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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Vue Cinemas should have left their seats as they were and stayed at £4.99?!

157 replies

LydiaDeets · 22/08/2022 00:21

Manchester Vue has been £4.99 for as long as I can remember.
We have an Odeon and Cineworld closer to us but they are both £10 per adult ticket.

We always make the longer journey to view as a family of 6 it's way more affordable. £30 still seems pricey for a movie but we have meerkat tickets so usually go on a Wednesday and save a further few quid.

They've now refurbished and put in reclining chairs.

Tickets are £10 now 😩 That's £60 for us to see a film!
.
I think the £4.99 tickets were their biggest draw, considering all the other cinemas were double.

In the current climate where people are struggling I think most would prefer to pay a fiver to see a film in a normal seat!

If they wanted to pay a tenner for a fancy seat they have odeon, Cineworld

AIBU to think Vue have just shot themselves in the foot by taking away the only advantage they had over competitors, being half the price.

Now they've lost our custom completely as if we are paying a tenner we may as well go to one of the others.

OP posts:
Valhalla17 · 22/08/2022 00:24

Tickets are fine (£8.99 where i am in london), but there should be a reduction when buying more than 2 tickets....and what SHOULD be reduced is the cost of popcorn and drinks...such a rip off

Original poster
LydiaDeets · 22/08/2022 00:27

For the prices to double in a few days seems mad.
We NEVER buy food and drinks, we take our own and have never had anyone say anything.
We simply cannot afford it.

I don't think we will be seeing many films from now on :(

OP posts:
mycatisannoying · 22/08/2022 00:27

Valhalla17 · 22/08/2022 00:24

Tickets are fine (£8.99 where i am in london), but there should be a reduction when buying more than 2 tickets....and what SHOULD be reduced is the cost of popcorn and drinks...such a rip off

It's how they make their money; on food and drink, as opposed to the films themselves.

mycatisannoying · 22/08/2022 00:28

Not that I ever buy it there, of course! Grin

Silverswirl · 22/08/2022 00:32

You have been lucky to have a vue to go to. We don’t have one anywhere near us dispite being near a major town. Odeon and cineworld only. Family of 5 is £54 unless you go to a movies for juniors film at 10am on the weekend.
Safe to say we don’t go to the cinema much

pd339 · 22/08/2022 00:34

Sadly I think you've answered your own question. They'd rather attract the people who don't mind buying overpriced food than people like you who make their own. There's no profit in you.

Clymene · 22/08/2022 00:36

I think they've timed this absolutely catastrophically. Doubling the price of cinema tickets at a time when recession is starting to bite means people will just stop going.

Original poster
LydiaDeets · 22/08/2022 00:42

pd339 · 22/08/2022 00:34

Sadly I think you've answered your own question. They'd rather attract the people who don't mind buying overpriced food than people like you who make their own. There's no profit in you.

But surely that's a very small percentage of the demographic? Especially now and in the coming months.

Even people that usually have a good disposable income are going to be tightening their belts.

Wouldn't it be better to continue bringing in big crowds with cheap tickets than to price most people out and rely on a small percentage of those who can afford tickets to spend big at the food counter?

OP posts:
KenAdams · 22/08/2022 00:44

That's one of the consequences of having a family of 6 though isn't it? Surely it's the same for most things if you have a large family?

Original poster
LydiaDeets · 22/08/2022 00:46

KenAdams · 22/08/2022 00:44

That's one of the consequences of having a family of 6 though isn't it? Surely it's the same for most things if you have a large family?

Yep. I was thinking of selling a couple of them to fund cinema trips and Starbucks but I hear the market is pretty shit right now, due to the economy. Urgh.

OP posts:
SkankingWombat · 22/08/2022 00:47

mycatisannoying · 22/08/2022 00:27

It's how they make their money; on food and drink, as opposed to the films themselves.

Show quote history

But do they make their money on it? Everyone I know brings their own because it is so outrageously expensive. If it was more reasonably priced more people would buy it to reduce the hassle factor of going out to buy then portioning out the snacks in advance (I know I would!). They would make less per sale, but more overall.

Original poster
LydiaDeets · 22/08/2022 00:49

My point is, regardless of the size of my family it was affordable and now its not because its doubled due to fancy seats. Many families will be in the same situation and stop going, which is a real shame as so much these days is unaffordable.

OP posts:
Original poster
LydiaDeets · 22/08/2022 00:52

SkankingWombat · 22/08/2022 00:47

But do they make their money on it? Everyone I know brings their own because it is so outrageously expensive. If it was more reasonably priced more people would buy it to reduce the hassle factor of going out to buy then portioning out the snacks in advance (I know I would!). They would make less per sale, but more overall.

