Terms and Conditions of Sale

1. Terms and conditions of sale

1.1. Any purchase of Tickets is only valid when processed by us or an agent authorised by us. We are not responsible for any Tickets that have been sold through unauthorised methods. The ROH reserves the right to deny access to tickets and/or the ROH to any buyer if the buyer resells or offers for re-sale any ticket through an unauthorised secondary ticketing facility as defined in the Consumer Rights Act 2015. See section 2 for terms and conditions of exchanging tickets via the Royal Opera House Box Office.

1.2. Tickets cannot be refunded except on the cancellation or substantial alteration of the performance. We have flexible booking options if you can no longer attend a performance. See point 2.

1.3. Tickets are sold subject to the Royal Opera House’s right to make any alterations to the programme or cast. A change of cast, lead role or soloist shall not constitute a substantial alteration and will not lead to tickets being refunded.

1.4. If the performance or event has to be interrupted or abandoned no money will be refunded if more than half of the performance or event has taken place.

1.5. The Royal Opera House reserves the right to refuse admission to the Theatre. In particular, we ask our visitors to treat our staff, our artists and other visitors with kindness and respect. Anyone who does not uphold our values may be denied entry, asked to leave, denied future entry to the Theatre, have their membership revoked or any other appropriate sanction as decided by the Theatre.

1.6. The Royal Opera House reserves the right to provide alternative seats to those specified on the ticket.

1.7. Latecomers and audience members who leave the auditorium will not be admitted/readmitted to the theatre unless and until there is a suitable break or at the next interval.

1.8. Children aged 5–14 must have their own ticket and must be seated next to an accompanying adult. Children aged 0–4 will not be admitted to the auditoriums unless otherwise advertised.

1.9. The use of cameras and recording equipment is strictly forbidden during performances.

1.10. Ticket holders acknowledge that the ROH and authorized third parties may record (video and/or audio) throughout the Royal Opera House’s premises including without limitation in connection with the ticketed event. Ticket holders give their express consent to the use of their actual or simulated likeness in connection with the production, exhibition, advertising or exploitation of any film, video and/or audio recording of and/or in connection with the ticketed event or otherwise at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in any/all media throughout the world. Ticket holders further agree to being filmed by the ROH, police and/or security staff for health and safety, security and crime prevention purposes.

1.11. The rollout of e-tickets offers our visitors greater flexibility and security, and is a vital step towards us meeting our environmental obligations. We are currently only offering e-tickets for events.

Although you now must book your tickets online, the Box Office remains open for enquiries from 10am–6pm Monday–Saturday via phone, email and live web chat.

2. Terms and conditions of exchange

2.1. Tickets may only be exchanged via the Royal Opera House and into an account credit up to 24 hours before your original scheduled performance start time. We are unable to exchange tickets to another ROH production. The value of rehearsal tickets is treated as a donation and therefore we are not able to refund or exchange rehearsal tickets.

2.2. The Royal Opera House charges an administration fee of £4 per ticket. A Royal Opera House account credit will be issued to the value of the tickets exchanged (minus administration fees). 

2.3. We do not offer exchanges on individual seats sold as part of a box. A Royal Opera House account credit will be issued to the value of the collective price paid for all four seats within the box, minus a total administration fee of £4.

2.4. You can return tickets for account credit up to 24 hours before your original scheduled performance start time via the Tickets tab in your Royal Opera House account. The Royal Opera House charges an administration fee of £4 per ticket to process any changes. We do not offer refunds. Please check the Terms and Conditions page of our website for full details.  

To return tickets for account credit:

  1. Log into your Royal Opera House Account and find the tickets you would like to return in the 'Upcoming events' section of the Tickets tab.
  2. Click 'Manage your booking' on the tickets you would like to return.
  3. Choose which tickets to return by ticking the check boxes and confirm cancellation.
  4. Your account credit will appear in the Transactions tab of your account, minus any administration fees. You will also receive an email confirmation.

Some tickets cannot be refunded:

  • Tickets with a value of £4 or less. This ticket value can be donated to the Royal Opera House.
  • Tickets for rehearsals. This ticket value can be donated to the Royal Opera House.
  • Companion tickets for access customers.

If you wish to return these ticket types please email the box office with the order number and the details of the seats that you wish to return.

2.5. The Royal Opera House account credit will be emailed to the email address on the registered account.  

2.6. All account credits are valid for 36 months from the date of issue.  

2.7. Customers wishing to change or return tickets booked as part of a package can return them in exchange for an account credit to the same value (minus administration fees).  

