Game Design on the Cheap

July 20, 2011 7:20 AM

Can my friend use his NYU student discount to buy non-student me an event ticket?

So I want to attend the NYU Game Center's upcoming two-day workshop on design. The catch? It's $300 for the general public, $200 for non-NYU students, and $100 for NYU students.

A close friend at NYU has offered to buy a ticket for me, but neither of us know whether I'll be able to use it if he gets it. Does anyone from New York know if NYU generally checks IDs or names at events? Does a ticket bought through the NYU student site have to be used by the purchaser? Is this too ethically gray?

posted by Tubalcain to media & arts (8 answers total)

In my experience when I was a student (albeit not at NYU, but I imagine NYU is not unique in this respect), if you flashed the student ticket (it will say something on it indicating such), you had to show an ID as well. If you didn't have an ID, you paid the difference at the door.
posted by King Bee at 7:32 AM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Often with such things a student Ticket can be 'bought' by non-students but they will have trouble redeeming it without the appropriate Student Id.

bit of a risk on a $100 ticket. (although yes you are saving 100-200.)
posted by mary8nne at 8:11 AM on July 20, 2011

I don't know about this particular event but in my experience with student tickets to theater, concerts, etc., the website's rules will say whether the tickets can be used by non-students (often a student can buy one for him/herself and one for another person). You may want to see if the event's website specifies anything. I suspect that for a 2-day conference worth hundreds of dollars they will be checking IDs pretty closely, though.
posted by mlle valentine at 8:13 AM on July 20, 2011

Tubalcain: "Is this too ethically gray?"

It's actually pretty black and white. You're clearly cheating the system. Either that's OK with you or not.
posted by mkultra at 9:05 AM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

My experience is kind of the opposite actually. I bought tickets for my (now-ex) and I to go to shows all the time using my student ID and we were never asked to show ID at the door. I showed mine when I made the purchase but they didn't seem to mind that I was buying more than one.

For the record he was also a student so we weren't actually cheating anyone I just had classes near the ticket office so I was usually the one who picked them up.

YMMV though. And I do agree that ethically this is pretty straightforward but that probably wouldn't stop me from trying to pay half price for something that expensive either.
posted by magnetsphere at 9:32 AM on July 20, 2011

Oh and I'm not at NYU, just to be clear.
posted by magnetsphere at 9:32 AM on July 20, 2011

My guess would be that the ticket itself will not be differentiated from others, just that your friend will get a discount when he shows his ID upon purchasing it.

Is he going to buy himself a ticket regardless? If so, why not have him buy it first, then see if it actually says "student" on the ticket. If it doesn't, you're in the clear, assuming they will let him buy more than one per student ID.
posted by dixiecupdrinking at 10:23 AM on July 20, 2011

My college (er, the one I work at) checks the ID at every event. I very nearly got in trouble because I bought a ticket for something, showed my work ID for the work discount, and then the student put me in as a student because I look 18. I ended up having to exchange the ticket because a friend of mine was suddenly coming into town and she wanted to go to the event too, and this time the guy waiting on me said, "Is the other person a student too?" and I was all "um, what?" Yeah, they WILL take the extra money out of non-student you at the door if you are busted for that.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:41 AM on July 20, 2011