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

[LydiaDeets]

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.

I hope that the people enjoying the air con weren’t moaning that the ticket prices should have been cheaper!

I’ve seen a few opinion pieces suggesting that in winter people should go to cinemas and other public spaces to avoid putting the heating on at home. I hope that anyone doing that isn’t demanding that ticket prices are halved because they don’t like paying £10 or whatever.

I rarely go to the big name cinemas like Vue etc anymore as I don't think they are value for money. The last time I went we paid for 'nicer' more comfy seats and they were covered in stains and had lost all their padding.

If you have Sky and the Sky cinema package you can rent a new release for £15 and watch it as many times as you like in 48 hours (which was multiple times for my DD with the Elvis film).

I do however try and support our little local independent cinema/theatre as it is a key part of the local community and holds events, pantos etc. They have a family off peak cinema ticket for £28.00 or an adult ticket is £9.00 and children/students are £7.50. If there is something that we all are really keen to see then we will go there and my DD and her friends go there a fair bit too.

Worth bearing in mind that those recliners aren’t particularly safe, in fact there was a sad fatality last year, hence the warning they now run during the trailers not to reach or stick heads underneath.

If business' don't work, they don't work.

'Twas ever thus.

I can't predict the future of cinema but I know times change. Costs change. Habits change. Expectations and wants change. There are often many factors going on.

Look at Blockbuster and Woolworths .

Maybe Cinema Chains including Vue will turn this current environment around.

Why should there be a reduction for more than 2 @Valhalla17 ? I’m single so can’t take advantage of 2 for 1 offers (in any activity) and generally spend my entire life subsidising groups of people in one way or another.

TBH I’m not sure what the OP is about as they’ve said they can use Meerkat Movies (another promotion which is no good for me) so their tickets are £5 a head which seems reasonable to me.

But it feels like things have to change somewhere.

( posted too soon obvs)

I used to love going to the cinema - really loved it. It was such a cheap enjoyable treat.
Now with the price hikes, I just can't justify going and tbh spending that much to go, takes the shine off. New releases can be £30 for 2 adults to see. I could have 3 months subscription TV for the same price. If they want to continue attracting people to go, the prices need to lower.

Where we live, it's expensive to take a family. Haven't been for a few years now. We only go if it's someone's birthday, and they fancy going. However quite often we prefer to go bowling, and a meal to celebrate. Honestly cannot get over their food prices!!! It's crazy. Surely it's better to charge a small profit, so more people buy them, rather than a huge inflated cost where most people sneak in their own snacks?!

I saw Prima Facie for £7.50 last night at Showcase which has all reclining seats.
A free loyalty card gets you £7.50 films on Sunday evening, all Monday and Tuesday plus 10% back on everything you spend, and other offers, advance screenings, the odd free film, other promotions etc.
I go a lot and consider it a good price, I never buy food or drink though.
I've three more films booked this/next week.

There are very few big budget films being made that are worth spending £10 per person on. When we all get our electricity bills in winter, few families are going to blow £40 (plus snacks) at the cinema, when they can stream it for £10 at home a few weeks later.

Vue would look d have been better to have a mix of seating and pricing options. To me, it's better to make a small amount of money on regular customers and keep the doors open, than to risk your business on fewer, but higher paying customers. That might be fine in normal times but not in a cost of living crisis.

Cinemas that charge a lot are going to need more staff in order to ensure the experience isn't ruined by other peoples noisy teenagers etc, because I can't see people happily spending their money on a pimped up experience and then putting up with noise and kids kicking seats.

Are you sure they've changed all the seats?

Our local Vue took out the very front section of seats and made them recliners but there are still normal seats available too, for the standard price?

Exactly.

The ticket pays for the lease of the film.

Sales of food & drink cover overhead, labour, etc.

I think it's immoral to smuggle in food. Would you do that at a restaurant?

@KosherDill does your local Vue not allow you to bring food in? Ours does. I literally go in holding it, no hiding. Im sure I once read on their website it's permitted.

In fact I'm boring so just checked and it's just hot food and alcohol you aren't permitted to take into Vue.

Are all the chairs reclining?
Our Vue has both so you can pay a bit more for the premium seats or the saver seats are still £4.99.

I used to work for Vue back in my student days and honestly we didn't care what someone brought in as long as it wasn't dangerous or took up a seat.
I remember someone snuck in a crate of beers and forgot them so they went in the staff room.

That would be a great move for me. Both of the cinemas I got to have reclining seats and I wouldn’t want to go somewhere that didn’t. Vue will have taken into account the balance of selling more cheaper tickets, with fewer more expensive tickets and will have concluded that the latter is a better business model. The cinema has been expensive for a while, and with the post pandemic increase of (especially companies like Disney) releasing things on steaming services alongside a cinematic release, people need a reason to go to the cinema. I don’t want to pay to see a film where I would be less comfortable and with a worse view than I could on the sofa at home.

You don't have to buy the extras. Or take your own.

This is the thing, isn't it?

Teens are increasingly used to having streaming access in the comfort of their rooms. They're also used to staring at their other devices, which is discouraged in cinemas (maybe they need to introduce 'phones allowed' sessions!).

I grew up in an area with no chain cinemas and three independents, that are still open today. Not obscene prices, and they get a lot of tourist trade. Maybe that is an answer, rather than these ridiculous leisure complexs that have big lease payments to fulfill.

@Redburnett
I managed to dodge the Vue prices for Prima Facie as they were £14 at my local cinema. Having said that, would have had no qualms about paying £20 if that had been the only price on offer for NT Live because you’re not comparing it to the price of a bog-standard cinema ticket, you’re comparing it to a theatre ticket (which you actually wouldn’t have been able to get because the run was sold out).

All the NT Live cinema performances I’ve been to have been great value for money as far as I’m concerned, and it seems a lot of people agree with me as they’ve had to put on extra performances of Prima Facie. Long may they continue, just hope the cinema is making some money out of the tickets.

Iamtheeonbat- as far as I'm aware they weren't. They actively chose to take their children there.

I certainly didn't complain. To be fair in those days I'd have possibly paid double if I'd have had to!

Are there any independent cinemas you could go to instead, as they are way nicer, have much better screen quality and are usually cheaper?

We have two lovely ones near us - they're licensed so you can take alcohol in and both have lovely restaurants attached with additional outside seating.

In comparison the Odeon and Cineworld near us are sh*tholes - almost completely automated and soulless, smelly and with bad screen quality - everything seems too dark. But they've got the cheek to charge more!

It's not compulsory to buy any popcorn at the cinema just go and watch the film.
Our local Odeon is 5 per ticket if you book thru the app or online. The seats are OK.
I'm surprised the Vue have put their prices up.

"I think it's immoral to smuggle in food."

Not sure why you'd smuggle it in when you're allowed to just carry it in!

I think it's immoral to smuggle in food. Would you do that at a restaurant?m

I wouldn't take food restaurant.

I take snacks into the cinema. I've never