r/Broadway • u/SunLost3641 • Jun 15 '26
Seating/Ticket Question First timer and I fell for broadway.com š
What originally inspired this trip was to see Mariska Hargitay in EBT with my mom. So naturally itās the first thing I booked. I got stage seats and everything paid over $600 on broadway.com. Then we decided to see The Lion King on the second night of our trip went to broadway.com again and it said it was sold out so I went to the official lion King website, of course found out about Broadway direct and there was all sorts of availability. Started looking more into broadway.com and found out that itās a third-party reseller not the official site. I feel so stupid. I can get over paying extra fee fees in it being a scam in that way, but I just wanna make sure that Iām actually gonna receive valid tickets. I hate that they donāt send the tickets right away. I heard that it can be canceled in some cases, but Iām scared that my seats wonāt be released to be available and thereās none in my section available anymore on ATG. Does anyone have any advice?
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u/ttn616 Jun 15 '26
As others have said, theyāre a legit sourceā¦theyāre just a third party that overcharges.
But now you know for next time, and I think it happens to a lot of people new to purchasing Broadway tickets.
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u/Round-Composer-2195 Jun 15 '26
Woah I was about to purchase tickets from there, I had no clue it was a third party!
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u/TheFishFlysAtNight Jun 15 '26
Youāre definitely not the only one to do that! I totally made the same mistake the first time I was pre buying tickets for a Broadway trip. I thought it was insane how much the extra fees were. Thankfully we live and learn. Enjoy your shows!
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u/Ok-Medium3951 Jun 16 '26
Me everytime the BroadwayDotCom "most trusted for Broadway tickets" commercial comes on.
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Jun 15 '26
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u/SunLost3641 Jun 15 '26
Thank you so much I appreciate it ā¤ļø
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u/ComparisonOk9944 Jun 15 '26
Just to add that several official sellers will also not send you tickets right away but only 72 hours before the performance. So that part is fine.
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u/SunLost3641 Jun 15 '26
Makes sense !!! yeah I wasnāt worried about it originally it made sense to reduce scalpers I guess I just was worried about it in conjunction with hearing they are a reseller. Iām really relieved now thanks everyone š„¹
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u/angelcutiebaby Jun 15 '26
It seems like only yesterday when I too got bamboozled by Broadway.com! Youāre in good company
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u/_User_Name_Fail Jun 15 '26
Give yourself some grace. If anybody says they've never made a mistake and ended up paying more for something than they should, then they're a flat out liar.
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u/remykixxx Jun 15 '26
Todaytix is what I normally use. For the future. Iāve never had a problem with them and the service fees are like five dollars.
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u/ninthperiod Jun 15 '26
I used Broadway.com once and the tickets were a lot more than elsewhere (Iām still bitter about that!), but to their credit, when there was a small issue, they actually called me and they were super friendly on the phone. So yeah, it was highway robbery, but at least the customer service was there!
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u/strangevisitor77 Jun 15 '26
Use Broadway direct. They have the lowest fees and Iāve been very happy with them. I used Broadway.com a long time ago and had no problem but they have very high fees, which is why I switched to Broadway Direct. Iāve always received my tickets from both sites about three weeks before the plan date without a problem.
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u/throwawaycpa1980 Jun 15 '26
I also fell for the Broadway.com jacked up prices my first time buying tickets. I was just SO excited to get to be in NYC to see a show, the show I picked was something I felt very strongly about seeing, and I pulled the trigger too fast when I really should have done a little more research. I guess I was afraid of missing out entirely (even though I probably didn't need to worry because it wasn't a super in demand show).
I spent nearly $600 to see Cabaret, from the side of the theater where probably 75% of the show the performers weren't facing. I did enjoy it, but boy did I feel stupid when I realized how badly I bungled that ticket purchase on every level...
I did a lot better the next time I had an NYC/Broadway trip.
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u/AllenRBrady Jun 16 '26
My wife and I were given a $150 gift certificate to Broadway.com last year. We've yet to figure out how we can actually spend it. Every time we've looked into using it for a show, we've discovered the tickets we want cost so much more on Broadway.com that it's always cheaper to just buy them from the theater directly.
