We put fixed tiers against dynamic pricing for 18 July dates in our 3,100-seat hall. Tiers were clean at $59/$79/$99. Dynamic, run in TM1 with simple pace rules, lifted gross by 3.5% and added about $12 to AO on the top 20% of seats, especially in the last 72 hours when demand spiked. We paid for that lift in time and friction. Dynamic meant 2–3 check-ins per show day (about 25 minutes each) and more price variance that irked callers: “Why is Row F $84 today when it was $72 yesterday?” It also complicated group holds and promo code promises, and marketing spent extra cycles updating ad prices at 10 am and 4 pm. Fixed tiers gave up some upside but bought clarity at the window, fewer make-goods, and smoother reporting. I still pick tiers for 2 pm family matinees, heavy group nights, and subscription audiences. Where does fixed still beat dynamic for you?
We’ve landed on hard tiers until about 85% sold, then simple TM1 ladders with floors/ceilings and a cap on daily ticks; it keeps the late-window lift but trims check-ins to one pass, and the net beats straight dynamic once you price in staff time.
We added a snapback: if sell rate falls below 0.5% of house for two checks after a bump, TM1 rolls one rung back; we also only touch prices at 10a/3p. That kept variance tolerable and cut day-of monitoring to about 20 minutes while holding about a $9–$11 AO lift on the top blocks.
We cut our check-ins from three to one by preloading zone ladders and only letting TM1 move at 11a and 4p; we cap to +$5 per seat per day and snap back one rung if two checks fall below 0.6% of house. That still gave us about 3% gross lift and about +$10 AO on the front two price codes in the last 48 hours without wild variance.