2.8. Terms and Conditions for tickets to productions by visiting companies may be different. Please check with Box Office in these instances.  

2.9. Exchanges to account credit are only available to ticket holders who purchased their tickets directly via the ROH

3. Terms and conditions of resale

3.1. Resale requests will only be accepted within 24 hours of a performance or event. Requests for resale received prior to 24 hours before a performance or event will be disregarded. The value of rehearsal tickets is treated as a donation and therefore we are not able to refund or exchange rehearsal tickets.

3.2. All resale requests must be sent via email to boxoffice@roh.org.uk and must originate from the email address on the purchaser's account, or have the original purchaser copied into the request by including their email address in the CC field. 

3.3. Resale requests will not be accepted within 30 minutes of the performance or event start time.

3.4. Returned tickets are sold subject to customer demand and only if there are no more tickets available in that part of the theatre and price band. 

3.5. The Royal Opera House charges an administration fee of £4 per ticket if resold. If the resale is successful, you will be emailed and a refund (minus administration fees) will be credited back to the original method of payment within 28 days after the performance or event.  If the resale is unsuccessful you will be notified via email. 

3.6. The Royal Opera House cannot guarantee the sale of any tickets returned to the Box Office regardless of ticket availability and/or demand. 

3.7. Returned tickets may be withdrawn from re-sale at any time at the original purchaser’s request and/or at the management’s discretion.  

3.8. The Royal Opera House cannot resell tickets for performances or events taking place outside the Royal Opera House Covent Garden site. Please visit the host venue’s website for information on their terms and conditions of sale and resale policy. 

3.9. Resales are only available to ticket holders who purchased their tickets directly via the ROH and we do not offer resale for individual tickets sold as part of a box.

4. Terms and conditions of sale – Tours

4.1. Tickets cannot be refunded except on the cancellation or substantial alteration of the tour. We have flexible booking options if you can no longer attend a performance. See point 2. The exception to our flexible booking options includes our Ballet Tea and Tour package. Ballet Tour and Tea tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable from 4 days before the date of your tour. For more information about refunds please see: https://www.roh.org.uk/about/ticket-refunds

4.2. The Royal Opera House reserves the right to refuse admission to the tour.

4.3. Tickets are sold subject to the Theatre’s right to make any alterations to the tour as a result of circumstances beyond its control.

4.4. If the tour has to be interrupted or abandoned no money will be refunded if more than half of it has taken place.

4.5. Timed tickets are not transferable. Patrons with tickets purchased from unauthorised sellers may be refused entry.

4.6. Fifteen minutes after the tour has started latecomers will not be admitted.

4.7. Visitors are welcome to take photos in public areas of the building, but video recording is strictly forbidden. The use of cameras and recording equipment inside the auditorium or behind the scenes is not permitted.

4.8. The Royal Opera House is a working theatre and as such access to the auditorium as part of a tour is not guaranteed.

5. Terms and conditions – Free lunchtime concerts

5.1. A ticket does not guarantee entry.

5.2. Any ticket holders arriving after the capacity has been reached will be refused entry.

5.3. The Royal Opera House reserves the right to change the cast and programme due to events beyond its control.

5.4. The Royal Opera House will make every effort to inform the patron should the concert be cancelled.

6. Terms and conditions of Membership

6.1. The cost in each case is a non-refundable donation.

6.2. Friends membership lasts for 12 months. If you have paid for your membership by Direct Debit in monthly instalments you have agreed to pay the full membership amount. If you cancel your Direct Debit within 12 months any tickets you might have purchased using your Friends Membership priority booking will not be valid.

6.3. Renewal information: Please note that your membership will run for 12 months and you will benefit from priority booking for four booking periods, but if your membership lapses, when you renew the membership it will run from the previous expiry date. We therefore recommend renewing your support in the designated month to ensure that you don’t miss the full benefits of priority booking.

6.4. Please be aware that tickets may only be re-sold or exchanged by the ROH Box Office.

6.5. If Friends sell tickets made available to them by virtue of their membership, in breach of the Terms and Conditions of Sale, ROH will terminate their membership.

6.6. You should receive your information pack within two weeks of receipt of your donation.

6.7. Membership prices rise annually. If a Gift Membership is purchased and there is a rise between purchase and activation of over one month, the recipient will be liable for additional costs.

7. Terms and conditions of sale – Digital events

7.1. ​​The Royal Opera House (weus and our) will make available a number of recorded performances and other digital material (Digital Events) for purchase via our streaming platform (ROH Stream) from time to time. In addition to complying with the terms and conditions in this section, you will need to comply with all applicable ROH Stream Terms and Conditions.

