h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Maybe I am lucky.

My local cinema (Broadway, Letchworth) charges £4.50 for an adult from Monday morning, through to Friday afternoon. From Friday 5 p.m. it is £6.90. (3D extra)


Great cinema, seats are ok, foyer looks great and the outside looks 1920's.

Last night because of time, Mrs PP and I went to Stevenage. This one is a modern soulless hangar divvied up into mini-barns. It is comfortable enough, but is a collection of nearly a million screens and therefore has loads of start times, which is why we went there to see Dark Shadows last night.

The Orange Wednesday deal was unavailable because Orange were having problems.

So we were asked for £9.10 each. We left.

What does your local cinema charge? Is it reasonable?

PP

That is a lot! Unless it's a special screen/VIP seating etc. Bristol ranges (for standard seating in standard screens) from about £7 to £8.50 depending on the time of day and which cinema you go to. Sadly our local odeon (the Odious as I call it now) is a bit of a flea-pit these days and charges more than the giant showcase deluxe that opened not quarter of a mile away in the regenerated shopping mall.

Unless I'm really feeling flush, Orange Wednesdays is the only way to go, and I usually accompany this with a quick visit to a nearby pound shop or similar for treats and drinks. Again, unless I'm feeling REALLY rich, I can't let alone won't pay £4 for a drink and a similar price for a measly bit of sausage in a dry bun.

We have to. A renovated in town cinema called "Reel". It is normally £4.20 for a twodeed film and £5.20 for a threed film.

On Mondays and Wednesdays it is £3.20 for twodeed, and on tuesday and thursday in all if oyu have a recent bus ticket.

We also have a massive Vue multiplex right next to my house, which these days just because it is in easy walking distance I go to more often. Ticket prices range from about £6 before 17:00 on a school night to about a a tenner for a prime time weekend showing.

When both were a pain in the arse to get to I used to us Reel almost exclusively but TBH I normally go multiplex now just because it is only 5 minutes away.

FB

Our local cinema (now we've moved) is less than £6 per ticket if you book online. Before we moved, we'd be paying £9 at the Trafford Centre or £8 at the Printworks in Manchester.

It's ridiculous. Especially when you fall into the popcorn trap too.

At both the Cinemas in Plymouth it costs *more* if oyu book online.

Always seem utterly preposterous to me this. Surely it is cheaper for them if I book my tickets on line than if I have to be manually served?

FB

Ridiculous. I take it there's a ridiculous "booking fee" involved?

Yeah, 60p per ticket.

Per blooming ticket.

FB

Ridiculous.

I can't stand booking fees. Luckily, with web tickets at Cineworld delivered to your phone as a QR code, they've realised they can't get away with charging for sending you an email.

Unlike SOME people...

http://goo.gl/9AptB

I refuse to use online booking because of the booking fee -FOR THEIR OWN TICKETS!!!

I don't mind if it's actually a third party business doing the selling for them - but it isn't so I can't see how it's justified. I use the same card when I walk up to the till so it can't be the transaction fee.



Anyway, first and foremost. My commiserations for having to live in Letchworth

Secondly, here in Cardiff the prices are similar to that charged in Stevenage, although no quite. You get savagely robbed if you dare to go to their IMAX screen for a full 3D film though, I suspect this is to make you think you're getting a good deal otherwise.

I also can't understand why people would waste their money on the poor quality tripe they serve up at cinemas that masquerades as food. I don't feel the need to eat when I watch a film at home, so why the cinema. I'll go for a beer before or after, that'll do.
Even if I was tempted by their hotdogs or whatever, I certainly won't pay the absurd price they charge for it.

I suspect I'm not their ideal customer.

I think SWL has some amusing anecdoets about that from memory of a previous flicks related convo.

FB

Thanks. I escaped to Hitchin though. There were at least 2 cinemas in Hitchin, possibly 3 way back but now there are none. I still like the cinema in Letchworth, but that's about it.

PP

I used to work for a construction company and built many cinemas. it started with the Warner West End in Leicester Square and moved on to several other Warner cinemas up & down the country. They then merged with Village cinemas of Australia and are now known as Vue I believe.

One offshoot of the Warner management was two of the main players left Warners and set up Cineworld and we built most of their cinemas also including the one at Stevenage.

I then got head Hunted to work for another cinema outfit from Australia who built & operated the one at Bluewater but they were too late into the European market and sold up. I left and went to Barbados to work.

As I recall the prices are generally fixed by the Film distributors the exhibitors i.e. the cinemas only get a small fraction of the ticket price. the cinemas rely on the popcorn, coke etc. for their profits and when you consider the actual cost of a coke the profit is in the 1,000's per-cent same for popcorn.

When I saw Dark Shadows earlier this week it was £6.90 at AMC Great Northern. I like it as a cinema: they do a deal whereby if you go to a film before noon, or after 11 PM on a Friday-Sunday, it's only £4. We have taken advantage of this deal on a few occasions, either as a spur-of-the-moment decision after a few drinks (The Muppets happened this way) or as a plan, but preceded by a meal out somewhere (as we did with Avengers Assemble). Sadly, they are discontinuing their loyalty card, but I'll keep going as it's still cheaper than the Printworks Odeon.

You're welcome PinkPaisley, I had the pleasure of growing up in that part of the world. Hitchin is not a bad choice around there.

Cineworld here is £5 ish for a student ticket. i *usually* only buy a large slush puppy, as a) it's red fanta flavoured and b) it lasts the whole film. We do tend to smuggle in contraband sweeties and/or snacks, but nothing excessive.

mini

Our nearest 'safe'* in Newport, South Wales is now charing £8 for a film after 5pm, £7 before 5pm.

Bargain Tuesdays are £4.50.

I've recently found that one of the theaters in Monmouth shows reasonably new releases for £5 and it's much closer to us.

* 'safe' as in we won't get abuse hurled at us when we go there from the little darlings B used to teach in his previous job.

I'd forgotten about that thread - some good contributions from others too http://www.h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/F2264198?thread=4552954

We gave up on hiding the snacks we brought into the cinema years ago. It seemed clandestine when I was a teenager, but I don't think I've even once been challenged by cinema staff.

>>* 'safe' as in we won't get abuse hurled at us when we go there from the little darlings B used to teach in his previous job.<<

Comforting to know that happens to other people and not just me. The most convenient and cheapest cinema for me and most of my social circle is the one in the centre of Bradford however we can't go there because of the crap I get. That one is £5.70 or £4.50 with a student card which is pretty reasonable.

After that it's one of the Leeds cinemas which charges £6.50/5.50 for students but you can upgrade to bigger, comfier seats for an extra 1.50 which I do if it's a long or popular film. Went down to London a few months back and when the guy gave me the price (something like 15 quid for a student ticket on a Friday evening) I laughed in his face and walked out.

Oh and as for snacks, cinemas only expect a quarter of people to actually buy stuff and they make most of their money from couples and families. If you're just going with friends they won't expect you to buy their over-priced wares.

I just put stuff under my coat in my rucksack: on the rare occasions they've asked to open my bag and I've let them, all they see is coat. They have no right to search you, so ignore anyone who says they do, but they do have the right to chuck someone out without giving a reason.