When did a trip to the cinema get so expensive?!

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DS wanted to take a mate to the cinema for his birthday. So me, him, DD and his mate went for a Burger King before, 1 adult and 3 kids cinema tickets and then popcorn for us. £112 🤯

Aibu to think it just seems RIDICULOUSLY expensive!! I mean it’s only an Odeon cinema!

Its not like I don’t get out much either- we do stuff all the time but the cinema was always a ‘cheap’ option but the tickets were nearly £50 for 1 adult & 3 kids!!

staff have to be paid, films have to be paid for, it’s all relative

I must admit, I was a bit shocked the other week when I bought tickets for me and DP to see Avatar 3D at The Odeon on Meerkat movies on a Wednesday - 10.30am.

£27.99.

£3 per person our local Reel cinema charges. Last time I went to cineworld it was £10 per person. Robbery

If you went to McDonald's and then Vue cinema it would have come in under £50 - something to think about for next time!

All costing is overheads the same as any business. You can rent a film and take absolutely nothing with it but you still have to pay the rent on it. If you’ve never been in the industry people just don’t seem to understand just what is involved I know. I was in it for 20yrs

How much were the tickets, no food included?

My cinema tickets are 4.99

Was it an Odeon Luxe with the reclining seats because you pay more for those ….. so incredibly comfortable though. I prefer the Curzon but the seats are not great in comparison. Sitting at home watching a TV is never going to be as good as going to the Cinema even if you have an enormous TV

As I keep saying, we can’t go to Vue cinema because we don’t have one!

We have an odeon where kids tickets are 11.50 each and then mine was around £16 so £50 odd quid.

We went to Bk as it was DS’s bday and that’s what he wanted to do.

I am just shocked at the cost of both the cinema and just going for a burger! The whole shabang to be honest but £11.50 per child for the cinema seems daylight robbery. It’s just an Odeon! Bog standard!

Prices vary enormously.
Our small local independent cinema( fairly basic) costs £5 a ticket and does meekats 241 so can go tues/ weds for £2.50.
But went to showcase cinema recently and it was over £14 per ticket ( not 3D)
The nearest Vue was charging £5 a ticket but since installing recliner seats has put prices up to £8 a ticket.
Food and drink is also expensive at Vue and showcase cinema.
So I can see how it could cost that much.

I'm amazed how cheap cinema tickets are these days. My local Vue is between £5 and £8 a ticket depending on when you go. Yes, the foods a bloody rip off but they don't stop you taking your own stuff in any more like they did when I was a kid

Do they have a family ticket? I can get a family ticket for around £30 from Cineworld on PG/ 12 movies. It is very expensive to go and get a snack for everyone from cinema or to do the nice seats.

This is so true, I was running errands in the centre about a month ago and went into BK on the hop and was so astonished at the prices nowadays said no thank you and left.

Cinema: shop around, you'll get something cheaper if you book in advance and look up deals. But yes very expensive otherwise!

Tickets are £12.50 at my local cinema. Taking your own snacks in is not an option as it's prohibited and abag searches are done are done to enforce this rule

Independent cinema? Ours is £14 for four seats. We always buy snacks though otherwise they won't be able to sustain the cheap tickets.

The cinema for us is a cheap time out.

I second your recommendation for Till. I was lucky enough to catch a preview screening a month ago, and I'm still talking about it to people.

Kids club on a Saturday is £4 a ticket...films are old ish but only time I can afford to take my dc

I know! We used to have those Cineworld ‘all
you can watch’ cards which were great. That really brought the cost down and we’d go twice a week at least. However, now we hardly ever go as our nearest cinema is Vue. We went to Avatar in 3D over Christmas (£25 for 2 including specs) and the new Whitney Houston one (£17 ish for two) 😬 That’s us done for the year, back to NetFlix 😆

I dont remember cinema ever being cheap. I remember paying something like 3.50 a pop in the early noughties, but that was at the cheapest one locally (cineworld at the time) on some sort of reduced deal. I think even then odeon was about £8 on saturday evenings full price and thats 20 years ago.

Its not surprising given recent inflation that prices have doubled in twenty years.

Cinemas have done a lot of discount deals - vouchers, multibuys, offpeak reductions, reduced prices with partner deals, for donkeys years, i think most people going are using these.

That is expensive. Our local cinema it's about £30 for 4 tickets, pop corn £4 each. Don't like BK but maccys would be about £30 for four. So £74. But agree a few hours entertainment is generally around £50 now and a full day is £100+ very expensive. Days out are occasional treats now.

I have membership for the Picturehouse Central in London - I buy it each year during the sales and it works out much cheaper.

That said last time I went (to see Mrs Harris goes to Paris) there was a huge rat running up the seat next to me- I was so shocked I screamed! We did tell the staff who were clearly aware there was a problem but said as they are based in Soho there’s not a lot they can do. I know it’s crazy but has put me off going again-lol. Will have to find another cinema .

We are lucky as our town has an independent cinema which is much cheaper than the nearest chain one.

£5 adults whatever time you go, or if it's a kids film and you don't feel too bothered about noise then they show them on Saturday mornings for £3 a ticket.

My local Odeon is £12.50 for adults. There is a Tesco's next door where I buy a bag of popcorn for £1.10 and 3 cans of gin and tonic for £6.

A new private cinema has opened near me and they charge £18. In fairness it is infinitely nicer then the Odeon and dare I say the cinema etiquette is way better. I can enjoy a nice glass of wine with my massive reclining armchair!

You can travel for a while for a maximum of £2 on a bus to say the next town, check what the cinemas and prices are there.

Also things such as low price days, 2 for 1 and other offers that are available.

Whilst I can understand the cinema prices to be a shock, don't then think about a gig or a football match then.

I think maybe what the op is getting at is that a burger and a film doesn't feel like anything much, it's not a big one off event but in her particular circumstances of available showings of films at available cinemas it was disproportionatly expensive. I took mine swimming and had kids meals fish n chips afterwards. Plus petrol the afternoon probably cost about £50. Doing fairly normal stuff does just all cost so much more now. I understand the reasons for it but it's a shame and puts many activities beyond the reach of many families. There's only so much going to the park or woods you can do for free and as they get older they're less keen on that.