Does anyone know about buying tickets at 365ticketUSA or visitbritain? They still have tickets for sale for sold out dates at kensington, you receive a voucher of sorts. I was wondering if this works just as well or if anyone on the forum has used either of these sites?
Is it legit to buy a voucher then show up whenever for access?
I don't know about the two agencies you mention, but if you have a membership to HRP (Historic Royal Palaces,) you absolutely just rock up. For the Diana dresses, just show your membership card and they'll let you in.
If you're planning to visit any of the other places that are HRP (the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Banqueting House, Kew Palace,) a membership might save you money and give you entrance flexibility.
Here is my understanding of the situation.
The official website hrp.org is selling a limited number of advance tickets at a slight discount. These are actual tickets which are mailed to you. So you do not need to queue to buy tickets, although the website warns that at peak times even one with a ticket in hand may have to wait for entry. These advance tickets are indeed sold out for some dates in June.
The visitbritain website is selling prepaid vouchers with an open date. You still have to queue to exchange them for a ticket, so it is not a "skip the line" and not a guaranteed entry. Perhaps there is a dedicated queue for the exchange, apart from the general ticket purchase queue, but I cannot tell from the website. The advantage of the voucher is that you get the advance (discounted) price of £17.10 ($21.50) or less if you qualify for concession price. But you still might face a long line to exchange your voucher.
There may well be a different line or ticket window for voucher exchange, as the official site mentions a collection point for advance tickets which are bought online but collected onsite (presumably because there is not time to send them by post). On the booking page, it says " if you are collecting tickets onsite, you must collect them at the White Court." I did not work through the visitbritain site to see if there is a similar instruction. You might try the "contact us" button on their website to ask about this.
So to answer your question, it appears that at least the visitbritain site is "legit". But you must understand that you are not getting a ticket for entry on a sold-out date. Youbare getting a prepaid voucher and permission to queue. The question is, which queue?
My preference if Inwere doing this would be to choose a date when there are advance tickets available, and buy them far enough ahead there is time for them to be mailed. But if this is not possible, the voucher exchange will still give you the advance price---and the queue.
So they aren't actually tickets for sold-out dates. Makes sense.
This is an interesting thread. Our dates for KP are now sold out too.
I know we want to do Tower of London, but I am not sure about the others, other than KP. We are 1 adult and 2 students (Mom, 42, and 2 teens, 16 & 17) so it looks like our total "gate" price would be GBP 121 if we did both. (I can still buy Tower tickets in advance but not including that here.)
We would like to visit KP on May 27. If I wait until then, will we be able to get in at the gate? And, how long will we wait?
If the membership ensures we get in to both locations on fast track, I think it is worth the upcharge - GBP150 for our 3, if I understand. Can anyone weigh in?
Thanks!
Hi jaeson1992,
I emailed Historic Royal Palaces to find out whether membership gets you into the exhibit on sold out dates and whether you can avoid the queue as a member. I didn't see mincepie's answer above earlier, but what HRP said reinforces mincepie. (Great name, mincepie!)
This is the HRP answer.
"As you have a HRP Membership you do not need to book a ticket for the exhibition and you to join the priority queue on arrival. The priority queue is the far left door as you face the main entrance to the palace.
Please note that, due to the high level of interest in the ‘Diana: Her Fashion Story exhibition’, all ticket and pass holders are likely to encounter queues however your membership will allow you entry to the palace as quickly as possible. The queue may include some waiting outside and we recommend ensuring that you are prepared for the weather.
We hope you enjoy your visit and thank you for supporting Historic Royal Palaces."
Cheers,
Jill
Hi lesleyentrekin,
You do get priority entrance to the Tower with your HRP membership. (I've done it.)
The only delay I have had with memberships, and I have been a member for many years off and on, was when I was buying a new membership for my niece during August at the Tower. It shouldn't have taken so long but there was someone in front of us with a complicated enquiry.
I think Hampton Court Palace is a really interesting place and always recommend it.
hrp.org.uk has loads of information.
Cheers & have a great trip,
Jill