7.2. Payment of the fees for the Digital Events are due upon placement of your order to purchase the Digital Events (Order).

7.3. Upon placement of your Order and receipt of payment, we will send an automated email (to the email address provided as part of your account creation on ROH Stream) confirming your Order has been accepted and that the Digital Content will be made available for streaming.

7.4. By placing your Order, you hereby agree that the Digital Events will be provided to you immediately and as such you agree to lose your right to cancel the contract once the streaming of the Digital Events has begun.

7.5 Pay-per-view Digital Events (PPV) purchased via ROH Stream will be available to watch via your account for a limited period of time after you first start streaming the content (as specified on purchase). We will send you an automated email when you start streaming the PPV to confirm how long you will have access to the content for and another automated email when you have 24 hours remaining to watch the PPV.

7.6. All content comprised in/of the Digital Events is owned or controlled by us, our group companies or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property rights at all times. At no point will any ownership rights in the Digital Events transfer to you.

7.7. The Royal Opera House / its licensors asserts its copyright and all other similar intellectual property rights in respect of the Digital Events.

7.8. ​You must only use the Digital Events for your personal and non-commercial use.

7.9. ​We are responsible for the content of the Digital Events – if you have any issue with the Digital Events or your purchase please contact Customer Services.

7.10. We may make changes to the Digital Events:

(i) to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;

(ii) to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These are changes that don’t affect your use of the Digital Events.

(iii) to update Digital Events, provided that the Digital Events always matches the description of it that we provided to you before you bought it. We might ask you to install these updates.

7.11. We can suspend the supply of the Digital Events:

(i)       to deal with a technical problem or to make minor technical changes;

(ii)      to update the Digital Events to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements; or

(iii)     temporarily in certain countries where we are subject to statutory, territorial or other contractual restrictions in respect of the Digital Events.

7.12. We and you may terminate this contract at any time for convenience upon providing the other with 14 days’ written notice. We shall issue a refund for any Order(s) under which you not yet accessed the Digital Events.

7.13. We can stop providing a product, such as a subscription for digital content. We let you know at least 14 days in advance and we refund any sums you've paid in advance for products which won't be provided.

7.14. How we use any personal data you give us is set out in our Privacy Notice (https://www.roh.org.uk/policies/privacy).

7.15. We will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these terms if the delay or failure arises from any cause which is non foreseeable and beyond our reasonable control.

7.16. We're responsible for losses you suffer caused by us breaking breaching these terms unless the loss is:

(i) Unexpected. It was not obvious that it would happen and nothing you said to us before we accepted your order meant we should have expected it (so, in the law, the loss was unforeseeable).

(ii) Caused by a delaying event outside our control. As long as we have taken the steps set out in the section we're not responsible for delays outside our control.

(iii) Avoidable. Something you could have avoided by taking reasonable action. For example, damage to your own digital content or device, which was caused by digital content we supplied and which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply a free update or by correctly following the installation instructions or having the minimum system requirements advised by us.

8. Terms and conditions – Access Membership

8.1. All the Terms and Conditions of Sale set out in section 1 also apply to Access Member tickets.

8.2. In addition, Access Member ticket holders agree to comply with the Terms and Conditions set out in the Access Membership registration form and acknowledge that the Royal Opera House reserves the right to cancel and refund any discounted or complimentary tickets that contravene our discount/complimentary ticket booking policies.

9. Terms and conditions of sale – Cinema tickets

9.1. For the terms and conditions of sale of cinema tickets purchased through our partner Trafalgar, please read Trafalgar's terms and conditions of sale.

10. Royal Opera House Stream– Terms and Conditions

The Royal Opera House Stream is a subscription service which allows our members to access performances and other content (ROH Content) electronically via the internet (including any internet connected devices) (ROH Stream).

These terms and conditions govern the use of the subscription service and accessing the ROH Content, including all additional features and functionality which is associated with the subscription service and/or ROH Content. Please read these carefully before you purchase our subscription service.

ROH Stream subscription

10.1. Your subscription shall commence upon the creation of your account and will then continue thereafter, unless cancelled in accordance with these terms and conditions.

10.2. To access ROH Stream you must be at least 18 years of age, have internet access, an account and have provided us with your payment details. Minors may access and use ROH Stream under the supervision of an adult or with parental consent.

10.3. Unless you cancel your subscription before the monthly or yearly billing date, you hereby authorise us to charge the Subscription Fee for the next calendar month or year to the payment details provided during your account creation. 

