London theater tickets

Kevin, I went to see Wicked at 7:30 on Saturday May 26th. We had delays during the day and never got around to buying tickets in advance. We walked up to the ticket window at 7:25 and purchased two $90 seats. I asked if they had any discounts and the girl at the window reduced our tickets by $30 each! She did not even try to put us in a cheaper section of seats. Good luck,
Marty

Doesn't get any more trusted than this: http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/

We have used Albemarle's of London in the past. Their site has seating diagrams of the theatres. They will mail the tickets to you or have them at your hotel when you arrive. Here is their website
www.albemarle-london.com/

http://www.tkts.co.uk/leicester-square/ I never pre book. Buy day of. Now you can check and see what tickets will be offered. If something is to my liking, have coffee, tube over to Leicester Square, buy tickets, enjoy the day, have dinner, then off to the theatre. Doesn't get any better than that.

I recommend theatremonkey.com for researching where to buy tickets. If you look up the show, theatremonkey will show you who runs the Official Box Office and the fees they charge for online purchase. They will also list other companies offering tickets. When I buy in advance, I almost always buy from the agency running the Official Box Office as usually they have the lowest fees. I've bought from many agencies including See Tickets, Ticketmaster, etc. I always choose to collect the tickets at the box office (often the only option for international purchases), and I've never had a problem. Theatremonkey also has seating charts and opinions on seats. I do often buy half price tickets at the previously mentioned TKTS booth. However, if you want to see a really popular show (e.g. Matilda), often you need to buy in advance.

If you don't trust some of the online places.....call the theatre direct and order tickets.

If you're looking to buy tickets for a sold out show, follow the advice above, and either go the to official website or call them directly. No need to worry about "untrustworthy" resources when using these. You can either print your tickets in advance, or use "will call" and pick them up at the theater (just be sure to allow time for this). If you're looking for discounts in advance, try this. http://www.broadwaybox.com/london/ It's the London page of my favorite Broadway discount website. I've never used it for London, but I can vouch for it in New York. The only thing to be aware of is that the discounts can be revoked at any time, so if you see a discount that you want to use, do so. (It's only happened to me once, but Murphy's Law can work against one in this kind of situation). On the other hand, if you see a discount for your desired show, but not on your travel dates, keep checking - at least in New York, they're often released only a few weeks or months ahead. And if you aren't set on a particular show or a sold out show, you can use TKTS as suggested above.

Many thanks to everyone who provide me some very good advice and input! My foreign travels have always been BETTER because of fellow travelers just like you!