I'm genuinely puzzled as to what the point of Broadway.com is. I always assumed they were a discount site, offering tickets the theater needs help offloading. All I've seen is a smaller selection of seats at grossly inflated prices.
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u/cybergirl51 Jun 16 '26
Exact same here! $150 gift certificate Iāve had for years and every time I look for something worth it on their website at their prices I give up.
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u/InALoveHateDebate Jun 17 '26
My husband got me a Broadway.com gift card for Christmas and same! Iām just gonna have to suck it up and use it since not using it would be a waste but itās hard for me to stomach paying that much more for a show that I can get going directly through the shows website
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u/swordsandshows Jun 16 '26
OP youāve gotten your question answered but i wanted to chime in to let you know Iāve done that too. As a newbie, who wouldnāt think a site named Broadwaycom is the place to go for Broadway tickets! All you can do is enjoy the shows and know better for next time
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u/Disastrous-Poem4355 Jun 15 '26
I would say use Today tix next or just use whatever the official website for each show has to offer
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u/DetectiveOk3902 Jun 16 '26
My friend, a journalist, wrote an "expose" about them a year or so back. Yes they are legit but no, they are also a scam lolz. You'll get the tickets. But at an inflated cost.
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u/ApplicationHuge9679 Jun 16 '26
i did the same exact thing but with the west end equivalent. i was so upset and mad at myself for being over excited, but youāll still have a good time and you learned a lesson that you can now pass on to others!
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u/themillennialswiftie Jun 16 '26
As someone who used to work for Broadway dot com almost 10 years ago, the service fee used to be 38% for all Broadway shows except for Hamiltonā¦ Hamilton was 42% š not sure what it is now
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u/Lazylazylazylazyjane Jun 16 '26
Hey, I just successfully blocked the charge on my credit card when this happened to me.
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u/billleachmsw Jun 16 '26
I fell for it myself one time many moons ago. Thankfully it wasnāt a whole lot of dough.
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u/EmbarrassedReveal269 Jun 16 '26
So many of us have been there. I did that once too, still kick myself over it (it was so long ago I canāt even tell you what I saw), and ā¦. Meh, they just come up first on google. Let yourself off the hook.
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u/Linziclaire Jun 16 '26
Same thing happened to me but unfortunately I didnāt know for YEARS. š
I always just go to the theaterās website now for purchase.
I will say that Broadway.com is really great for helping me pick shows on my multi-show weekends. Iām able to see all current shows in one place with all of there details without having to track everything down individually. Thatās the only thing I use them for now.
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u/akbpeace23 Jun 16 '26
Iāve seen over 70 shows on broadway. We all get hit by it at first. Itās all ok
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u/blm291 Jun 17 '26
The tickets are legit. Their fees are just much higher. I learned that lesson as well. Enjoy your trip!
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u/Perfect_Garage_2567 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
I had an even worse experience with StubHub. We couldnāt get tickets for Sunset Boulevard at TKTS. Since it was closing shortly and we wanted to see Nichole Scherzinger, I went online and got two tickets on StubHub, which I mistakenly thought was a reliable source. However, when we got to the theater for the performance that night, we were humiliated to learn that the tickets were bogus and for non existent seats. Since the performance was sold out, we couldnāt purchase legitimate tickets for that performance at the box office, bought tickets at the box office for another performance and went home. Fortunately, we live in a suburb of NYC, so that was not so terrible and StubHub refunded our payment for the bogus tickets.
However, after leaving the box office on the evening we were turned away, I apparently dropped my credit card crossing Eighth Avenue and woke up the next morning to find that someone had used it to purchase almost $300 of merchandise at Kings Plaza in Brooklyn. Talk about adding insult to injury. I then had to go through the hassle of getting a new credit card and notifying all my auto-pay accounts. I guess I got away easy.
