Important Tips For Watching the US Open! (Part 1 – Getting Great Tickets)

Important Tips For Watching the US Open! (Part 1 – Getting Great Tickets)

US Open Tips:

Part 1 – How to get the best value from US Open Tickets

First thing is buying tickets – without these, you can’t go in. My advice is to buy them as early as possible when there is a good deal (less than $30 for Ashe tickets) – they usually go on sale as early as April/May for USTA members. But worry not – you can still get them as late as the month of August (aka right now!!)

If you wait until the last minute or try to buy directly from a reseller, sometimes the prices go for $3000-$5000 for the finals. So to save money, buy in June-July and read more below!

Individual Tickets vs Mini-Plans

You can buy individual tickets for group plans / mini-plans (3-4 days) from US Open’s website. If you live in NYC or will be staying in the area for at least 3 days, I would suggest looking into the Mini-plans. They usually sell out quick. The best mini-plans are the end of the first week and beginning of the 2nd week (before and after Labor Day Weekend). If you have a large group 10-20 people, you can often get a Group rate discount too!

1) Ticket prices will vary over the summer.

My best advice is usually to wait until June/July to look for the deals. For example on 8/3/10, they released an annual code in the morning which has seats available for $12 for both the 1st week and the 2nd week. These sell out very quickly

2) Buy cheap Arthur Ashe tickets, but DON’T sit in the nosebleeds section in Ashe! You’ll have a better view of the NY city skyline than the ant-sized players a mile below you. But you see, unlike Grounds passes and Armstrong tickets that do not allow you into the main stadium court, with Ashe tickets you can go anywhere.

3) Using promo codes

There are also 2-for-1 (buy one get one free) tickets that are around $25-$35 each that are for the Upper and Lower Promendande, which are a bit closer. Most of these have a limited quantity available for the 2nd week. Always check around for promo codes- try to Google “us open ticket” or “us open deals”.

Note though that buying directly from Ticketmaster always has little fees + shipping costs that will add on $5-10 dollars to the basic ticket price*

4) So why is the Ashe ticket better than the rest?

All other courts (other than Armstrong) use a “first-come, first-serve” system. This means if you get in line early (gates open at 11AM and the SOUTH gate is the least crowded out of all of them), you can literally run to the Grandstand court (3rd biggest stadium court) and get Front Row seats! I did this myself a few years ago and got to see Marat Safin and Oliver Rochus play just a few feet in front of me.

5) Ground Passes

If the Ashe ticket deals run out or get too expensive, then 2nd best option is invest in a Grounds Pass. This lets you tour all stadiums except on Ashe and usually a little bit less expensive. The USTA always has extra ground passes for sale around the 2nd week that you can buy directly at the US Open – they usually go for around $60-$80. These are not a bad deal*

Generally unless you know of a great match you want to see on Armstrong or are significantly cheaper, you should avoid these tickets (they will not allow you to get into Ashe).

Read part 2 to part 4 of the US Open articles for more tips and ways to enjoy the US Open!