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ForumsDiscussion Forum → What is the point of assigned-seating movie theaters?
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What is the point of assigned-seating movie theaters?
2008-07-19, 8:14 PM #1
Yesterday I attempted to watch the Dark Knight. They recently closed the old movie theater at the place I was going to and opened a new one, which has assigned seating (i.e. you have to select your seat when buying your ticket, sporting event style). All seats cost the same amount of money.

What's more, if you get there late (i.e. try to skip the previews), they won't let you in. They won't "seat you" as soon as the time hits the movie start time. Thus, I got there several minutes late and was denied admission, with the explanation that "the movie has started and there are no seats left". This makes no sense to me because I'm holding a ticket that I bought several days ago which corresponds to a reserved, assigned seat. I ended up getting a voucher to be used for another movie in on a future date.


:confused:

Thoughts, or post other apparently nonsensical policies.
一个大西瓜
2008-07-19, 8:16 PM #2
That's awful and I can't see how that benefits them at all. You should complain to the manager and/or the company that owns the theatre.
Why do the heathens rage behind the firehouse?
2008-07-19, 8:22 PM #3
That's one of the dumbest things I've ever read.
Pissed Off?
2008-07-19, 8:28 PM #4
Did you contest it? Did you speak with the manager?

I honestly hope you did and didn't just go home after that with your head below your shoulders. Especially seeing how much tickets cost these days.
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
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2008-07-19, 8:30 PM #5
assigned seat is nonsense... not allowing someone in a little late is also nonsense
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2008-07-19, 8:30 PM #6
o_o thats weird.

I hate when people are noisy on the way in / talk during the movie.

The only benefit i can see is being able to sit next to your friends. Even then, I rarely have a problem getting seats sitting next to my friends
[01:52] <~Nikumubeki> Because it's MBEGGAR BEGS LIKE A BEGONI.
2008-07-19, 8:33 PM #7
Originally posted by mb:
The only benefit i can see is being able to sit next to your friends.


buying ticket in advance to get the optimal seating position too... but that's solved by arriving early enough to get the seat you want or picking a time when nobody else will be there
eat right, exercise, die anyway
2008-07-19, 8:36 PM #8
Originally posted by mb:

The only benefit i can see is being able to sit next to your friends.


On the flip-side, you could be forced to sit next to people you don't want near you.
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
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2008-07-19, 11:31 PM #9
The latter one is incredibly rude, but the first one? ...

How can anyone see that as a bad thing? Urgh.
Star Wars: TODOA | DXN - Deus Ex: Nihilum
2008-07-19, 11:35 PM #10
Assigned seating? Seriously? The benefits of that can't possibly outweigh the annoyances to the customer. I hate it in theaters when you have to set right next to a stranger. In a movie that's not packed, you can at least spread out.
2008-07-20, 2:27 AM #11
We always have assigned seating except in the summer. I really don't see the problem with assigned seating.
Looks like we're not going down after all, so nevermind.
2008-07-20, 6:47 AM #12
You assign seats at sports games?

We only do that at theatres to my knowledge.
nope.
2008-07-20, 7:01 AM #13
I really like it when people show up late and then ask everybody to move so they can sit where they want.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 7:02 AM #14
Nobody does that.
nope.
2008-07-20, 7:18 AM #15
Originally posted by FastGamerr:
The latter one is incredibly rude, but the first one? ...


Rude? There ARE people who, sitting next to, disrupt your movie-experience. Like a group of buddies who chat among each other during the showing. People who put their feet up on the seat infront. People who strangely like to make noises with their food such as shaking the box of candies before eating them at every moment of consumption. Getting up and moving to another seat seems like the least rude, most civil thing to do.
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2008-07-20, 7:44 AM #16
Originally posted by Baconfish:
Nobody does that.


Liberals do that.
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. " - Bertrand Russell
The Triumph of Stupidity in Mortals and Others 1931-1935
2008-07-20, 9:00 AM #17
Originally posted by Baconfish:
Nobody does that.


You know how there's usually several wasted seats per row because most people like to have at least an empty between them and people they don't know? So it seems reasonable that if a couple is trying to find a seat together they might ask some people to move over a seat to make room. Well, I have seen where people walk in late to a crowded movie, then ask people to slide and then end up with prime seats directly centered on the screen.

I think arriving late to skip previews is stupid if it's a popular new release because then you're hosed on getting decent seats. I generally plan on being at the theater at least half an hour early depending on the show. I arrived at a noon thirty showing of Batman on Friday about 15 minutes before the show and still got decent seats. The theater was pretty full for a weekday matinee that early. I also like watching the previews but the commercials do get irritating.

Now if a theater has assigned seating and a policy against seating late, I don't see any problem with that. I must say, though, that I'm split on the idea. That policy rewards early ticket buyers but not necessarily early arrivers. You could show up an hour before the show and still get terrible seats. I think it would be better if it were assigned areas and the tickets varied in price. Still, what is the point unless it is a sell out show anyway?

Whatever. I guess I still like the first come, first served the best.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 9:19 AM #18
Normally they only enforce the assigned seats if it's busy. Unless they suck or something.

At the local cinema they don't even open the doors until the stated ticket time, and I hate missing trailers.
Detty. Professional Expert.
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2008-07-20, 10:54 AM #19
No they want you to show up on time or early so you can watch commercials/previews. If people start showing up late to "skip previews/commercials" then no revenue is generated! So they start enforcing when you show up so that you have to watch the commericals/previews.

