How to create a reserved table seating chart?

With Ticketleap’s Reserved Seating feature you can create a table seating chart, which will be explained in this article, or a theater style seating chart, for your event. Your ticket buyers can choose their own seats or have the system choose the best available seats for them.

You will build your seating chart from scratch within Ticketleap so have your venue’s seat map or layout handy. When you add a table you will give it a name, a color and a desirability along with the number of seats you need. You can also add other aspects of your venue such as a dance floor, a buffet or a bar.

Once your seating chart is complete you will add it to your event, assign ticket types and be ready to start sales! 

Check out the detailed tutorials below to get everything perfect. Basic Setup Add First Table Create Seats, Add and Place Tables, Add and Subtract Seats Create Ticket Types Attach Seating Chart and Assign Ticket Types Important Things to Know About Reserved Seating

Basic Setup

 
 

 

From your dashboard, click on Seating charts under Tools. Then, click Create A Seating Chart and it give it a name.

This seating chart will include 8 tables, a stage, a bar, and a buffet. I’m adding Objects to represent these additional features.

Add First Table

 
 

Now it’s time to add the tables. My tables are numbered #1-8, so I’m naming the first table Table 1. Next, give the table a color and assign desirability.

By assigning desirability, you allow your ticket buyers to choose “best seats available” rather than choose their own seats. For this to work properly, you need to assign different desirability for each section/table. 1 is the most desirable and 10 is the least desirable. This table will be close to the stage and speakers and therefore isn’t the best seat in the house, so I’m assigning it a desirability of 4.  
 
Adding Rectangular Tables

 
 
To add a rectangular table, use the New Section function. Give it a name and then create the section. Then add your rows with the number of seats you need per row. For tables with seats at the head of the table add an extra row. Then in the Type section, blank out the seats in the middle. This will give you the total number of seats you'll need for your table.
 
Create Seats, Add and Place Tables, Add and Subtract Seats

 
 

 

Next, add your seats. Once your table is correct click Save Changes. Then, return the chart to place your table where it belongs.

To create more tables simply copy the table and adjust the desirability where needed. Here I’m making 8 tables in total.

If you decide you need to add or subtract seats, select the table and then click edit. Then select the seat you want to delete or add on to and you will be shown editing options. If you need to add or subtract seats to each table, you will need to edit each individual table.  
 
Create Ticket Types 

 
 

 

When your seating chart is correct it’s time to add it to your upcoming event. First fill in the basic event details such as location, date and time. Then you will create your ticket types.

For my seating chart I have two ticket types; individual seats and a whole table (8 seats total) at a slightly discounted price per seat. If someone wants to purchase an entire table they will purchase all 8 seats.

To offer an entire table set the price as the entire table divided by the number of seats. In this case an entire table costs $1,120 and there are 8 seats. Therefore, $1120/8seats = $140 per seat. 

Then, under More Options check the box for Restrict number of tickets per order and set both the minimum and maximum number as the total number of seats at the table. This means the ticket buyer will purchase all of the seats at the table.

Attach Seating Chart and Assign Ticket Types 

 
 

 

To attach the seating chart to the event and to assign the ticket types to the seating chart first click the seating chart tab. In the drop down menu, select the correct seating chart.

If you have different pricing for your seats (such as a VIP area) you will UNCHECK the Buyers can use any ticket type for any seat box. If all of your seats are the same price you can leave this box checked. Then, to assign ticket types, hover over each section and check off which ticket types can be used for each section. Then click Save Changes. When you assign ticket types to your seating chart you tell the system which tickets can be used at which table. This is particularly important if all of your seats are NOT the same price (such as a VIP area).

Before you start sales check out the list below for important things to keep in mind about seating charts. 
 
Important Things to Know About Reserved Seating 
  • Once a ticket is sold, you cannot edit your seating chart. Make sure your seating chart is completely accurate before starting sales.
  • General Admission & Reserved Seating cannot be mixed. Your event needs to be one or the other.
  • Do not hold seats at the venue level as this will affect every single date/performance. If you need to hold seats do so using the Held Seats tab on the event’s dashboard to hold seats only for the date you need.
  • Choose Your Own Seats is not available on smartphones, tablets, or touch-screen monitors. When using an iOS device to sell tickets at your event the seats will be assigned by "best available" in each section. To assign Choose Your Own Seats at the door, use a laptop or desktop computer. If your ticket buyers are using a mobile devices, their tickets will be assigned by "best available" for the section they want. To choose their own seats they must use a laptop or desktop computer. 
  • Assign ticket types to sections/tables. This is how the system knows which sections cost what.

Accessible Seating

To create Accessible seating, click on an individual seat and choose the accessibility that applies. 

Then decide if this accessibility applies to just the selected seat or the entire table.

When you select an accessibility, that seat or table will only be available for purchase through the box office. The ticket buyer looking to purchase that seat/table will need to contact you and you will need to process the payment through the box office over the phone or at the door at the event. 

Also, once you make a seat accessible, that is applied at the venue level, so it affects all events and dates using that seating chart. 

Start Sales

Once everything is setup correctly you are ready to start sales!

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