Broadway Mistake
 

Okay, first of all, yes, I'm an idiot.

Last week I made all my arrangements for our first trip to New York (staying a couple days before leaving on an anniversay cruise) -- flight, hotel, show tickets, etc. So many decisions: which day to fly in, where to stay, which show to see, which day to see it. After many interruptions I finally finished all the online arrangements at about 3 in the morning.

Today, while reviewing all the plans with DH, I discovered I had purchased tickets for a performance of "Drowsy Chaperone" that begins two hours before our flight arrives at LaGuardia!

I purchased thru TicketMaster, so no refunds or exchanges. Now what do I do? Anyone have any suggestions? Can I sell them on ebay or something like that?

Any helpful suggestions greatly appreciated.
(other than "don't spend non-refundable money when you're too tired to see straight.")

Thanks

Get in touch with Tickmaster by phone and explain the problem. They may let you exchange the tickets for another performance if tickets are available or maybe exchange for another show.

Have a GREAT time while you are here.

YES, call Ticketmaster NOW- I ahve called and asked to speak to a supervisor and had them change the tickets for me, but I was told it had to be within 24 hrs of the mistake purchase!

ticketmaster did an exchange for me one time for a small fee

If you can't get Ticketmaster to change your tickets, you can definitely sell them on eBay. Depending on when the show is, you may want to run a shorter (5-day, 3-day or even 1-day) auction and/or offer express shipping. The show is pretty popular, so who knows? You may even make some $$. Or not. But it's better than nothing!

P.S. Sometimes eBay has restrictions on the price at which you can start the auction. In certain states, you can only list the ticket at face value, though it's okay if the item gets bid up to a higher price.

Good luck! %%-

Craig's List might also be a good option for selling the tickets if they can't be changed.

Ask to speak to a supervisor.. We had a problem with a snow storm and they did refund our $$

Alternatively, you could look into flying into LGA earlier that day. If you are originating at a hub with a frequently serviced route like DCA, Atlanta, DFW, BOS, or ORD, (basically hourly or near hourly flights to LGA) then you have a very high probability of easily getting same day standby on Delta or AA.

This option would definitely NOT be as certain as selling the tickets or exchanging them at Ticketmaster but it is an option you could consider in a pinch. The downside is that if you didn't catch an earlier flight you'd be out the ticket $.

If you want to check out the earlier flight option, you should be able to get a good feel for # open seats by checking on the websites seating charts.

craigslist in NYC is great. I sold tickets once literally 24 hours before the show and there was about 10 ppl who wanted them! Then I just bought tix for a show, seller was very nice and honest, usually ppl are really good about finalizing the deal. Good luck.

Thanks so much for all the ideas.

Changing the flight is not an option.

I called TicketMaster and after 25 minutes on hold the only option they could offer was to go to the theatre when I get there on Thursday and exchange the tickets for seats that night. My only concern with that is if they don't have seats available then I'll have no other option.

I didn't even think of Craig's List (thanks tpatricco and Abby43). I think I'll give that a try.

What's the date and time of the tix?

The tickets are for 8 pm on Wednesday, July 26.

Darn. I thought I might be able to help you out but I get there after that.

Good luck with selling them. Check out Heavens' threads on her attempt to sell misbought tix on ebay.

ebay and stubhub are other sites to sell them. ;) Good luck. Meantime you should buy tickets for the other night.

starrsville, thanks for the tip about Heavens' ebay thread. It really was helpful. (Even just knowing that I'm not the first one to make such a bonehead mistake)