Last week I rang Las Vegas, at some ungodly hour of the morning local time, to try and buy tickets to Mystère for when we get there in July. I’ve been watching the website like a hawk since I booked tickets for the other Cirque du Soleil shows we are planning on going to, back in early February, because Treasure Island only had dates up to and including June showing up on their website booking system.
I wouldn’t have bothered to call except that the June dates were showing limited seat availability (literally only 8 seats in the back rows of the best section of the house!) on a random Tuesday at the end of June? I assumed they probably sell them in bulk to tour operators or to other hotels etc… that or it has something to do with the fact that we are going to be in Vegas for the week of the World Series of Poker finals, which I understand is something that means something to gambling type people, and Vegas is going to be packed. Either way I wanted to get onto it well in advance. So I called the Treasure Island Hotel Box Office and was told that the July dates were showing up in their system but that the lovely lady on the phone was unable to book them which was ‘a bit strange’. She informed me that the dates would most likely be released by the end of March/early April, and she recommended that I should call back then, and that hopefully July dates would be accessible at that time.
Naturally I ignored her advice, and decided to tweet the Cirque du Soleil promotions team to find out when July tickets for Mystère would be available. ‘Lo and behold, I got a response and two days later I checked the website and the July dates were now showing up! Woot! However, much to my consternation, only dodgy seats were showing up as available?!?
Looks like another call to Las Vegas for me! Wouldn’t be so bad except their phone system automatically picked up my call both times put me immediately on hold irrespective of whether you’re calling from across town or across the world! After a few minutes listening to advertising on how the ‘fabulous Treasure Island Hotel can enhance your Las Vegas experience’, a lovely lady helped me out with ordering a pair of tickets for the show… and gave us great seats (third row, front and centre!) even though the website showed these exact seats were unavailable! Also, she informed me about discounts available for students (yay!), pensioners and military personnel that aren’t on the website. That little pink star below… that’s going to be us!
So… a hint for new players – don’t believe everything you see on the website!