Cinema Ticket pricing.. a bit like Railway tickets

[Mudball]

Went to watch Solo the new Start Wars spin off. 2 adult + 1 kid for Bank Holiday night
Tried to buy ticket
1) Online price at my local 'semi-independent' cinema = £27
2) Online at Vue = £20
3) Rocked up at the same vue and bought it at the kiosk= £17

At 27 quid you can see why smaller chains are dying out. I am yet to figure out why Vue online is more expensive than onsite. Surely companies are trying to push people to buy online as the cost to serve is cheaper. I thought train tickets pricing was mad..

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Not sure if Vue is the same as Cineworld, but Cineworld have an online booking fee, maybe that accounts for that variation.

 

[GB72]

It is confusing as hell and part of the reason that I have given up on the Cinema to a large extent. Last time I checked I was looking at an afternoon weekend performance and they wanted £27 for my wife and me. Really is just too expensive to be worth the effort.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Vue is my local cinema and I think they are great. Variations can occur for different reasons but for starters Bank Holidays lose all discount offers, worse day to go on. They also have souped up screens, they call them Xtreme, which means bigger screen, louder noise, more expensive tickets. I never go to one of these.

Register online on their website and become a member. They can you a password which means you can go on a Monday at a cheap rate, not Bank Holiday Mondays though. It varies around the country but at my Vue it is £3.99 on a Monday night as a Vue member.


Next time you are looking at insurance go through Compare the Market, get the Meerkats 2 for 1 and that means you can go on a Tuesday or Wednesday for half price, assuming there are 2 of you. I'm going to Deadpool 2 tonight, £8.99 for 2 of us.

I am surprised at the comment about being more expensive online. On their website they state always cheaper online. Perhaps when you bought online you did not tick the right box for the child but at the cinema they put your child in the correct category and so you got a cheaper ticket.

Incidentally, £17 for 3 people to go to the cinema sounds pretty cheap to me. Even £20 is not bad, £6.67 for 2.5-3hrs entertainment. £17 sounds more like 2 tickets and the child went in for free, did you hide him / her under a coat?

 

[Mudball]

Vue is my local cinema and I think they are great. Variations can occur for different reasons but for starters Bank Holidays lose all discount offers, worse day to go on. They also have souped up screens, they call them Xtreme, which means bigger screen, louder noise, more expensive tickets. I never go to one of these.

Register online on their website and become a member. They can you a password which means you can go on a Monday at a cheap rate, not Bank Holiday Mondays though. It varies around the country but at my Vue it is £3.99 on a Monday night as a Vue member.


Next time you are looking at insurance go through Compare the Market, get the Meerkats 2 for 1 and that means you can go on a Tuesday or Wednesday for half price, assuming there are 2 of you. I'm going to Deadpool 2 tonight, £8.99 for 2 of us.

I am surprised at the comment about being more expensive online. On their website they state always cheaper online. Perhaps when you bought online you did not tick the right box for the child but at the cinema they put your child in the correct category and so you got a cheaper ticket.

Incidentally, £17 for 3 people to go to the cinema sounds pretty cheap to me. Even £20 is not bad, £6.67 for 2.5-3hrs entertainment. £17 sounds more like 2 tickets and the child went in for free, did you hide him / her under a coat?

I think the VUE we went to also does 5.99 on Monday nights but not really an option since it is a school night. Vue online has 0.75 booking fee per ticket and when we bought it at the kiosk it does not apply the the booking fee.. I agree that at £17ish it is good value but 27 is not.

Unfortuantely, went to the all you can eat Chinese next door before the movie, watching Solo after that was a pain..

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I think the VUE we went to also does 5.99 on Monday nights but not really an option since it is a school night. Vue online has 0.75 booking fee per ticket and when we bought it at the kiosk it does not apply the the booking fee.. I agree that at £17ish it is good value but 27 is not.

Unfortuantely, went to the all you can eat Chinese next door before the movie, watching Solo after that was a pain..

Interesting about the booking fee. I'm pretty sure the pricing at ours does not change. Maybe it is different depending on location, for starters we are £3.99 on a Monday, you are £5.99. We are in rural Northumberland so perhaps they have to work harder to get bodies through the door.