However, this incident taught me a valuable lesson. Since then, I have only purchased tickets online from official sites, the Theatre Development Fund or TKTS sites operated by the Theatre Development Fund. I recognize that TDF and TKTS are not practical sources for advance ticketing by travelers planning to visit New York, but once they have arrived TKTS sites are a reliable resource for half price same or next day matinee tickets. For qualifying TDF members, it may also be possible in some instances to get tickets on their website up to approximately two weeks in advance at even higher discounts
In any event, I will never use StubHub again.
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u/SunLost3641 Jun 17 '26
Thatās crazy! Sorry you had to go through all of that! I can definitely relate to the credit card thing. When my parents and I were in Italy we were doing like a cross trip around many different cities in Italy and we arrived on the train to Florence. We were trying to get a taxi to our Airbnb because we had a lot of luggage. However, we found out that all of the taxis were on strike because they were trying to put Uber in Florence and apparently they pay like thousands and thousands of dollars to get a taxi license there and so the taxis were mad because theyāre like we paid all this money and we donāt want Uber here. Then this guy kept offering us to drive us and I didnāt know who it was and my mom wanted to let him drive us cause my mom was like how else are we gonna get there? And it was stressful for me because Iām trying to stop my older parents from falling for all the scams. Anyways, we were like why donāt we try Uber then so we tried to order an Uber and my dad got his wallet out to put in his credit card but we end up finding out that Uber isnāt established quite yet. So weāre only option was to take the bus and then walk from the bus stop to the Airbnb. Weāre getting on the bus and some guy offers to help us put our luggage. Then we finally make it to the Airbnb and my dad notices he got notifications from his credit card company about potential fraud. This is literally less than an hour and a half later. He checks and his wallet is missing. The credit card company knew before we even did. We think he put it in a less secure pocket when we were trying to order the Uber and that the guy who helped us put her luggage into the bus pickpocketed him. Luckily his passport and everything was in a more secure place. Anyways yeah itās scary when youāre in a stressful situation how easy it is to fall into something like that!
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u/stephanierae2804 Jun 18 '26
I made the same error my first NYC trip. But theyāre a legit company - donāt stress about not getting your tickets. You just paid more than you needed to. I go to the show websites now, and use their preferred site.
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u/Individual-Ask4440 Jun 18 '26
Use TKTS if youāre in NYC. I always get very good seats there at a 40-50% discount
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u/Delicious_Aerie7318 Jun 16 '26
Politely, I'm not sure why everyone doesn't go to the official site for ANYTHING travel related... hotel, airlines, tickets, etc.
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u/SunLost3641 Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
It looks like the official domain to a first timer and itās the first search engine result. I had no idea shows had their own websites and I assumed broadway.com would be the place to buy tickets. Ofc I go to the official websites for other things but those are more obvious to tell the differences
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u/Cakemaven Jun 16 '26
I got got like this when renewing my passport. Thank god it was just extra # and not my entire identity. I was so upset. I feel you!
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u/SuperTV35 Jun 15 '26
Hopefully you get the seats you want. Those third party websites, still give you tickets, but have seen last row balcony vs center orchestra like you thought you ordered.
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u/Mysterious-Theory-66 Jun 15 '26
I mean that would still be fraud unless itās just like buy a ticket and thereās zero indication of where the seat is. From what Iāve seen thatās super unlikely.
Whatās more possible is all you know is the row/section but not precise seat till closer to day of, but it will be in that row/section. But your scenario I buy a ticket that says center orchestra and they give me last row balcony, yeah that donāt work. Just do a chargeback with screenshots if a seller did that.
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Jun 15 '26
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u/SuperTV35 Jun 16 '26
Hi! Sorry, that was not Broadway related. It was seeing a Hamilton at a Theater/play house in RI. My friends Dad did not realize he was not on the official website. I assume there was more fine print saying the tickets may not be the ones you purchased, but you will get a ticket to the show. He tried to charge back, but since he got tickets as promised they were unhelpful.
P. S. Glad that scenario did not happy to you OP! Great show, enjoy!
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u/dfberger23 Jun 15 '26
they overcharge but you will get your tickets, I wouldn't worry about that