How do we stop Ticketmaster?

I am really fed up with ticketmaster. I know the extra charges have been discussed before, but recentely I have found that if you use an American Express card you receive different seats that have been saved specifically for American Express card members. I have always thought presales were unfair, but saving seats for people who use specific ways of payment. That's just crap.

Also, Visa Signature. I tried to get tickets to Legally Blonde and if I had a Visa Signature card I could get center aisle seats, otherwise I had to take seats at the left or right aisle.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that this is Ticketmaster's doing though.

From my own personal experience, they hold center orchestra seats (not premium, regular price) for AmEx holders and if you don't have the AmEx code to put into Ticketmaster all you can get is side orchestra.

I just bought tickets to Xanadu and when I was searching the tickets without the AmEx code all I could get were side orchestra tickets. I had a friend with an AmEx card buy them for me and they were offered the two center seats, center orchestra, row J. If I hadn't known about the AmEx code, I wouldn't even have known that there were better tickets available, which I'm sure is what many people experience when they go on Ticketmaster.

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Ya know, this actually explains a lot.

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"You can stop ticketmaster by not buying your tix thru them."

They are the only choice in many cases. Outside NYC (which also has Telecharge), it's the only choice in MOST cases. You can't always go directly to the box office. Plus, if you want good advance seats, your SOL otherwise.

Here in Chicago, I'll usually go downtown to buy Broadway/Chicago tix in person. It's a pain sometimes, but that way I don't have to pay the services charges and don't support TM.

Updated On: 4/18/07 at 01:55 PM

Oh, I was wondering why I could never get center orchestra seats for shows sold through Ticketmaster when I search for tickets weeks or even months in advance. That explains a lot.

But, I did learn that they release all the unsold premium and reserved seats a day or two before the show. I once managed to get tickets in row D center orchestra with a discount code for a show that was supposedly sold out at regular price when I tried to buy tickets two weeks earlier.

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Updated On: 4/18/07 at 02:11 PM

"But Amex or Visa special offers are a different matter entirely. Those incentives are part of the benefits of using that card. As Amex used to say 'Membership has it's priviledges.'"

But the problem is not everyone can get an American Express card (or a Visa Signature). It'd be one thing if anyone could get it (whether or not they had to pay a reasonable fee, but it would still be open to anyone). But the fact is anyone with a low income or someone with bad credit simply has no choice. Personally I think these types of business offers are discriminatory and should probably be illegal.

How is it not discriminatory, not only to those who may have bad credit and can't get the card, but also to those who don't want to have an AmEx card just to be able to get good seats through Ticketmaster. I would be fine if they did it for presales only, which they do for a lot of concerts, etc, but to hold all the good seats even after tickets have gone on sale to the general public is just ridiculous. And why should it only be AmEx on BOTH Ticketmaster and Telecharge - that basically monopolizes the good seats for ALL of the shows on Broadway and unless you can get to the box office you have no other way to get them.

It's bad enough that there are premium seats that cost $250 plus, or scalpers that sell them for even more, how are typical theatre-goers who are willing to pay regular price supposed to get these good seats? Why shouldn't they be able to enjoy watching a show from center orchestra?

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So get an American Express card.

That seems like the best solution.

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"Fosse, so by your argument someone with bad credit should get the same mortgage rates and other financial perks that someone with good credit gets? Then where is the incentive to pay your bills on time and not max out your cards, etc.?"

I wasn't talking about who could get a credit card. I was referring to the preferential payment option of a Broadway show for the best seats that isn't at some level accessible to everyone. Should everyone be able to get credit at a low rate? No. But should those same people be precluded from getting good seats to a Broadway show because they aren't allowed to get a credit card from a certain company? No. That is what is discriminatory.

"It's a perk for being a good customer of Amex or Visa, not something discriminatory. Are there really that many low income/bad credit people that are clamoring for center orchestra seats to Broadway shows? "

Maybe, maybe not. low income does not equal bad credit, nor does bad credit equal low income. You cannot assume that just because someone cannot for whatever reason get a VISA Signature or an AmEx card mean they are low income and have bad credit. Why should they not be able to purchase as good a seat as anyone else? Look at The ODd Couple, which sold-out during its pre-sale. Look at Wicked on tour, which sold-out its Chicago run during the pre-sale alone, prompting the open run. While subscribers took a huge chunk of tickets too, anyone could become a subscriber.

Doesn't Broadwayworld sell tix online as well?

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I don't have an Amex, but have used their preferred pre-sales before. You usually just need the cust svc 800# as your password.

I just dig around on the Amex global site to find the appropriate 800 #. Works about 95% of the time.

I HATE sitting anywhere but the middle of the first 5-15 rows, so if there's a way, I'll try to find it.

"Regardless, the end result of this will be that more people will get American Express/Visa cards when they see that they can get much better seats by having them. Just like you get the grocery store cards to save money. It is just unfortunate."

Clearly you weren't listening. Not everyone qualifies for a credit card. Anyone can get a grocery store card...there is no screening process for those. Credit cards are completely different. Why should a person be stuck in the rear balcony simply because he doesn't qualify for credit?