App review: SeatGeek is just the ticket
SeatGeek is an event ticket marketplace and aggregator that collects and sells tickets from third-party vendors, such as Fanxchange, UberSeat and AJ Tickets, kind of like Travelocity does for airfares. You're sure to find excellent deals. Its app is fantastic.
Hankering to see Bryce Harper hit his 100th career home run on a recent homestand, I downloaded the app and found decent upper-deck seats for $7 - a great bargain, considering that such seats are normally about $21 through the Nationals' website. Creating an account and entering payment information took less than five minutes.
The app displayed a map of the ballpark, each section marked with a color-coded dot signifying the quality of the deal I would be getting. Dark green is an amazing deal, yellow is an OK deal and dark red an awful deal (those are SeatGeek's terms, not mine). I was snagging a dark green seat. The app also displayed each section's view of the field. This was most helpful.
The ticket was saved right in the app, and at the ballpark I scanned a bar code on my phone's screen to enter. No need to print anything.
Harper, alas, hit his 100th career home run (a grand slam, no less) two days later while I was stuck at work, grumbling that I hadn't played hooky.
Among the more helpful features of this app is that it allows you to share tickets with friends. On a recent Saturday, I went to a Nats game with a buddy who had bought the tickets. With a few taps on his phone, he sent the ticket right to me via the app. I received a text alert, then tapped a link to accept and download the ticket into the app, ready to use on game day. Now we could meet at the seats, rather than at a spot outside the stadium to hand over a paper ticket. I'm a big fan of this feature.
Users can also sell tickets within the app, which is helpful if you have to cancel plans.
Locally, SeatGeek offers tickets to concerts at the 9:30 Club, the Fillmore Silver Spring and Baltimore Soundstage, among other venues. It doesn't offer tickets to Gypsy Sally's in Georgetown, which is a bummer, since it's the music venue I frequent most. But that's my only grouse. SeatGeek is otherwise wonderful. I can't imagine a better way to get you to an event, cheaply and easily.
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STATS
NAME: SeatGeek
COST: Free
OPERATING SYSTEMS: iOS and Android
CREATOR: SeatGeek
USER RATINGS: iTunes - 4 1/2 stars out of 5; Google Play - 4 out of 4 stars
REVIEW'S BOTTOM LINE: A wonderful, easy-to-use app that makes getting to venues a breeze.