scorebig + mackenna's first cardinals game
(Disclosure: I was contacted by ScoreBig to review their website on my blog. I was given a promo code for a discount on my tickets for my review of their website. All opinions are my own.)One of my "summer" bucket list items has been to take MacKenna to a Cardinals game. Now that she's 2.5 years old, I feel like it's really time to show her exactly what she is cheering for when she yells, "Go Cards!" at the TV with Mama.However, Matt and I are not only really stingy when it comes to buying things for entertainment purposes, we are also on a pretty tight budget right now thanks to buying a new house. We very rarely ever spend money on sports or concert tickets simply because it's just not always worth it. Believe me, it KILLED me not to go see Ben Folds play with the St. Louis Symphony a few weeks ago, but at $75 a ticket, we just couldn't bring ourselves to shell out the cash.Enter ScoreBig.com. Shana from ScoreBig contacted me a few weeks ago to review their website by buying some tickets (she also gave me a lofty discount which helped my decision in what I bought). The concept of ScoreBig is pretty awesome:
- Choose the event you want to attend - anything from sports, concerts, or theater shows. They even had Blues playoff tickets available (which I'm glad I didn't go for at this point).
- Decide which tickets you want to buy. All the original prices are listed based on the seating area.
- Choose what YOU would want to pay for the tickets that you want. Since you are choosing a seating area, they have the flexibility to give you great deals on those seats.
- Get an instant answer if they accepted your offer.
Because I have been wanting to take MacKenna to a game, I was looking for a game in the spring so it wasn't too hot, on a weekend, that was also a day game. Thankfully, yesterday's game was perfect since Matt didn't have a track meet and we had no other plans and didn't need to do anything for the new house. It was a 1:15 PM game which gave us plenty of time to get downtown as well as plenty of time to get home, get Kenna fed and bathed, and put to bed at her normal time.After choosing the game I wanted, it was time to choose the section I wanted to sit in. I have been really spoiled with great seats, so I'm still not sold on sitting at the top of the stadium. I also knew that I really didn't want to pay more than $50 or $60 for a ticket (MacKenna is still free since she's under 3 years old). They give each area a "star" rating (1-star, 2-star, etc.). I decided to go for the 3-start seating area, which was actually in the lower section of seats. The tickets for that game were originally $83 a piece, but I thought I'd see what would happen if I offered them $60.Here's the part I really liked about it: There is a little meter just below where you enter the ticket price that you want to pay for those tickets. The red area obviously means you probably won't get the price you want for those tickets, where the green area means you have a pretty good shot. I entered in $60 and watched the meter go up into the green area. Score! So, I ended up saving almost $50 on our tickets! Plus, they guarantee that you will be seated in seats next to each other as well, so you don't even have to worry about that. Oh, and no extra fees. Doesn't get much better than that, does it now?!Plus, look at how great our seats were...
We had a great time and MacKenna was great! We lucked out and were seated next to a bunch of other families with kids (plus, no one right next to us, so Kenna had her own seat too), and no drunk, obnoxious people around us. Plus, the weather ended up being absolutely perfect! The rain held off and we had a nice cool breeze the entire game.
Added bonus: we won 7-0 over the Pirates (argh!) with Jhonny Peralta hitting 2 homeruns! So, Kenna also got to see the fireworks too! She LOVED it, even if fireworks are better at nighttime.
Followed up with little Ted Drewes, and a Sunday really can't get much better than that!
So, will I be using ScoreBig again? You betcha! I was a little worried when our tickets didn't scan, but they entered them manually and we went right in! I definitely see myself using this for shows at the Fox and the Muny, and maybe some concerts that Matt and I have been wanting to go to.Please feel free to ask me any questions about using ScoreBig that you want. I definitely think it was worth our time, especially since it saved us some moolah! Oh, and when you sign up, you get $10 off your first order! Score!