Are you a last minute planner? If you are, the NYC TKTS Booths are your best bet at scoring a good bargain with Broadway. There are 2 TKTS Booths spread out across the boroughs of New York making it convinient for you to grab tickets closest from where you are. Here's all you need to know about four TKTS booths in New York City, tips for scoring TKTS tickets and other know-hows.
TKTS Discount Booths are the perfect way for everyone to experience the arts in New York City at affordable prices. Choose from a wide array of Broadway and Off Broadway musicals, plays, and dance productions on sale every day at 20% to 50% off regular prices.
What are NYC TKTS BOOTHS?
TKTS NYC Discount Booths offer a variety of Broadway and Off Broadway tickets at 20% to 50% off regular prices. There are four TKTS booths in New York City, all of which are owned and operated by the Theatre Development Fund. While TKTS is the only vendor that offers half-off tickets, the availability is first come, first served.
TDF operates two TKTS Discount Booths in New York City, including the flagship location in the heart of Times Square and the latest addition at Lincoln Center. When you purchase your tickets from TKTS, you are supporting a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to sustaining and sharing the arts and developing the audiences of the future.
For those who prefer to secure tickets to the show of your choice, there are
other discount options that don’t require you to book in person and also allow for advance reservations.
NYC TKTS Booths - Get Your Broadway Tickets Here!
TIMES SQUARE BOOTH
Location: The TKTS Times Square ticket booth is located underneath the red steps in Father Duffy Square. The booth can be found between Broadway and Seventh Avenue at 47th Street.
This booth sits in one of NYC’s most crowded areas, and thus, sees the most traffic. The line gets especially busy about an hour before opening. Expect a long line and wait time.
LINCOLN CENTER BOOTH
This Booth is temporarily closed.
Location: The TKTS Lincoln Center ticket booth is located in the David Rubenstein Atrium’s Zucker Box Office at 61 West 62nd Street.
The Lincoln Center TKTS booth is about a 15-20 minute car or bus trip from the theatre district. It’s the only indoor booth, making it the most preferred discount center during the peak winter and summer months. While Lincoln Center’s booth generally has shorter lines than Times Square, wait times grow drastically during adverse weather.
Discounted Tickets For Shows At NYC TKTS Booths
TKTS Booths New York - Location
How do I purchase tickets from TKTS BOOTHS?
- Every ticket sold at the TKTS booths is discounted. Every day, each individual show chooses the percentage of discount (50%, 40%, 30%, and 20%) for its tickets sold at TKTS.
- TKTS has the lowest ticketing fees in the industry. Fees from TKTS support TDF and are used to offset the cost of operating the TKTS Booths and to support TDF’s arts education, access and subsidy programs.
- TKTS accepts cash, all major credit cards, TKTS gift certificates, and debit cards that bear the Visa or MasterCard logo on them. There is no additional fee to use a credit card at TKTS.
- The only way to purchase tickets is to go to any of the two Booth locations and purchase tickets at the windows.
- We only sell discounted tickets at TKTS. For full-price tickets, you can go directly to the show's theater or their website.
TKTS accepts cash, all major credit cards, TKTS gift certificates, and debit cards that bear the Visa or MasterCard logo on them. There is no additional fee to use a credit card at TKTS.
There is a $6.00 per ticket service fee that goes to TDF.These fees, which can range from $1.00 - $2.50 per ticket (depending on the theatre), are added on to the ticket price by the individual theatres.
There is a limit of six tickets per person at TKTS, but if you need more, don't worry! Just have more than one person with you, or speak with a Patron Services Representative, who will assist you in getting the seats.
How do TKTS booths in New York get their inventory?
Ticket inventory and availability changes quickly throughout the day. Over the course of the day, theatres will continue to send tickets to the TKTS Shows booths, depending upon how a particular show is selling.
Generally, the discount tickets that are available at the booths are for shows that are not likely to sell out. So don’t expect to find tickets to the most popular shows here. That being said, there are several other options to find discounted tickets to the top shows. Some people prefer this method, as you’re able to purchase discount tickets online, as well as in advance. (Remember: you can only purchase same-day tickets at TKTS NYC booths.)
