Audience Extras

I’m a native New Yorker and active theatergoer. I’m also no Rockefeller, so how can I afford my theater habit? Well, I used to be a member of Audience Extras. Many years ago they had some Great Off-​Broadway and even occasionally Broadway shows offered on their seat-​filling ticket website for members only. Indeed I saw some wonderful shows through them for less than $ 5 a ticket. However, last year I found that their offerings were really sub-​par to the other competing ticket groups out there, in particular Play-​by-​Play and Theaterclub’s Gold Club.
These other two groups quite often have Broadway shows and other offerings on them that AE never gets. For this reason I decided to not renew my membership when it came up a few months ago. I’ve been told that AE was the original seat-​filling site and that’s great, but nowadays they just don’t have the offerings that they used to. I Highly Recommend the other two sites I mentioned, as well as the WillCallClub and ClubFreeTime. Hopefully AE will get their act together, pun intended, and I’ll go back to them, but for now I’ll stick with their competition. The one thing I do have good things to say about is their great customer service, as they have a phone line that actual human beings answer, who don’t live in India or Bangladesh!

They used be good many years ago. Now it’s just basically a scheme with no decent shows.
Do not waste your time or money…

Terrible organization. They used to be great 10 years ago. You could get good seats to good Off-​Broadway and some Broadway shows.
Now, they’re a pale shadow of their former selves. They only have tickets for the absolute lamest Off-​Off-​Broadway plays and for esoteric concerts.
To add insult to injury, if you have money left over in your account, they will NEVER return it to you. You can kiss it good-​bye.
That’s why I kiss this whole organization good-​bye. Shitty shitty business!

Big negative is that you must keep a balance in your AE account. If you want your unused money back LOL! Also they will not reveal their offerings if you have less than the required $ in your account, Other clubs such as Gold Club do not take your money unless you order something. it is true that the tickets cost a bit more, but it is definitely worth it!

Great variety of Broadway and off-​Broadway shows. They’re super easy to deal with, always able to help me if I have a same-​day customer service issue, and have better prices than their competition. I wish all businesses could be so laid-​back and friendly!

I have been an Audience Extra member for many years. I have seen so many great plays and productions, the majority of them off and off off Broadway, which I prefer. I have never had a problem with a reservation… Period. Whenever I have had a customer service issue, my concerns were addressed promptly, politely and professionally. Thank you AE for years of great NYC entertainment and thank you Joe at AE for your great service. Bravo.

Turns out most of the shows on here are shows no one wants to see for a reason. I sought alternative sites for better content and would recommend Play-​by-​Play or Theater Extras over these guys. #sorry #notsorry

I was first a member when I moved to NY over 10 years ago and have always had great experiences with Audience Extras. I’ve seen some amazing off broadway shows I would have never seen otherwise, and some broadway shows as well! And now USOpen tennis tickets! There are tons of options on there, and its true that there is a wide selection of shows and many won’t be your taste, but there is such a variety and if you go to even one great show a year on here, you’ve already paid for your membership. Its fun and cheap, why not?! Thanks AE!

Horrible. Great concept. If I’m able to connect to the site before my phone turns itself off I am surprised. I connect about 1 in 25 tries. Not worth the time and the two shows I’ve seen were amateurish with tiny audiences to match.

Received an email today that my membership has been re-​activated, at no
cost, and the balance that was in my cancelled account is now in my activated
account. It took 5 months for AE to come to this resolution. My preference was a refund, but this is ok.

I have been a member for a few years. Lately Audience Extras has been very poor. They post only once or twice a day. It is rare on the weekends that you will see a post on Sunday, and suddenly there are no posts on Mondays. There are other programs that are much, much better than this one. I am not going to renew. It is just a waste of money.

I’ve had the pleasure of being a member of Audience Extras for about 30 years. I thank Peter Copani, the founder of AE, for the many events that I have attended over the years.
I’ve never had any problems with any of the reservations that I have made with AE. Those who have complained about a reservation being cancelled need to read the fine print. Tickets are never guaranteed. If a theater cancels the tickets, it is not Audience Extras fault. Where else can you get a ticket for $ 3.50?