Show quote history

I think so too.

I mean Home bargains must make a small profit on their sweets. So why can't the cinemas make say 15% more and it's a win win. Cheap tickets, cheap sweets.

It would be absolutely packed surely?

Those packets of fruit pastilles that are £1 were £3.99. How is that justified?

If they were £1.50 if probably buy them. For 3.99 they'll stay on the shelf till Nelson gets his eye back!

OP posts:
Essexgirlupnorth · 22/08/2022 00:55

Well cineworld has just announced they are going to administration so I doubt £4.99 prices are substantiable and they have been doing it up for a while. We only tend to go to that Vue if we were in the city centre anyway once we have factored in tram fare or parking.
We are 3 mobile and a £3 ticket to use at weekend so we do that or meerkat. Groupon often have cheaper tickets for odeon.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 22/08/2022 01:05

I see your point but I love the fancy seats so much!

HobnobsChoice · 22/08/2022 01:13

It changed to Vue in 2017 so it's not been that long and it definitely wasn't £5 a ticket when they first opened. Looking on the website not all tickets at £10, the cheapest is 7.99. Still a big increase but a little cheaper for you to go. All costs are going up, their rent and staffing will be higher. Cinemas almost always lose money on the films and make profit from the concessions stand, even with lower prices Vue was rarely packed.

Unicorn2022 · 22/08/2022 01:18

We often go to the Odeon kids or Vue mini mornings showings on Saturday mornings. You have to wait a few more weeks to see a film but it's only £2.50 per person

user1471457751 · 22/08/2022 01:51

Some tickets at my local vue are £7.99, it depends on seat location maybe yours is the same.

I also choose our vue over odeon. For £2 more a ticket I get the reclining seat, a better view of the screen due to a decent incline and space between me and the next person. Our odeon hasn't been refurbished is over 15 years and is incredibly cramped and unpleasant. The move to all recliner seats has, I think, really benefitted Vue in my town.

haveiever · 22/08/2022 01:56

the irony of you complaining that the cinema have put their prices up in the same breath as saying you bring your own food because you won’t buy theirs 🙄

SkankingWombat · 22/08/2022 02:40

haveiever · 22/08/2022 01:56

the irony of you complaining that the cinema have put their prices up in the same breath as saying you bring your own food because you won’t buy theirs 🙄

I would happily buy their popcorn if it was £3 a bag. The same amount costs £1 in the supermarket (who, like OP said, must make a profit at that price), but I'm happy to pay 3 times more for the convenience. I'm not, however, prepared to pay 7.5 times more! The same goes for sweets. In years gone by I did buy it there, but can't justify their prices any more now they've risen out of all proportion.

Vecna · 22/08/2022 03:03

I prefer better seats. Good riddance to the days when I nervously waited to see which man-mountain would sit right in front of me!

I also don't think you can say because shops make a profit selling at x price, the cinema can too. They are different businesses with different costs and different consumer habits.

PeachPRC · 22/08/2022 03:51

SkankingWombat · 22/08/2022 02:40

I would happily buy their popcorn if it was £3 a bag. The same amount costs £1 in the supermarket (who, like OP said, must make a profit at that price), but I'm happy to pay 3 times more for the convenience. I'm not, however, prepared to pay 7.5 times more! The same goes for sweets. In years gone by I did buy it there, but can't justify their prices any more now they've risen out of all proportion.

Show quote history

the point is that OP hasn’t worked out the correlation between customers not spending money on what makes the cinema money and the prices going up

marblemad · 22/08/2022 04:16

I used to go for the Vodafone deal 2 for 6 pounds on vue tickets as it was a flexible offer where the second ticket could be used any time, now I am living back up north I pay £15 a month for my limitless and for the last 3 months have seen 3/4 films a month and saw top gun twice, definitely worth it as the Odeon in my city is the most expensive outside of London

38daystogo · 22/08/2022 04:26

CineWorld looks fancier only slightly and the seats in my local one didn't recline. The vue near me is quite nice agree tickets should of been left at £4.99.

Mini mornings really P me off though can the cinemas not offer a better selection of films? Tight buggers.

rwalker · 22/08/2022 05:59

The problem with selling sweets at home bargain prices
you would need 3 to 4 times as many staff to get the hundreds of people through the checkout in 15 minutes ready for the picture to start
Meaning with the extra staff cost you’d be lucky to get a £10 ticket