Can anyone tell me whether the prices charged at the TKTS booth are different (higher OR lower) than the discounts available on the web from Paybill.com etc.? There is a $6/ticket service charge on the web. Is this fee charged at the TKTS booth?

Which would have better seating? Thanks in advance for your help.

I would assume that anything ordered on the web would have better seating than whatever's left on the day of the show! No, TKTS does not have a service charge. But you have to pay in cash.

For most Broadway show offerings at TKTS, the cost is 50% off the full price, plus a $3 service charge per ticket. (For a few shows, the discount is 25%.)
The discount offers on the Playbill site and other outlets vary, usually anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 off the regular price. Those seats are probably better (sometimes significantly better, sometimes not) than the ones offered at TKTS, in part because they are purchased earlier!
Keep in mind that you usually have to pay full price to get the best seats!
Also, keep in mind that with offers like Playbill, you can take a copy of the offer and bring it to the box office. This saves you the $6-per-ticket service charge.
The advantage of TKTS is that the tickets are usually cheaper.
The advantage of the discount offers is that you don't have to wait in line to save money!

Thanks to you both. Howard, I'm thinking of seeing Urban Cowboy after Liz Smith's review. What do you think??

You've got guts! I'd be leery of Liz Smith's review. She likes just about everything! The overwhelming majority of critics panned it!
There have been ads in the paper, where you can get two tickets for the price of one at the box office.
Surely, there must be a better show that you haven't seen!

The BIGGEST advantage of using the web to order discount tkts from plaaces like playbill.com is that you can choose IN ADVANCE what day you want to see the show!!! So even though the discount may be less, you make up for it by being able to buy the tickets in advance of the day you want to see the show, and that applies whether you order on-line, or take the playbill.com discount printout to the bok office, where you can save the service fee AND still order advance tkts. You CANNOT do that with the TKTS booths.

This is a definete advantage when you want to buy show tkts for a gift, but don't want to pay full price.

Last year we purchased full priced tickets for Proof from Ticketmaster or Telecharge (I forgot which one), about 2 months in advance, for the end of May. E×cellent seats.

The night of the performance, friends, also visiting NYC, were seated directly behind us ... they bought their tickets that day from TKTS, for half price!

If there is something that I really want to see, I would rather buy the tickets in advance, paying more $$, rather than be disappointed at the last minute. If it is a spur of the moment choice, then I would wait in line at TKTS. Precious vacation time, and peace of mind, are more important to me than the extra money....did I really say that ;-)

Beside if you buy the tickets with a credit card and pay off your balance, the tickets are paid for by the time you see the show of your choice.

I was in the same boat recently - debating b/w playbill and TKTS. One of the questions is what show do you want to see - if you want to see Urban Cowboy as you said then you need to find out if tickets are avail. through both of these means. I didn't have a preference so I opted for TKTS when I got to NYC. We ended up with 1/2 price tickets for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Seats were third row orchestra all the way to the left but were great. Chicago was also on our list as was Mamma Mia but no discount tickets were avail. If you have a list of a few you would be happy with, TKTS is a fine way to go. The Times Sq. booth opens at 3PM for weekday performances but the line starts MUCH earlier. Once the booths actually open, it goes really fast so have your options ready. One mother and daughter couple in front of us wasted time making decisions, they were booed by the crowd.

I was in the same boat recently - debating b/w playbill and TKTS. One of the questions is what show do you want to see - if you want to see Urban Cowboy as you said then you need to find out if tickets are avail. through both of these means. I didn't have a preference so I opted for TKTS when I got to NYC. We ended up with 1/2 price tickets for Thoroughly Modern Millie. Seats were third row orchestra all the way to the left but were great. Chicago was also on our list as was Mamma Mia but no discount tickets were avail. If you have a list of a few you would be happy with, TKTS is a fine way to go. The Times Sq. booth opens at 3PM for weekday performances but the line starts MUCH earlier. Once the booths actually open, it goes really fast so have your options ready. One mother and daughter couple in front of us wasted time making decisions, they were booed by the crowd.

Hope you get the tickets we want. I just have to say it was my first Broadway show and I loved it - TMM is amazing.

I'm not familiar with Liz Smith's reviews, but I am amazed. Are you saying someone actually liked URBAN COWBOY? Now that's surprising.

We just got back from a week in NY and got some tickets from the box office and one set at TKTS. We paid half price for Thoroughly Modern Millie. The seats were just fair, but the show was great! We bought full price tickets for the preview of Gypsy and sat next to Nicole Kidman! The show was just fair. Also our daughter got tickets for us for $80 at the box office a month ahead for Hairspray and we sat in nosebleed seats at the back of the balcony. Another just fair show. Have fun.

To see what the discounts and availability is at TKTS, you can check newyork.citysearch.com/feature/34843/. It posts infor from the day before. Also to avoid the $6 charge with the advance sale on-line discounts, you can print out the page and bring it to the box office when you arrive in NYC and receive the discount without the fee. Most shows that offer pre-sale discounts have ticket availability at the last miniute. The box office lines are generally very short, if any, especially in the morning when they open.

Keep in mind if you are going either the week before or the week after Easter, pickings will be slim at TKTS.

Urban Cowboy has closed already, after just a handful of performances. It couldn't overcome the terrible reviews.

http://www1.playbill.com/news/article/78708.html