Discount London theatre tickets are quite easy to come by, but you need to be wary and make sure that you are actually receiving a discount and not just getting a seat further back in the theatre which is only worth the cheap price you are paying.

Each theatre has a range of categories and prices which are most commonly broken up into groups such as premium seats, first price or top price seats, second price seats, third price seats and so on. This is called the Face Value of the ticket and this is determined by the producers of the show. Whether you are buying the ticket from the theatre itself, from a stand in the street or from a reseller online, they must advise you of the face value of the ticket you are purchasing. This is where some dodgy resellers advertise a discount when really the face value of the ticket is third or fourth price.

There are definitely some excellent discounts on London theatre tickets on offer and when you do find a genuinely great discount, it doesn't necessarily mean that the show will be terrible. Theatres discount for many other reasons besides the obvious. The time of the year can affect ticket sales, usually summer is a slower time of the year so producers offer discounts to entice people to come to their show. The preview performances of a show will usually offer cheaper tickets before the official reviews have been announced and also if a show is a long-running show and ticket sales are declining then usually a discount is offered, for example a mid-week discount, to encourage people to come back and see their show for maybe a third or fourth time.

Another good time to get a discount on London theatre tickets is on the day of the show. Most West End theatres will hold back a row or two of seats to be sold on the day exclusively to customers who go to the box office in person. These seats are more often than not in the front row of the Stalls and are only ever available on the day of the performance and from the theatres box office itself. Most box offices open at 10:00am, however for an already sold out show it's best to arrive much earlier to get hold of these tickets.