tkts Ticket Booths

tkts
The Society of London Theatre operates a discounted theatre ticket booth in London, offering tourists and UK residents alike access to predominantly half price theatre tickets across a wide range of West End shows on the day of the performance.

The tkts ticket booth is the only truly official discounted theatre ticket booth in London, guaranteeing that theatregoers are getting genuine bargains from the theatre industry on the day of the show.

Location
The booth is located in the heart of Leicester Square in the Clock Tower building. The Leicester Square booth was established in 1980. 

Tickets
The tkts booth offer discounted tickets for over 30 performances every day. To see details of what’s on each day, visit http://www.tkts.co.uk/  

The majority of tickets on sale are at half price with a small selection of shows on offer at a 25% discount. Occasionally the tkts booth do sell shows at full price. The booth only sell discount theatre tickets for performances on the same day and to personal callers.

Booking Fees
The Society retains a small booking fee (£2.50) per ticket to cover overheads and administration. The ticket prices quoted to the public at the tkts ticket booth already include this booking/admin fee.

As the Society of London Theatre is a not-for-profit organisation representing the theatre industry, the service or booking fee levied at tkts enables the Society to operate the booths themselves, run a broad range of audience development initiatives and contribute to the Theatre Investment Fund which invests in new productions and supports new producers.

Opening Hours
The tkts ticket booth in Leicester Square is open Monday – Saturday from 10:00 until 19:00. It is also open on Sundays between 12:00 and 15:00.

Payment
The tkts Leicester Square booth accepts payment by cash (sterling or Euros, for which a 5% commission is charged), card (including Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and Solo) and Theatre Tokens. Cheques and Travellers Cheques are not accepted. 

Booth Users
Around 50% of booth users are overseas visitors to London and 50% are UK residents either living in London or on holiday in London. The highest proportion of overseas visitors comes from the USA, followed by Australia and New Zealand, and Canada.  Almost a third of booth users only go to the theatre because they can use the tkts discount ticket booth (i.e. they would not go to the theatre otherwise) which demonstrates the role the tkts booths play in generating incremental audiences for theatres. The ability to buy discounted tickets also increases the frequency with which booth users go to the theatre. In addition, booth users are more likely to “take risks” and see performances they would not necessarily see if they were paying full price.

(Source:  MORI research conducted for the Society of London Theatre Summer/Autumn 2005)

tkts Brand Name
Between 1980 and 2001 the ticket booth in Leicester Square was known as “The Official Half Price Ticket Booth”.  In 2001 the Society of London Theatre renamed the Leicester Square booth “tkts” for two reasons – to distinguish it from the other booths that had sprung up around Leicester Square, many of which had started using the same name, and to tie in with New York’s discounted ticket booths on Broadway and Wall Street which are branded “tkts”.

The “tkts” trademark is owned and used under licence by the Society from Theatre Development Fund Inc. There is no other relationship or affiliation between The Society of London Theatre and Theatre Development Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation. 
 
STAR
The tkts ticket booths are members of STAR (Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers) and adhere to its code of practice.