SapphireNight
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"Student Standby Seats- £25" HelpI was having a look at the official website, when I came across this, and I was wondering what the hell it meant.
| Quote: | Student Standby
'Full of magical shocks, emotional punches and eye-popping scenic transformations, you really can't afford to miss this off-beat retelling of an Oz you never knew existed.'
Rachel Clark, LondonStudent online
Best available seats £25.00 from 10.00am on the day of the performance in person at the Box Office with ID*.
Tickets are sold subject to availability at Monday-Thursday 7.30pm and Wednesday 2.30pm performances only at the discretion of the Box Office Duty Manager. One ticket per ID.
*NUS card, NUS Extra, International Student Identity Card (ISIC) or International Youth Travel Card (IYTC).
For information about Front Row Day Seats click here
For Standby information [below]
| Quote: | Best available seats for £25.00, subject to availability, bookable from 6pm at Monday-Thursday 7.30pm performances and from 12 noon for 2.30pm performances on Wednesdays for Senior Citizens, Jobseekers, Equity, BECTU and Musicians' Union members and disabled with ID*. Tickets are sold strictly subject to availability and at the discretion of the Box Office Duty Manager. One ticket per ID.
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So, people with a valid student card can get £25 seats. That I just about understand. What do they mean when they say they are 'standby seats'? Are you paying for a seat which might, might not have been brought full price before hand, so its a £25 gamble? Or are you queueing for the opertunity to get a seat for £25 which hasnt been sold full price?
Is this the same as the front row seats, or is it a seperate game? Are they just the front row seats? Or are they circle/stalls seats which havent sold for the full £55 until that morning?
Please help me out. The site is very confusing, and doesnt explain what it means. Do you understand? Do you know about what this is?
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katethegreat
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As far as I know, these seats ARE available, they just release a small amount. I've waited for day tickets at 830am before and they often run out within 10 mins of a box office opening. This student thing is something I've only just come across (wish I'd known about it a year ago dammit!), but I'm assuming it works the same way.
All that said, went to see Avenue Q tonight with my friend (he hadn't seen it, I had, but any excuse!) and we turned up at the theatre just to see what their cheapest tickets were. Student £25 Normal £10...student isn't always cheaper - but that could just be the Noel Coward....
Probably worth calling the theatre. I'm on my way over to Victoria in the next couple of days to see what I can get before she leaves 
Use and abuse your student statis - you miss it when its gone!
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robs_oracle
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From what I gather, the £25 student standby tickets are pretty much the best in the house for half the price, I saw Cabaret yesterday for £25 due to my student ID card and had the best seats in the house D14. Also saw wicked yesterday aswell! not so good seats....A35 and A36
Rob
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loulx
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Yup the way I'm led to believe it works is best available seats for half price i.e £25.
It's a gamble on the day as to what is 'best available' but many of my mates have had some pretty decent stalls seats that they bought at 6.30pm for the 7.30pm performance!
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SapphireNight
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That sounds really cool. Thanks for the info, guys.
Obviously, there wont be any student seats available till after Kerry has taken over, since performances running up to Idina's last have been sold out for ages. I'm looking forward to seeing Kerry.
Ive been in A36 before- I had a string of bad luck that week. I presume you got these seats as front row day seats, rather then student ones?
Oh, and by 'NUS Card', does that mean they accept the green ones? I know some places which only accept the new Extra ones, which the theatre mentions seperatly, but I dont want to plan a day in London to see Wicked, and find out I have the wrong kind of student card.
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Belle
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The deal with Student Standbys is pretty good - the reason they sell them is to help shift seats that would otherwise be empty. Better for the business to get 25 quid rather than nothing for an empty seat!
This information actually gives three different methods for getting the 25 pound seats on the day:
1) the front row rush - we know the deal, be there for 10 am to buy 2 tickets, cash, front row.
2) Student standby - at 10am, ONE ticket with student ID, whatever seats are still empty for that evening's performance. You don't get a choice of seat, but you'll get a discount! As Katethegreat pointed out, there's sometimes cheaper seats than the student discount, but they'll be the back/sides, whereas the student standby will get you top price seats at a discount. They take the students to fill in the gaps. If there's very few seats left for that night, they're quite within their rights to refuse to give you the discount and hold them at full price only. Which does suck, but it's business.
3) NON-Student Standby - much more restricted, not friday or saturday, but if you're Equity, Jobseekers, etc, and you can't get to the 10am front row rush, it might be useful...
The thing with Student ID,. and what counts as student ID, varies so much with who you ghet in the box office and if they're in a good mood... Basically as long as you have an ID that has your name, the word "Student", and some sort of expiry date on it, you should be ok. If you're not a UK student, or don't have an NUS card, then it's worth getting the ISIC card as it'll be accepted everywhere. I believe they can insist on NUS or international ID only because the deal for the student standbys was arranged by NUS. Sapphire, they're good with either NUS or NUS Extra.
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SapphireNight
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Brilliant, Belle, thankyou so much for this detailed information. And everyone else who has replied aswell. Its amazing that they havent made more of a thing of student seats, but I guess it was us fans which jumped at the chance for the front row.
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katethegreat
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Hope you get good seats - like I said, abuse that student card!
One thing I will say though, (after things I used to see commuting to work in the west end) if it's 10am the tickets become available, I'd be there 9am at the earliest, especially for more popular shows. Makes a long day - but you should be getting a pretty good deal!
*One thing that bugs me is that if there's all these empty seats couldn't they bring the prices down altogether? £45 for tickets are insane (but not the highest price) and I'm sure they put loads of people off - me included! I know I'd be seeing alot more theatre in the west end if I could afford it.  *
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