Some companies and venues sell tickets over the phone or the Internet; many will refer you to a ticket agency. The major agencies that serve Boston, Ticketmaster (tel. 617/931-2000; www.ticketmaster.com), Next Ticketing (tel. 617/423-NEXT; www.nextticketing.com), and Tele-Charge (tel. 800/447-7400 or TTY 888/889-8587; www.telecharge.com, click "Across the USA"), calculate service charges per ticket, not per order. To avoid the fee, visit the box office in person. If you wait until the day before or day of a performance, you'll sometimes have access to tickets that were held back for some reason and have just gone on sale.

Let's Make a Deal -- Yankee thrift gains artistic expression at the BosTix booths at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, on the south side of Faneuil Hall (T: Green or Blue Line to Government Center or Orange Line to Haymarket), and in Copley Square at the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth streets (T: Green Line to Copley or Orange Line to Back Bay). Same-day tickets to musical and theatrical performances are half price, subject to availability. Credit cards are not accepted, and there are no refunds or exchanges. Check the board or the website for the day's offerings.

BosTix (tel. 617/482-2849; www.artsboston.org) also offers full-price advance tickets; discounts on more than 100 theater, music, and dance events; and tickets to museums, historic sites, and attractions in and around town. The booths, which are Ticketmaster outlets, also sell coupon books with discounted and two-for-one admission to many area museums and attractions. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm (half-price tickets go on sale at 11am), and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. The Copley Square location is also open Monday from 10am to 6pm.