Cinema seats - what’s the etiquette?

[Pawpatrol21]

Really embarrassed to say I don’t know the answer to this but when I was younger and going cinema in my town everyone would sit where they wanted and didn’t look at seat numbers.

When I go with husband people do tend to sit where the seat says so what is the actual cinema etiquette? Do you sit where the number on ticket says or sit anywhere? If anyone in your seat do you tell them to move?

I assume you sit where the seat indicates as you choose the seats nowadays whereas before they would just allocate.

I sit on my seats. I do pick them up in advance so I would tell people to move🙈

Sit in allocated seats if someone is in your seats you ask them to move.

Enjoy.

I sit on the seats I booked much like a train

I think it depends on how busy the cinema is but I would say that if you have tickets with selected seats, then it would be rude to sit elsewhere until after everyone has sat down. Why book seats you don't want and then sit elsewhere? Why not select the seats you want when booking? If people have selected certain seats for a reason then they would have every reason to be annoyed with you

If the seat numbers are on your tickets, you sit in those seats.

What an odd question. You sit where you've booked.

Have been to the cinema (Vue) a few times since they reopened post Covid, there are lots is signs reminding you to sit in your booked seat, and on each occasion there have been staff in the theatre during the ads/trailers to check.

NB I am in Scotland where we still have social distancing requirements

That’s a relief so I have a right to ask people to move if they in my seat? What if they refuse what do you do then? Sorry I have terrible anxiety snd like to be prepared!

Of course you sit in your allocated seats, what a strange question 😆

You sit where you’ve booked. Different seats have different prices, and some may have booked based on where other people were sitting.

It’s simple. You should only sit where your allocated seats are. If you can’t book in advance enough to get good seats then try cinemas with premier seating. The premier seating nearly always tends to be in the best places in terms of position.

You sit in the seat on your ticket. They even confirm your row and number as they check your ticket & send you in in our place.
We did once have someone in the wrong seat, they didn’t like that the only tickets left were in the front row but they soon shifted.

When I was younger it was sit anywhere too, they didn’t even have numbers in those days and they had an interval where a lady came in with a tray of ice creams for you to get up and go and queue to buy. I know it sounds like I’m 70 but I’m not even 50 yet!

If they refuse to move go and get a member of staff but it won’t happen, you will be fine.

Allocated seats. Especially now, they leave an empty seat between every 2 seats at my local cinema, was there last night.

Sit in allocated seat that you paid for
If it’s occupied, notify staff ask them to move the other patrons

I doubt anyone will be in your seats, at least not deliberately. I've never come across except a mistake where they have apologised and happily moved

I book the seats I want well in advance then tell people to move. It has only happened a few times over the years. It's either a mistake or chancers. No one has ever tried to stay seated and I'd find a staff member if they did. I don't plan things early so that someone else can nab the peachy seats while I cry into my popcorn in Row A!

Worked in cinema for years. Nothing more painful than having to reseat loads of people because someone has sat in wrong seat then it become like a chain reaction on people sitting in wrong seat until inevitably someone is late, wants their seat and someone is sat in it.

When I went recently I paid for standard seats but the numbers were for the gallery which confused me but we sat in them even though I thought I’d got it wrong. I agree If someone is in your seat it’s probably a mistake.

Yeah when I was a kid I remember you just 'bought seats' and it didn't make a difference, you sat wherever, but these days you pick them on a map, you can pay extra for better ones, so you need to sit where you're given.

I don't think I've ever seen someone looking at the seat number. But if someone is in your seat and you don't want to sit elsewhere, just say "I think you're in my seat, I booked XY"

I'm in Scotland too and we qe the to the cinema to see Space jam last week. There were kids in our seats with the mother who wouldn't move. We ended up sitting in their seats which was at the end of the aisle closest to the loo so it worked out OK but I get passed off by the entitled attitude.

*pissed

One of my fondest memories is of the time that I lived in Berlin. There was a group of trailing spouses and we used to meet up and go to the cinema every so often. There was one cinema that was 'original language' close to where most of us lived so it often had English language films.

It was ticketed seats and we were a bit late in once, the ad reel had already started. There were 10 of us and everybody else had obviously felt free to spread out into our row of empty seats. So we sent the most assertive of us in to shift them. They said to her that there were people sitting in their seats, she told them to tell them to move. It was a full house and by the time we sat down we had at least a quarter of the cinema in motion finding their correct seat and moving people on to find their correct seat. It was very funny.

Esp now your to sit in the seats you pick when you book. They leave gaps in between for distancing, although not sure if this has changed recently.

Don't be that twat who think they can sit where they like when there is allocated seating. If your too slow to book good seats e.g. in the middle of the screen tough luck.

At least allocated seating takes away the faffing that would go on with groups loving about cos one or two didn't like the view.