 50% without having to stand in line for an unknown commodity of seats at each show.

For newer shows, the discounts are offered to bring audiences in to build word of mouth. Playbill.com, theatremania.com, broadway.com, broadwayworld.com and the website for each Broadway production allows visitors to sign-up to be on electronic mailing lists. By doing so, ticket buyers are notified when discounts are offered. The discounts on BroadwayBox.com are the similar to these discounts.

These various advance discount offers are for upcoming performance in the next month though some shows will have discounts that extend over a longer period. But don't bother looking for a discounted ticket for a performance six months from today.

These discounts are usually for only select seats in the auditorium. The prime seats are either sold-out or being held for those who may be still willing to pay full-price (or premium prices) closer to the actual performance date. This can mean the seats offered at a discount are only for less popular performance times such as Tuesday or Wednesday night or the last few rows of seats or for seats along the sides. Any seat unsold by these pre-sale marketing efforts will likely be up for grabs at the TKTS booth on the day of performance.

Screen shot of the BroadwayBox.com website home page.

Using BroadwayBox.com
Find on the left the list of Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals on the home page. Though often used for New York shows, tabs at the top indicate the website has offers available for productions in London, Las Vegas and Orlando. Two other tabs list offers for concerts and sports. BroadwayBox.com also lists the "High-Demand Shows" that are unlikely to offer any discounts.

Click on the chosen production and you may find multiple offers available. Some discounts are only available to the end of the month while others expires in three months. Some discounts are better than others but each are only offered for limited performances. Two of them may save 35% on regularly-priced seats while the other is 40%. Click "View Discount" or scroll down. Read carefully when the discount expires and for which of the weekly performances and seats in the auditorium it is applicable. Most shows will only have one or two offers available at any one time.

Screen shot of iPhone app

There will be instructions on how to redeem each offer. The key is using the given code which can be used online at each show's authorized ticketing outlet, at the box office or by phone.

Broadway shows that use telecharge.com as the authorized ticket outlet will use broadwayoffers.com for purchase of discounted tickets. The home page will have a box to enter the promotional code. Once entered and accepted a window will open that will show the details of the offer. After that the check-out process is the same as if purchasing full-price tickets online.

For discounts for use on ticketmaster.com, ticket buyers find the performance date first and then apply the code under "Enter offer code/password". Once the code is accepted, ticketmaster.com will indicate which seats are available for the offer.

Ultimately these discounts can mean huge savings for families on vacation and for those seeing as many plays and musicals as possible. A BroadwayBox.com app is available for the iPhone and iPad.

(photo credit: broadwaybox.com)

My Recent Experience Using Discounts & The 'Catch Me If You Can' Discount
I normally visit New York city for a week where I could see up to ten shows. These discounts have allowed me to save at least two-hundred dollars or more in total on some of these production each year. My visit to New York this year provided savings at 'Catch Me If You Can', 'Sister Act', 'Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert' and 'Death Takes a Holiday'. The ticket I purchased for 'Catch Me If You Can' is normally priced $137. But a discount offer provided a savings of $62 dropping the price to $75 for a front row center orchestra aisle seat for a Friday night. A discount as good as this one for such a great seat on a prime night is rare and speaks more of the show's struggle at the box office rather than the quality of the production.

As for the other shows I saw, 'The Book of Mormon' had no offers available while discounts  for other musicals such as 'How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' and 'War Horse' were for very bad seat locations that I opted to pay full price for these shows.