Saturday morning single ticket onsale « TIFFReviews.com Forum

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Saturday morning single ticket onsale

(25 posts) (14 voices)

Started 8 months ago by bretz
Latest reply from kenmorefield

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bretz
Member

Has anyone ever lined up or heard from someone who has lined up overnight for the Saturday morning single ticket onsale?

I already have a selection of smaller name movies from the Advance Order Process and I was hoping to round out my schedule with 1 of the bigger name/star movies. Specifically, I'm only interested in the premiere screenings of The Descendants, The Ides or March and Moneyball. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth lining up over night to try to buy single tickets for 1 of those movies.

Is it guaranteed (or very likely) that I would get tickets to 1 of those movies if I was 1 of the first few people in line (first 5-10 people)? Or could they be sold out already?

My major concern is that donors ($1,200+) were able to buy single tickets in advance. I'm guessing that those single tickets that they were able to purchase come out of the same pool that would be available to the general public Saturday morning. So if a movie sold out during the single ticket advance purchase, then there will be no tickets for the onsale to the general public. Does anyone know if any of those 3 movies sold out during the donor single ticket advance purchase?

Finally, what time would you likely need to line up to be 1 of the first 5-10 people in line?

Thanks.

Posted 8 months ago #
abishop
Member

I wouldn't line up at the saturday singles sale for that. From past experience, anything that is off-sale does not become available on saturday morning unless someone happens to trade in a ticket - not likely for premier screenings.

In my experience, it's better off rushing (lining up at the theater) rather that lining up to buy tickets (lining up at the box office). Some people have had good luck lining up the morning of the screening as extra tickets are released on the day of. However, every time i've tried this, i got nothing. With rush, i've gotten into everything i've ever tried to get into.

Of course if the film is in the evening (as for a major gala) then you can try your luck at both. It really depends on a lot of things that aren't predictable, however, the fewest people i know of being let in as RUSH is 5 - although most times they'll allow 20-50 depending on theater size.

Ides of March and Moneyball were the first 2 films to sellout. They did not sell out during donor singles sale, they sold out during donor advanced order processing.

Posted 8 months ago #
oh_tiffreviews
Member

I've never lined up overnight, but I've heard there are people that do do that. I've only gone the morning of as soon as the TTC starts running (6am) and the line was always already wrapped around at least 1 corner (this was when the festival box office was at the Manulife Center)

It was mentioned in another thread that The Ides of March and Moneyball were sold out for donors, but supposedly they do set aside some tickets for single tickets sales day.

Edit: I second abishop's recommendation to rush. I've generally had good experiences with rushing at larger theaters. The only downside would possibly be crappy seats, but sometimes you luck out and they free up some nice industry seats in the middle of the theater.

Posted 8 months ago #
lcgorham
Member

I have lined up several times to exchange tickets or vouchers. I usually have went around 5 AM and am usually between the 20th and 30th person at that point. Most screenings will have tickets for sale, but for bigger movies its often only a couple tickets. You have to keep in mind, too, that people who aren't exchanging and only purchasing can do so online beginning as soon as the box office opens so they may beat you to the punch anyway.

Posted 8 months ago #
canmark
Member

It's not unheard of for people to line up in the early hours of the morning. While that will put you in (or near) the front of the line, with the best chance *if tickets are available*, if the film you want is "off sale," then you are out of luck. As mentioned by others, same day and rush are good options.

----------

See, for example, this CTV article from 2007:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20070905/film_tickets_070905/

Tickets for the 32nd annual film fest, which kicks off Thursday, went on sale at 7 a.m. at various locations around Toronto including festival box offices on College Street and at Roy Thompson Hall on King Street West.

Dozens lined Bloor Street West to ensure they got coveted tickets to some of the 349 films showcased this year.

The lineup snaked around the building outside the Manulife Centre to Balmuto Street as hopeful ticket buyers poured over their official TIFF festival guides

"I've been here as early as 3 a.m. and there have been lineups this long," one ticket seeker told CTV News on Wednesday.

Posted 8 months ago #
adamtaran
Member

Ordering online is simple and effective and usually get all films as they reserve some single tickets for online purchase.

