To think the cinema is a day to day event

[Soboystake]

Not an experience or day out

I used to have a monthly pass and would go twice most weeks. I go less often now, but DH still has a pass and goes at least once per week. We go as a family whenever there is something worth seeing on.

We don't buy loads of snacks, DH has a pass still, and it's free parking, so not too expensive.

I do see it as a "treat", but a low level treat, like swimming at a better pool than the nearest one, ice skating, etc.

Your post is really ignorant though, clearly you can afford the Cinema daily, but even at £5 a ticket can you not see how some people couldn’t afford that every week? Especially for a family. So yes for lots of people it would be a special treat that you didn’t do on a regular basis.

It's a treat because it's a nice, non essential thing to do. Treats don't have to be expensive. They can be, but there's usually ways to reduce the cost.

Apparently I'm going to Scotland on Wednesday and need insurance for it... (I'm not and I don't

It's rare that people think to buy travel insurance when travelling within the UK, but there are circumstances when it would actually be worthwhile having. Eg if you are ill and decide to cancel the holiday, or you are travelling to an event and have booked a hotel and then the event was cancelled, you might be able to get a policy that would reimburse the travel and hotel costs - eg I read about someone who had spent a lot of money on flights from a distant part of the UK and hotels to see a concert at the new Manchester arena that was cancelled, the right insurance might reimburse them for these expenses.

We can't afford to go to the cinema often. We normally go twice a year for the kids birthdays. It costs £50 for all 4 of us. It's definitely an expensive treat. Can't see cinemas surviving for long, especially when people can buy a movie being played at the cinema.

No. there are insufficient movies I want to see to make that happen.

We never travel without it even for a couple of days

It's a rare treat for me these days as it's become too expensive.
From about the age of 14 I started going to the cinema every Saturday with friends (back in the early 90s) and that pretty much continued all through my 20s. The tickets were cheap. We shared popcorn. I loved the cinema and film.

But these days it's died the death. There aren't anywhere near as many films I want to see and it's too expensive to go weekly or even monthly. I replaced it with netflix and then prime at home. But now I've cancelled those too because there's just so much dross and not a lot I want to see. And I'm back to buying the occasional second hand dvd from an online shop in the country I live in.

Good for you OP if you have the money to see cinema as a day to day treat. Add up how much it actually costs for a family of four and think about the cost of living crisis and whether average people can afford that much more than a couple of times a year.

We went to see Civil War yesterday afternoon in a local cinema (not the West End). The tickets were £37 for two. It's cheaper to see a concert with a full orchestra.

We only go and see films on the big screen if we know they're going to look better or if it's something we really want to see (seeing In the Earth as the first film after the cinemas opened following lockdown, for example).

It's too expensive for most people to do on a whim unless they live near a cheap cinema.

Definitely a treat.
Have you seen the prices nowadays?!
For just me - ticket for me, a small popcorn and a drink you're looking over £20 which is insane.
(Yes yes I know take my own but sometimes I want the cinema popcorn and drink dammit 😁)

I got travel insurance for UK trips in the past.
I used to travel all over the UK by bike and car and public transport etc.
It can be useful, very useful.

But I'm not planning any trips this year so I'd buy the £1 travel insurance purely for the meerkat rewards.

Summer coming up, the kid would like more trips to the movies I'm sure and saving money on takeaways too.

It'd not impact big treats that I save for, but it would make small treats slightly more common iyswim.

But that's derailing OPs original thread 😄
Sorry OP.

We have a cineworld, so not the cheapest. We only go if it's a film that needs a full on big screen- like Dune.

Tbh though, I want to chill at the weekend evenings. Driving, sitting up straight in proper clothes instead of lounging on the sofa in pjs just doesn't do it for me. I quite like an afternoon trip in winter, in the dead time after Xmas.

For DS (uni student) it's a day to day event. He goes a few times a month and sometimes goes to see the same film more than once. For the rest of us it's only very occasional so definitely a treat. Once every few months if there's something very good on.

It is still cheaper than the theatre though, which is a shame cos I'd love to take the kids to the theatre more.

It's an increasingly rare event for me.

Not because of the cost, but mostly because I just don't keep up with the film world much any more.

I definitely used to, and probably went most months when I was younger.

Now I'm sat here trying to think of the last time I went... I think it was a NT Live event back in September!!

A rare treat these days, nearly a tenner a ticket at my local one, can rarely justify the price when we can just wait and watch it at home in a couple of months with cheap Tesco popcorn etc

£15.49 (though some must be online fee) for an adult in a normal seat near me. £21 something fur an adult/child combo. Add in a drink and popcorn and it's going to be £30 plus for one adult one kid or £40 plus for two adults. Add another kids (as I have two) - the child tickets are £10!
I used to go to the cinema almost every week when I was a kid. No way could my kids do that now. Plus with streaming it's not so essential. So I'd say going out to the cinema is definitely a day (or half day) event.

Well it may not be a treat in the same way that going to a fancy restaurant or a day out at a theme park is (if that's your thing), but it's bloody expensive and certainly not 'day to day' for most people these days. Lucky you if it is.

I'd do this, but the films on are dross ...

I have a cinema membership, so go quite often, but I think individual tickets are around £18 - so something I'd do a lot less frequently without membership

I think of it as a treat and yes an experience

We have Cineworld cards at £16 a month so it's day to day for us (well, once a week on average, often more in the winter).

We have sky telly so get 2 free Vue tickets a month, also get 6 free Odeon tickets a year with our bank account. So Dh and I could go for free if we wanted, but the "kids" use them at uni instead. (One has a Vue, the other an Odeon)

Our local is Cineworld. Too expensive to be everyday. We went to see Dune2. Can't see anything else worth spending actual money on. Dds went to Kung Fu panda and some horror things, but only cos it was free.

I think people are trying to make to much of a financial distinction. I am doing fine and could go to cinema every Day financially but I still see it as such a big treat cause I love it and something I loved as a child.

I would prefer the cinema over Alton towers, day at Beach etc.

Is it Everyman?

It's a treat. Actually can't remember the last time I went to watch something that wasn't a kid's film!
Prices are extortionate and it seems it doesn't take long for films to end up on streaming sites these days anyway.