Well it made sense in my head, damnit!
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2008-07-20, 11:03 AM #20
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
No they want you to show up on time or early so you can watch commercials/previews. If people start showing up late to "skip previews/commercials" then no revenue is generated!


What about the ticket prices? And the insane costs of food at the lobbies?
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
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2008-07-20, 11:04 AM #21
Assigned seating is designed to segregrate the annoying fat people that wheeze and eat the entire time away from the people that go to enjoy the movie.
2008-07-20, 11:06 AM #22
Originally posted by ECHOMAN:
What about the ticket prices? And the insane costs of food at the lobbies?

Greed is a powerful motivator. If people are willing to dish out for all things theater, then why not try to milk them for even more?
Code to the left of him, code to the right of him, code in front of him compil'd and thundered. Programm'd at with shot and $SHELL. Boldly he typed and well. Into the jaws of C. Into the mouth of PERL. Debug'd the 0x258.
2008-07-20, 11:10 AM #23
Originally posted by ECHOMAN:
What about the ticket prices? And the insane costs of food at the lobbies?


He already basically conceeded that his point really only made sense in his head.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 11:10 AM #24
Do you think the production companies let movie theatres show the movies you're watching for free?

Let me ask you this, how is it that antenna TV and terrestrial radio are still free?

Advertisements. The more tickets they sell, the more people that arrive on time, the more people they can prove have seen a particular ad, the more money they recieve or the less money it costs to show a movie.

They also have to pay for the facilities, the equipment, the employees.

Everyone thinks movie theatres are super duper money land, and I guess they are. But they also cost ALOT OF ****ING MONEY to run.
2008-07-20, 11:10 AM #25
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
Profit is a powerful motivator. If people are willing to dish out for all things theater, then why not try to milk them for even more?


Fixed.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 11:15 AM #26
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
No they want you to show up on time or early so you can watch commercials/previews. If people start showing up late to "skip previews/commercials" then no revenue is generated! So they start enforcing when you show up so that you have to watch the commericals/previews.

Well it made sense in my head, damnit!


yeah it makes sense, but isn't that twisted or what?! :hist101:
"NAILFACE" - spe
2008-07-20, 11:18 AM #27
Originally posted by JediGandalf:
Greed is a powerful motivator. If people are willing to dish out for all things theater, then why not try to milk them for even more?


True. I guess the only real factor "stopping" them is if consumers get turned away from the policies, costumer satisfaction goes down and the theater loses money. Or if there is a rival theater nearby. Yes, I like to state the obvious.
SnailIracing:n(500tpostshpereline)pants
-----------------------------@%
2008-07-20, 11:26 AM #28
Originally posted by Seb:
yeah it makes sense, but isn't that twisted or what?! :hist101:


It does not make sense because, as Rob basically said, the ticket sales are what count. If ad revenue is dependant on how many people view them, that figure will be based on ticket sales. It's not like somebody is taking an actual head count when the ads start rolling.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 11:52 AM #29
Opening weekend for a movie, generally at least 90% of our income from ticket sales goes straight to the production company, and the following weeks that percentage decrements. This is why concession prices are so high, and are the real money-maker for theaters.
2008-07-20, 11:56 AM #30
ding ding ding ding ding ding

We have a winner. Select a prize from the 36cent shelf good sir.
2008-07-20, 12:35 PM #31
What I would like to know is why ticket prices seem so much higher in large cities compared to smaller towns. I wouldn't think the smaller theaters pay less per person to the production companies.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 12:37 PM #32
Originally posted by Wookie06:
What I would like to know is why ticket prices seem so much higher in large cities compared to smaller towns. I wouldn't think the smaller theaters pay less per person to the production companies.


The overhead in a big city is more. I always thought they payed for that mostly with expensive candy, but apparantly not.
Epstein didn't kill himself.
2008-07-20, 12:47 PM #33
Originally posted by Wookie06:
What I would like to know is why ticket prices seem so much higher in large cities compared to smaller towns. I wouldn't think the smaller theaters pay less per person to the production companies.


Because larger facilities that see more use probably cost more to run.

Or it could be the same reason why McDonalds in Poorsdale costs less than McDonalds in Silverspoon Place
2008-07-20, 2:01 PM #34
Originally posted by Rob:
Because larger facilities that see more use probably cost more to run.

Or it could be the same reason why McDonalds in Poorsdale costs less than McDonalds in Silverspoon Place


I'm pretty sure McDonalds costs the same everywhere.
nope.
2008-07-20, 2:24 PM #35
I still think the best movie theater business plan would be to install at least one or two bathrooms inside each theater, with monitors for viewing and speakers for sound. This would also increase concession sales because people won't be afraid of buying a big drink and having to leave the theater to go to the bathroom halfway through.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2008-07-20, 2:28 PM #36
That is a really good idea Emon. They could be small, single-person bathrooms too and it wouldn't matter.
2008-07-20, 4:14 PM #37
Originally posted by Rob:
Because larger facilities that see more use probably cost more to run.

Or it could be the same reason why McDonalds in Poorsdale costs less than McDonalds in Silverspoon Place


I've thought about that. Definitely possible. Hard to know without having a greater understanding of the operation.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-07-20, 4:32 PM #38
I think McDonald's franchises have to follow the prices set by the corporation.
一个大西瓜
2008-07-20, 5:33 PM #39
I've seen variations in McDonald's prices...
2008-07-20, 5:35 PM #40
they dont unless its 99 cent value menu/whatever the ad of the week is/desserts.

rest stop mcdonalds on the freeway costs more than one in town.
My girlfriend paid a lot of money for that tv; I want to watch ALL OF IT. - JM
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