Posted 8 months ago #
Kam
Member

Last year people lined up at 10pm the night before single tickets went on sale. Originally I had planned to get there around 4am but was forced to arrive much earlier due to the number of people already lined up. The first 10 or 15 in line were ticket mules working for scalpers. Got almost all the tickets I wanted but not the high profile films that were already off sale.

Historically speaking TIFF website is not reliable during mass-ordering. Unless of course they have that problem fixed this year.

Posted 8 months ago #
Bourne101
Member

My word of advice would be to just keep refreshing the website (which is bound to crash) and keep redialing on the phone. I did that last year and got tickets to Black Swan and 127 Hours which were previously reported as sold out. With ticket exchanges and people from the industry canceling ticket reservations, tickets will become available for some screenings that are currently off sale. It's also possible that TIFF may have set aside a certain amount of tickets for single ticket sale day.

In terms of lining up, I remember seeing a picture of someone lining up the night before and the line was already pretty big. You'll have to get there really early if you want to get a good spot and get some good tickets.

Based on your choices (The Descendants, The Ides of March and Moneyball) your best bet is probably The Descendants, since it wasn't off sale at the end of the day on the last day of advanced single ticket sales. And you still may have a shot at The Ides of March and Moneyball, given that RTH is a massive theatre.

So, all in all, if your willing to be there early enough to be within the first 10 people in line, all the power to you. You'll probably get one of the three screenings you're looking for. Otherwise, just keep refreshing and redialing and hope for the best.

Posted 8 months ago #
adamtaran
Member

I usually get around 20 tickets online and even the ones that are supposed off sale, I get... The unofficial list is not reliable.

Posted 8 months ago #
blutz
Member

I have to add my $0.02 here. Calling the tiff website a "simple and effective" way of buying individual tickets is like saying a unicycle is the best way to get the cinema. If you want to put in a few hours of frustration to do a simple task, then the website is certainly the way to go. Every year it's the same thing: The tickets go up late (usually 7:15-7:20), the site crashes immediately, then an hour or so later - you'll have your tickets in your checkout cart, then the site will crash again before you can even complete the transaction. By far, the furthest thing from simple and effective. Sorry adamtaran, I do not share in your experience. Unless you're referring to purchasing tickets that afternoon, when site traffic is down and most of the tickets have sold, then maybe you're correct. It drives me nuts every year, and if I lived an hour or two away, I would be there in line, happily.

Rant over.

I have actually had really good luck in person at the box office. I'll go when I get in town or a day or two into the festival and literally just ask the ticket agent for what I'm looking for. Even if the film is off sale, they typically find a ticket or two for me right there on the spot. You can't guarantee it, but it's always worth a shot.

Posted 8 months ago #
trinaj_j
Member

I agree 100% with blutz. Last year was ridiculous. Tix were still offsale at 7:05am. The site crashed after that and people weren't able to get to the checkout stage until after 10am. I don't recommend buying tickets online or over the phone for at least the first 2 days. I don't understand why TIFF won't invest in a more efficient system. I will be lining up this year.

Posted 8 months ago #
canmark
Member

I picked up my tickets around 1:30 pm and there appeared to be a line outside the building already! These people brought chairs and seemed to have settled in for 18 hours of waiting in line. Who has that kind of time?

Posted 8 months ago #
canmark
Member

It's 7:05 am... and I can't even access the TIFF website, much less order tickets online. Typical...

Posted 8 months ago #
oh_tiffreviews
Member

I'm assuming as soon as I see a "Timed Out" message at the bottom of the screen, that means I need to refresh and try the process all over again?

Furthest I've gotten so far is the ticket selection screen.

Posted 8 months ago #
ggom1
Member

A friend got Drive premium tickets a few minutes ago. Website is doing the usual break/not break. Keep trying :)

BTW, if anyone is looking for hitrecord, I've heard it's not listed. I've spent literally the last week trying to get info for this event, it's like a black hole at TIFF lol. It seemed like as of box office close last night the final details hadn't been worked out, so I'm not too surprised it isn't showing up.

Posted 8 months ago #
lcgorham
Member

I got in and got tickets purchased. Most of the screenings that were off sale are not back on sale. Good luck.