10.4. During your subscription, we grant to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferrable right to access ROH Stream and ROH Content. At no point will any right, title or interest of ownership in ROH Stream and/or the ROH Content will be transferred to you.

10.5. We shall regularly update the content library that is made available to you.

10.6. ROH Stream is available worldwide, however you may be unable to access ROH Stream and/or some or all of the ROH Content  in certain territories if they are subject to territorial or rights restrictions.

10.7. The streaming quality of the ROH Content may vary from device to device and can be affected by a number of factors (i.e. your bandwidth, location and/or internet speed). The minimum connection speed required for ROH Stream is 10Mbps; however, we would recommend a faster connection in order to enjoy higher quality streaming.

10.8. If you need assistance with your account, please contact our customer support team at boxoffice@roh.org.uk. Our customer support line is open Monday to Friday between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm, excluding public holiday in England, when banks in London are not open for business.

Your obligations

10.9. You hereby agree to not use ROH Stream for any public performances or commercial purposes.

10.10. You are responsible for all internet charges and we recommend that you check with your internet service provider for information on any possible internet data charges that may occur as a result of accessing and/or using ROH Stream. 

10.11. You agree not to archive, reproduce, distribute, modify, display, perform, publish, license, create derivative works from, offer for sale, or use (except as explicitly authorised in these terms and conditions) content and information contained on or obtained from or through ROH Stream.

10.12. You also agree not to: circumvent, remove, alter, deactivate, degrade or thwart any of the content protections in ROH Stream; use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access ROH Stream; decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble any software or other products or processes accessible through the ROH Stream; insert any code or product or manipulate the content of ROH Stream in any way; or use any data mining, data gathering or extraction method.

10.13. You agree not to upload, e-mail or otherwise send or transmit any material designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment associated with ROH Stream, including any software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs.

10.14. You acknowledge that ROH Stream may require the use of third party software which is subject to third party licences. You agree that you may automatically receive updated versions of ROH Stream software and related third party software from time to time.

Billing

10.15. The Subscription Fee will be charged to your payment details that were provided when creating your account.

10.16. The length of your subscription cycle will depend upon which subscription package you purchased (i.e. a monthly or annual subscription). Your first payment will be due upon account creation and shall thereafter reoccur in accordance with your subscription cycle.

10.17. To access ROH Stream you must provide your payment details. You hereby authorise us to charge the Subscription Fee to your payments details associated with your account. You shall remain responsible for all uncollected amounts.

10.18. If the Subscription Fee is not settled in full and you have not cancelled your subscription, we may suspend your access to ROH Stream until payment of the Subscription Fee in full has been received by ROH.

10.19. You can update your payment details at any time via your account, provided you use the same payment method you used when first subscribing to ROH Stream. To change your payment method (for example from credit card to direct debit), please cancel your current subscription, and start a new subscription with an alternative payment method. Following any update, you hereby authorise us to charge your updated payment details.

10.20. We may change the Subscription Fees from time to time; however any price changes or changes to the subscription package which you had purchased will apply no earlier than 30 days following written notice to you.

10.21. As well as suspending the products we can also charge you interest on your overdue Subscription Fees. 

Promotions

10.22. We may from time to time offer special promotional offers, plans or subscriptions (Promotion). Offer eligibility is determined by us at our sole discretion and we reserve the right to revoke the Promotion at any time.

10.23. Please note that Promotions may be subject to additional terms and conditions.

Our rights to make change

We may change ROH Stream:

(a) to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements; and

(b) to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These changes will not affect your use of the ROH Stream.

10.24. We may update ROH Stream from time to time and as such we do not guarantee nor provide any assurance that any specific element of the ROH Content will be accessible. In addition, we reserve the right to add or remove ROH content at our discretion.

10.25. If your ability to access ROH Stream (including any specific ROH Content) is delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund of your Subscription Fee, on a pro-rata basis.

10.26. We may have to suspend ROH Stream to:

(a) deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes; or

(b) update the product to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements.

10.27. We will contact you in advance to tell you we will be suspending ROH Stream, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. If we have to suspend the product for longer than four weeks in any two month period we will adjust the price so that you do not pay for products while they are suspended. You may contact us to end the contract for a product if we suspend it, or tell you we are going to suspend it, in each case for a period of more than four weeks and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance for the product in respect of the period after you end the contract.

Your rights to end the contract

10.28.  You can cancel your contract at any time and you will continue to have access to ROH Stream through to the end of your subscription cycle, at which point it will automatically cease. Payments are non-refundable and, except where expressly set out in these T&Cs, we do not provide refunds or credits or any partial subscription periods. 