With theatre ticket prices in the hundreds, how can you complain when Off Broadway – and some Broadway – AE tickets are offered for practically nothing? I can’t understand the complaints here. Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Joyce, some very interesting, some not-​so interesting Off Broadway… yes, sometimes you take a chance but do a little research (check reviews) and make an educated decision what to get. I just bought a ticket for Death of a Salesman, sitting up in the nosebleed section and it cost me almost $ 100. AE is a deal and one good show pays for the entire year.

After being a member for a year, I was time and time again unimpressed with the shows available, and decided when time came to renew that I’d call it a day. Unfortunately it’s proven impossible to get the $ 35 left on my account. Calls and emails have gotten me nowhere. I’ve since joined TDF. So far so good.

I dropped my membership because of lack of selection. This was in July and I still haven’t received the $ 30 remaining in my account despite many calls and emails. They are liars and I have been told impossible to get your money refunded.

Was a member for a year. It was ok when I had it, but I had a couple of occasions where I was emailed hours before my reservation and told that the show wouldn’t honor AE tickets. Additionally, I had a $ 40 balance in my account at the end of my membership and didn’t renew because I was moving away. I made countless phone calls to their office and sent countless emails as well to get the $ 40 back. It was tough to get in touch with a live person and when I did, I was always told the «check is in the mail,» but it never arrived… That was more than a year ago.

The quantity and quality of shows on AE has been disappointing. I’ve been a member for a year, and check the listings regularly. I still haven’t spent my initial deposit for shows. While there are occasionally great shows, they are usually sold out quickly. I’ve had somewhat better luck with Play-​by-​Play.

Their website could be a lot better. It’s well worth the money, but I think that audience extras used to be better.

I had a slam dunk date set up: dance tix. Murphy’s Law: an email 3.5 hours before the show. I called them for details. The venue pulled all their tix from AE, presumably they were selling like hotcakes. Result: ruined first date. You get what you pay/don’t pay for. Prime sports tickets? Impossible. They sell out a minute after being posted, leaving members toasted.

Love the theater but can’t really afford it on a regular basis? Then Audience Extras is perfect for you. My mom has been a subscriber for a few years now, and through AE we’ve seen countless Broadway, off-​Bway & off-​off-​Bway shows, plus cabaret performances and musical concerts. It’s an amazing value!
Here’s how it works: Audience Extras receives tickets from shows that are undersold — perhaps they’re still in previews or maybe they’re just having trouble filling the seats — and then posts them daily on their website or updates their phone listing. As a subscriber, you have access to these listings. With a regular membership ($ 85 annual fee), you can reserve 1 – 2 tickets per show, depending on availability. If you donate an extra $ 50 to The Memorial Foundation for the Arts, you get up to 4 tickets. The service charge for booking each ticket is $ 3.00, which is deducted from your reserve fund ($ 30 to start). The service charges go to AudEx, with a portion being donated to The Memorial Foundation for the Arts. So essentially, you’re seeing a show for FREE.
Are you getting this??? After you’ve paid the annual fee (which is already LESS than the full-​price of ONE Broadway ticket), you can see Broadway shows and other high caliber performances for less than the cost of a latte! It’s a win-​win situation for all. The theaters need seats filled so that it’s not an empty house, AudEx gets money for their memorial fund, and YOU get to see awesome shows for mere dollars.
In the past week alone, I’ve seen Roundabout Theater’s Howard Katz and Journey’s End at the Belasco. But you do have to be quick to book hot tickets sometimes, b/​c there really are people (mostly senior citizens) who sit at home with their finger on the speed dial, ready to reserve their tickets at a moment’s notice.
AudEx maintains a word-​of-​mouth advertising policy b/​c they don’t want to compete with the regular box office. That’s not what it’s about. And there are definitely some etiquette rules that you need to abide by, or else you can have your membership revoked. Obviously, the theater doesn’t want the full-​price paying patrons to know that people are booking complimentary tickets. Discretion is key.
So let the tourists pay retail while you, the resident New Yorker, enjoy all the vibrant theater and musical life this city has to offer. It’s so worth it.
[P.S. Members get money added to their reserve fund for referring new members, so if you want to express your gratitude for letting you know about this awesome service, PM me so I can refer you. :-)]