Posted 8 months ago #
dianad
Member

Hi all,

I seem to have had some luck - I got everything I was looking for online, in two transactions, in just under 30 minutes from the time the sales page "went live" at 7.

Managed to snag premium tickets to "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and "A Dangerous Method," which were top of my list. Obviously I'd have preferred the regular screenings (especially for "Kevin," because I had something else scheduled for Friday night), but they were Off Sale. I'm not sure, I may keep trying for the regular screening.

I had a few heartbreaking ERROR messages just as I'd entered my credit card, and I had to start over a couple of times, but it did finally work. Obviously the lesson is to persevere! Good luck to everyone!

Posted 8 months ago #
oh_tiffreviews
Member

To all that were able to order online, did you log in with username & password? or did you just enter all your info in as a first time guest? I'm wondering if I should just not bother with logging in.

Posted 8 months ago #
adamtaran
Member

Easily got all my tickets including those previously thought to be off sale in less than 30 minutes. Very smooth this year. Had no waiting room but now I see they have started to do that. good luck to everyone!!

Posted 8 months ago #
oh_tiffreviews
Member

So, normally I browse the web using Chrome because I find it to be the fastest web browser, but when I was trying to purchase TIFF tix online this morning, I didn't think the website would support it, so I tried using Firefox instead. After an hour of timeouts, I thought maybe I had to use IE instead. With IE, I got placed in the Virtual Waiting Room where it told me I had to wait 45mins. After waiting about 20mins, I decided to give Chrome a shot. Less than 10mins later, I was done purchasing my tix.

So if anyone is still trying to buy tickets online, I totally recommend using Chrome. Also, to answer my own question, I skipped the logon attempt and just directly entered my info like a first time user.

Posted 8 months ago #
canmark
Member

I've had no success with Chrome yet, but tried with IE. I got put in the Virtual Waiting Room, where it said the wait was 2 hrs.! I went and did something else, tried again, and it said the wait was 2 1/2 hrs.! Am going to go do something else and try again later.

At one point (on Chrome) I was able to get as far as selecting my films (I noticed that they were listed in alphabetical order, rather than date order as they usually are), but of course when I hit 'continue' I got an error message. It seems like such a Sisyphean task...

Posted 8 months ago #
canmark
Member

Just noticed that TIFF (@TIFF_net) has tweeted:

TIFF_NET TIFF
Thanks for your ongoing patience. Due to volume, all users will need to open a new browser to reserve a spot in our virtual waiting room.

TIFF_NET TIFF
If you are currently sitting in the waiting room, close your browser and open a new browser.

Note: When you are in the waiting room it expressly says not to close or refresh or you will lose your spot. Now (on Twitter), they are saying the opposite. <pulls hair out>
-----------

Actually, this worked. I was able to get through (9:20 am). However, premium screenings of Drive and Descendants were gone (I had the non-premium of Drive anyways). I did get the premium of Shame, however.

Posted 8 months ago #
lola11
Member

hitRECord tickets have magically appeared on the list. After I placed my original order in which it was still not listed, I hit the back button and there it was among the films.

Posted 8 months ago #
canmark
Member

Tried to go back in to check availability of other films, but the Virtual Waiting Room said it was a 5 1/2 hour wait!

So, that's it for today. I have to go in at some point to make exchanges, so I'll see what the availabilities are then.

Good luck, everyone!

Posted 8 months ago #
kenmorefield
Member

Just to add my rant here for a second...

So, the "virtual waiting room" says you can be put through anywhere from now to 4 hours and 30 minutes later but have 2 minutes to respond. Yeah.

But that's not my rant.

While my wait time went down from 2 1/2 hours to 2 hours in Google Chrome, I opened a new browser (IE) and it put me right through to ticket selection!

Also, while there, you have 20 minutes to do selections, BUT...

if you go to checkout and enter your VISA information and then click "CHANGE MY ORDER" it drops you back on the selection page and resets your 20 minutes. So once you are in (I am in another browser as I type this) you can camp out and take as long as you want.

Also if you request a ticket that shows as available and is now not available (not one that is OFFSALE which has no selection box but one that was available but it can't process your order) it resets the 20 minutes. So basically you can sit in the system and update every twenty minutes looking for the ticket you want while everyone behind you waits.

Epic fail.

Posted 8 months ago #

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