Prices & Discount Availability on TKTS Booths New York
The first TKTS booth has been around for over 40 years. In the past, it was common to find half off tickets for most shows. However, nowadays, availability runs out quickly and the half off shows are harder to come across. With that being said, all tickets sold at the TKTS booths will have some sort of a discount. Everyday, each show will decide how many tickets they want to send to TKTS, as well what they’d like the discount to be (50%, 40%, 30%, or 20%). Since different shows have different ticket prices, it’s hard to say what the average show will cost at a TKTS booth. However, a Broadway ticket discounted at 50% doesn't mean that you will get 50% off on all categories. As stated earlier, TKTS generally has good inventory of Orchestra tickets while Mezzanine sections have poor availability.
There are other vendors like Headout that allow you to purchase tickets at similar discount rates, but via an online method. In addition to same-day performances, you can also purchase tickets for shows at a later date. With Headout, you can get inventory for all sections at prices that are cheaper than those available on official websites sold via Ticketmaster and Telecharge. There are no hidden charges and markups. We also have a system whereby you don't need to worry about getting the tickets printed or paying mail charges to Ticketmaster/Telecharge as our volunteers give away physical tickets on the day of the experience directly at the theatre.
Browse our entire collection of Broadway shows now.
- TKTS offers a free smart-phone app that feeds live info about which shows are currently available at a discount. This is extremely useful not just while you're waiting in line, but also when you're deciding whether it's worth it to wait in line at all, say because the weather is pretty darned awful.
- If you're an intrepid soul, and you don't mind getting a bit wet or being a tad cold, the TKTS line will very likely be shorter on crummy days. Snowy days in particular. So if you happen to be in New York during a blizzard or a nor'easter, and you've brought your weather gear with you, you might just score some really choice seats at a bargain price.
- Most of the people waiting in the TKTS line want to see the big flashy musicals. If you're interested in seeing something with a bit less bling, TKTS has a separate line for people who are only interested in plays. Even on a day when the regular line is ginormous, the play-only express line tends to be a mere fraction of the size.
- The longest lines usually occur right when the TKTS booth opens (which varies by location), the shortest lines an hour or so before showtime. Plus, tickets are released at various times throughout the day, so you don't necessarily have to be there from the beginning to get the best seats.
- TKTS has a great repeat-customer service called TKTS 7-Day Fast Pass. If you've purchased a ticket at the Times Square TKTS booth, you can return within seven days with your TKTS ticket stub and use it to cut the line and walk right up to window #1.
- Keep in mind you can get discounted tickets online, too, although not through TKTS. Many of the shows that are listed at TKTS have online discount codes, and you can buy those tickets in advance. Also be on the lookout for reps from individual shows handing out flyers to people standing in the TKTS line.
TKTS Discount Booths have become popular destinations for theatre lovers from around the world. Be ahead of the crowd with the official TKTS app, where you can get fast and accurate real-time listings of all the great Broadway and Off Broadway shows on sale at the TKTS Discount Booths.You can download the TKTS app free of charge from the iTunes App Store, the Google Play store or the Amazon App Store.
The updated TKTS app is available free for iOS and Android mobile devices.
Other Ways to Buy Discounted Broadway Tickets
Theatre Apps like Headout, Rush Tickets, Broadway Lottery Tickets, SRO - Standing Room Tickets, Online Ticketing Websites, Concierge and Ticket Centers, Cancellation lines can be your other options.
To read more in detail, refer to our complete guide on Best Ways to get Discounted Broadway Tickets.
How many tickets am I allowed to purchase?
Can I purchase tickets using the TKTS app, instead of waiting in line at the TKTS booths?
What seats are available when I buy through TKTS booths?
Are the ‘best’ tickets available when TKTS booths first open?
Can I buy full-price tickets at TKTS?
Can I use other discount codes or coupons if I’m purchasing a ticket at the Full-Price Window at the Times Square TKTS booth?
Are premium tickets sold at TKTS? [Premium tickets are a reserved for a particular theatre’s best seats, and are thus, priced higher than the rest of a show’s tickets.]
Got more questions?
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