Managing Reserved Seating: Efficiency & Seat Management

1. Preventing Orphan Seats
2. Blocking and Unblocking Seats
3. Marking Seats “On Hold” or “Sold” for VIPs/comps
4. Keeping track of seat assignments and order details

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Preventing Orphan Seats

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Overview

• Orphan seats are isolated single seats that remain between booked groups.
• When Prevent Orphan Seats is turned on, SimpleTix blocks customers from leaving a single seat stranded.

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Enabling Orphan-Seat Prevention

1. Log in to your SimpleTix Manager Portal.
2. Select your event and go to Times & Tickets.
3. Click on the event time you want to modify.
4. Under Advanced Options locate the Prevent Orphan Seats toggle and switch it on.
5. Save changes.

Tip: This setting helps improve sales by minimizing partial row occupancy that could deter prospective buyers.

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Seat Management & Holds

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Accessing Seat Management

1. Log in to your SimpleTix Manager Portal.
2. Select your event and go to **Times & Tickets **on the left menu.
3. In Times & Tickets, click on your event time, then select Mark Seats On Hold.
4. This opens the Seating Chart with an interactive view of each seat.

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Blocking/Unblocking Seats

• Block (Hold) a seat: Click any available seat; it becomes blocked from public sale.
• Unblock a seat: Click a blocked seat again to restore it for sale.
• Seats already sold cannot be blocked; you can only place a hold note if you need them temporarily locked post-sale.

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The 10 “Apply Changes” Limit

• You can submit (Apply Changes) up to 10 times per day.
• Blocking or unblocking multiple seats at once counts as a single action.
• Unblocking seats often doesn’t count against the daily total, but confirm your version’s rules if unsure.

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Viewing Order Details & Manual Holds

• Order number
• Buyer’s name
• Ticket type

Manual Holds: If you must reserve seats for sponsors or donors, you can click to hold them at no cost, or use a specialized “comp ticket” type.

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Assigning Seats as “Box Office Only”

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Overview

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Box Office Only vs. Manual Holds: What’s the Difference?

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The Problem with the Legacy Manual Holds Workflow

1. Place seats on manual hold to reserve them
2. When ready to sell, unhold the seats
3. Race to sell them before a customer claims them online (because unholding makes them public!)
4. If you’re too slow, a customer might purchase the seat you intended to sell

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The Box Office Only Solution

• Seats are hidden from the public (customers never see them)
• Seats are always available to box office staff (no need to unhold first)
• No racing, no stress, no risk of losing the seat to a customer

• Seats are completely hidden from customers on the public event page
• Seats remain available for sale in the Box Office (internal “Sell Tickets” interface) at all times
• Perfect for VIP reservations, staff holds, or special accommodations
• Eliminates the risk of customers purchasing seats you intended to reserve

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Migrating from Manual Holds to Box Office Only

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How to Assign Box Office Only Seats

1. Log in to your SimpleTix Manager Portal
2. Select your event and go to Times & Tickets on the left menu
3. Click on your event time, then select Mark Seats On Hold
4. If available, toggle “Enable Box Office–Only Ticket Sales” (this may appear as a channel option)
5. Click on a seat you want to assign as Box Office Only
6. In the seat options, assign it to the “BoxOffice only” channel
7. The seat will change color (typically red) to indicate it’s in the Box Office Only channel
8. Click Apply Changes to save

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Result

• Public Event Page: The seat will not be visible or available to customers
• Box Office Interface: Staff can see and sell the seat through the internal “Sell Tickets” view

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Use Cases

• VIP Reservations: Hold premium seats for special guests without blocking them from all sales
• Sponsor Seats: Reserve seats for sponsors while maintaining the ability to sell them if sponsors don’t claim them
• Staff Accommodations: Keep seats available for staff or volunteers to purchase at the door
• Last-Minute Sales: Maintain a pool of seats that can only be sold through box office for walk-up customers

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Best Practices

• Batch Changes: To avoid hitting the 10-operation limit, block/unblock seats in groups before clicking Apply.
• VIP & Sponsor Seating: Consider creating complimentary ticket types for large-scale holds or advanced seat reservations.
• Orphan-Seat Prevention + Manual Blocks: Use both features together for maximum seating efficiency.
• Check for Overlaps: If you set an event with different time slots, ensure your seat holds don’t conflict across times.