My daughter wanted to see Infinity Wars on its first day, "a Friday, have you gone mad?". My wife told me I was tight, it was the first time in about 3 years that I have paid full price on a cinema ticket. It was agony . At least I dodged the Xtreme showing, ha ha.

 

[Blue in Munich]

If you are a regular, see if Vue or Cineworld do anything similar to Odeon's Limitless scheme; either a monthly DD or a one off lump sum and go as often as you like, quite literally Limitless. Our first year we got it down to £3 per film. :thup:

 

[MegaSteve]

If you are a regular, see if Vue or Cineworld do anything similar to Odeon's Limitless scheme; either a monthly DD or a one off lump sum and go as often as you like, quite literally Limitless. Our first year we got it down to £3 per film. :thup:

Cineworld do a scheme similar to Odeon... Don't believe there's any extra to pay for 3D or IMAX screenings... Lad has a card... Not sure he's quite got it down to £3 a viewing mind...

As a veteran I get to watch for zip... Using my bus pass, for travel, it's a cheap afternoon out aside from the popcorn...

 

[Mudball]

Unfortunately, dont watch enuf at the cinema to justify a membership (a bit like not playing enuf golf at the mo). We have a VUE and Odeon 10 miles away in either direction. One of the other things I realised was that the parking near VUE is free if we go for the late evening show while parking near Odeon still cost 0-5 quid. So clear direction on which way to go. All these things (plus Netflix, Amazon etc) keep killing town centers and councils wonder why people dont visit anymore.

 

[Papas1982]

If you are a regular, see if Vue or Cineworld do anything similar to Odeon's Limitless scheme; either a monthly DD or a one off lump sum and go as often as you like, quite literally Limitless. Our first year we got it down to £3 per film. :thup:

Odeon actually followed the lead of Cineworld. Missus is a manager of one (odeon), as it's a smaller branch it's got reduced pricing so the limitless struggles. Unfortunately prices are lead by distributers, they'll limit what they'll allow chains to show if they got get favourable terms.

They make their money on food. With a small amount from the films. Usually no more than 25% but on some they receive none.

In regards to the booming fee, I think it's their way of covering the amount of people that buy concession tickets as prices are rarely challenged on the door by staff.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Odeon actually followed the lead of Cineworld. Missus is a manager of one (odeon), as it's a smaller branch it's got reduced pricing so the limitless struggles. Unfortunately prices are lead by distributers, they'll limit what they'll allow chains to show if they got get favourable terms.

They make their money on food. With a small amount from the films. Usually no more than 25% but on some they receive none.

In regards to the booming fee, I think it's their way of covering the amount of people that buy concession tickets as prices are rarely challenged on the door by staff.

The downside of living in Surrey is that nobody understands reduced pricing :rofl: It's an absolute boon here; never seen anything below £21 quid for a pair in our membership period and we are now into our 3rd year, these days it's never below £25 per pair Basically 3 films every 2 months and you're saving money.

Another upside of the scheme is that you are happier going to see some films that you aren't sure about as you're not bothered about having wasted the money because you know you'll finish up ahead over the year.

 

[Papas1982]

The downside of living in Surrey is that nobody understands reduced pricing :rofl: It's an absolute boon here; never seen anything below £21 quid for a pair in our membership period and we are now into our 3rd year, these days it's never below £25 per pair Basically 3 films every 2 months and you're saving money.

Another upside of the scheme is that you are happier going to see some films that you aren't sure about as you're not bothered about having wasted the money because you know you'll finish up ahead over the year.

When limitless came in, Odeon prices were nationwide and the scheme sold itself. Like you say, prices are crazy now!

When I go back to Southampton to visit, it’ll be £15a ticket, then £3 for a blockbuster, £3 for premium And a further £3 if it’s imax or 3D!

The only credit I’ll give Odeon, is that they don’t restrict you taking your own goodies in.

 

[Orikoru]

Incredibly, the Vue in Harrow is still under 7 quid for a ticket. Or it was the other week when we saw Deadpool 2 on a Sunday anyway. I don't know why that particularly Vue is cheaper than most of the others.