Saturday, August 25, 2012

TIFF 2012 My Choice Online Ticketing

If you bought a My Choice ticket package for TIFF 2012, then you will be able to select your films ahead of the actual festival. This page describes the process for selecting those films.

1. First, decide on which films you want to see, and when you want to see them. Make a list of the films and times and sort by date and then name. If you are selecting tickets for more than just yourself, then also note the number of tickets you want for each screening. This will make it faster to select your films. You may also want to note any backup choices in case your first choice is sold out.


2. Check the e-mail you received from TIFF with your start time. If you did not receive an e-mail, then contact TIFF customer service. On or after your start time, go to http://tiff.net/gettickets/packageticketselection. If you do not have access to a computer, then you can call or visit the Festival Box Office to make your selections on or after your start time.

Enter the e-mail address and the password you set up when you purchased your ticket package, along with the Package Code that was in your e-mail. If you received more than one Package Code, then you must complete each package one-at-a-time. Note that if you did not purchase all your packages in one transaction, then you may receive different start times for each package.


If the start time for your package has not yet arrived, the site will alert you that your e-mail address, password, and package code are correct, but that you cannot sign in yet. If you continue to get this message even after your start time, then contact TIFF customer service.

3. Once you have successfully signed in, you will see the screen below:


Note the instructions on the screen. Once you select your first screening, you will have 60 minutes to complete your selections and checkout. If you fail to checkout before the 60 minutes are up, your order will be cancelled out, and you will receive vouchers instead of your selected screenings. If you checkout but don't pick all your screenings, you will receive vouchers for the remaining tickets.

Note once you checkout and then log out of the system, you will not be able to re-enter with that package code. You must make all your selections in one shot.

4. Now you can begin to select your films. You can search for films by schedule (i.e. by date), or by title. People have generally reported more success with searching by schedule. Click on the day of the screening you want to see. In this case, we will click on Friday, September 7.


5. You will now see a listing of all the films on that day, along with the time of the screening.


If a particular screening is sold out, it will be marked as such instead of showing the time of the screening. In the image below, The Brass Teapot has been marked off sale and cannot be selected.


6. Scroll to the screening you desire and click the time. Here, we are picking Rust and Bone at 12:00 PM.

 

7. You will be taken to a window where you can select the number of tickets you want to use. If the dropdown is empty or only has a 0, then click the By Schedule button at the top of the screen and try again, or make one of your other choices first and then try the original film again.


8. Once you have selected your quantity of tickets, click the Add To Cart button at the bottom of the page. This will take you to your shopping cart where you can see your selections.


9. Repeat steps 4 to 8 for the remaining tickets in your package. You can check the total at the bottom of your shopping cart to see if you've used all your tickets yet.

Also keep an eye on the timer at the top of the page. Most people have completed their orders in under 30 minutes, but if a lot of your screenings are sold out and you end up searching for backups, you could eat up time quickly. TIFF recommends that you checkout before the timer gets to 5:00 remaining.

10. Once you have used all your tickets, click the Checkout button at the top of the page. The Checkout screen should already show your first name and last name. Re-enter your Package Code in the indicated field, and then click the Continue button.


11. On the confirmation screen, do one final check to make sure your screening selections are correct and that you've used up the proper number of tickets. If everything is ok, then click the "Yes, I have completed my package ticket selections" box and click the Submit button.


12. You should then see a Order Complete screen. Note the reservation number for your records. You will also receive this number in a confirmation e-mail, but it's probably a good idea to note it in case you don't get the e-mail.


13. You can pick up your tickets starting September 4 at the Festival Box Office at Metro Centre. You will need a print out of your confirmation e-mail, the credit card you used to purchase your package, and government-issued ID. TIFF Members can pick up their tickets at the Member Box Office or the Bell Lightbox (the latter only for Patrons Circle Members).

If you encounter any error messages while filling out your order online, try clicking the By Schedule or By Title buttons; do not try to logout. I got an error once, but I just clicked on the By Schedule button and was able to continue on; my session was still active and my shopping cart still had all my selections.



 

8 comments:

This is spectacular! I was planning to walk over to the box office to do mine but now maybe I'll give online a shot.

Excellent guide, Richard! This is the sort of thing that the official TIFF web site should have made available a week ago.

Indeed! More helpful than the tiff site for sure. With the prep from this site, was in and out with 20 tickets in less than 6 minutes.

If you bought packages totalling 50 tickets in the same transaction, are you still alloted only one hour to make your picks?

Yes, 1 hour regardless of your order size. My friend did our ordering all on his account -- 100 films! Richard's tip about organizing your selections by date and alphabetical title will help be prepared.

Quick question. Once tickets are added to the cart are they reserved, or can they be taken by someone else until checkout?
If that is the case, is it possible to checkout after every selection to ensure getting the tickets?
Thanks for your help!

From what it seems talking to other people, once tickets are added to a cart, they are hidden from everyone else until you checkout, so you should be safe.

It is *not* possible to checkout multiple times. As soon as you checkout, you will be locked out of the system for that package, so don't do that.

My experiences at the Toronto International Film Festival. Note this blog is not affiliated with the Toronto International Film Festival Group or the festival itself.
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