10.30. If you are ending a contract for a reason set out at (a) to (d) below the contract will end immediately and we will refund your Subscription Fee on pro-rata basis. The reasons are: 

(a) we have told you about an upcoming change to ROH Stream or these terms which you do not agree to; 

(b) there is a risk that supply of the products may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control; 

(c) we have suspended supply of the products for technical reasons, or notify you we are going to suspend them for technical reasons, in each case for a period of more than [four weeks]; or 

(d) you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong. 

10.31. You do not have a right to change your mind in respect of the contract as your access to the ROH Content is immediately accessible upon account creation and upon your request and acknowledgement you waive your statutory right to cancellation.  

10.32. To end the contract with us, please let us know by email.  Email us at boxoffice@roh.org.uk. Please provide your name, home address, details of the order and, where available, your phone number and email address.

10.33. We will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible and this is usually actioned within 14 days of the receipt of your refund request. 

Our rights to suspend or end the contract

10.34. We may suspend or end the contract at any time by writing to you if you:

(a) breach the terms of this contract;

(b) are engaged in illegal or fraudulent use of ROH Stream; or

(c) do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due.

Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you

10.35. If we're responsible for losses you suffer caused by us breaking breaching these terms unless the loss is:

i. Unexpected. It was not obvious that it would happen and nothing you said to us before we accepted your order meant we should have expected it (so, in the law, the loss was unforeseeable).

ii. Caused by a delaying event outside our control. As long as we have taken the steps set out in the section we're not responsible for delays outside our control.

iii. Avoidable. Something you could have avoided by taking reasonable action. For example, damage to your own digital content or device, which was caused by digital content we supplied and which you could have avoided by following our advice to apply a free update or by correctly following the installation instructions or having the minimum system requirements advised by us.

10.36. ROH Stream (including ROH Content) is only for domestic and private use within your household. If you access and/or use ROH Stream for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

How we may use your personal information

10.37. We will only use your personal information as set out in our https://www.roh.org.uk/policies/privacy.

Other important terms

10.38. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.

10.39. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.

10.40. We may, from time to time, change these terms and conditions. We will notify you at least 30 days before such changes apply to you.

10.41. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

10.42. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.

10.43. These terms shall be construed and governed by English and Welsh law.

11. Royal Opera House Stream Members Promotion Terms

We appreciate your support of the Royal Opera House and as such we are pleased to offer you the following promotion in relation to our new digital streaming service, Royal Opera House Stream (ROH Stream). 

We are offering all our members a one month promotion (Promotion Period) during which you may access ROH Stream and enjoy all the available ROH Content for £1.00 (the Promotion). 

At the end of the Promotion Period, your account will automatically continue in accordance with the ROH Stream Terms and Conditions above and the associated Subscription Fee shall become payable in accordance with the subscription cycle chosen when you created your account. 

You can cancel your contract at any time during the Promotion Period and you will continue to have access to ROH Stream through to the end of the Promotion Period, at which point it will automatically cease. [Payments are non-refundable and, except where expressly set out in these T&Cs, we do not provide refunds or credits or any partial subscription periods.] 

Please note that the following Promotion Terms shall apply during the Promotion Period in conjunction with the ROH Stream Terms and Conditions. If any conflict arises between these Promotion Terms and the ROH Stream Terms and Conditions, the former shall take precedence only during the Promotion Period at which point the ROH Stream Terms and Conditions shall take precedence.  

Please read these Terms carefully, as you will be agreeing to them by taking part in this Promotion. 

Promotion Terms 

11.1. Upon starting your subscription, you will receive the Promotion under which you may access and/or use ROH Stream and all available ROH Content free of charge. 

11.2. Upon the expiry of the Promotion, your account will automatically continue in accordance with the ROH Stream Terms and Conditions and the Subscription Fee shall become payable in accordance with the subscription cycle chosen when you created your account. 

11.3. The Promotion may not be used in conjunction with any other offer. 

11.4. This Promotion is only made available to our members and as such you must not advertise, promote or inform any other individuals of its existence. 

11.5. We reserve the right to withdraw the offer of the Promotion at any time. 

11.6. The Promotion and these terms will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England. 

Box Office Information

You can contact the Box Office by email at boxoffice@roh.org.uk.

These terms are governed by English law and wherever you live you can bring claims against us in the English courts. If you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring claims against us in the courts of the country you live in. We can claim against you in the courts of the country you live in.

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Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales (Company number 480523) Charity Registered (Number 211775)