Most towns and cities have box office outlets available these days. These outlets can be found in supermarkets, department stores, specialty shops and the venues themselves. Here are our tips on buying tickets in person.
Know what time the tickets are going on sale in your time zone and be prepared to show up early. Long lines often form early for popular events and shows. If tickets go on sale at 10:00am East Coast Time, make sure you know what time that is for you locally.
Once you come face to face with an agent, remain calm, considerate and establish a rapport with them. These agents are only employees of the establishment and often are not well trained on the box office computer systems.
Be sure you know what forms of payment the box office will accept and have it available. You don’t want to show up with a check if that particular office doesn’t accept checks! Most local centers will still accept cash payments, where as you can only use a credit card by phone or online. Always check before you go!
Keep in mind that the box office will charge a service fee on top of the cost of the ticket. Make sure you know how much that is and have it available.
Since you are face to face with the agent, you may be able to ask the agent to do multiple searches if quality seats aren’t popping up. Remember, if there’s a long line behind you, agents can get impatient with this process.
Sometimes you cannot buy tickets for shows outside of your area. Make certain you know that the tickets can be purchase at the outlet before you show up.
While you won’t have to worry about jammed phone or computer lines when buying in person, just be prepared to spend more time waiting in long lines.
One
additional thing I should mention is that some brokers send
out 'crews' which are in good relations with the ticket
outlets. These 'crews' always find their way to the ultimate
front of the lines and pull all the good seats before they
even let you in the door. So be wary and look to see if you
always see the same people waiting in line over and over. I
personally know of at least 20 Ticketmaster Outlets which
are basically controlled by some of the big brokers in the
business. They grease the store owner with so much cash that
the store owner doesn't care what happens.
Most people don't mind spending a little more and going directly to a ticket broker. This way there are no hassles concerning waiting in lines, sleeping out for tickets, arguing about line placement, etc.
You'll find me calling my favorite ticket broker because I was not made to have patience and wait in those crazy long lines!
