Why are cinema tickets so high?
Posted by Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 91 comments
Local odeon seats £17 each and thats for the lowest of the seat options. That is almost £68 for 4 of us which is crazy tbh.
How are people affording to go?
I have had to tell my 2 young kids we cant go and they are extremely upset but it is just way too expensive.
DameKumquat@reddit
They all seem based round getting you to subscribe, now. So it's £17 for one evening movie, but £36 for unlimited per month. If I was retired, I'd be well tempted to go for the Picturehouse subscription.
As it is, I only see a film at the cinema a couple times a year, so £15-18 plus bar prices for an alcoholic drink and a cake or ice cream is OK, because I'm mainly paying for not being interrupted by teenagers.
QueefInMyKisser@reddit
Are there even 25 films worth seeing a year to make the subscription worth it? I mean even if you had the time. Most of them are sequels to some comic book franchise bollocks I couldn’t give a shit about.
DameKumquat@reddit
It would only be worth it at a Picturehouse or similar, where they show indie and foreign films. It amazes me how little appears to be on at my local 5-screen Odeon, but then I get the leaflet at Picturehouse and there's half a dozen things I'd be interested in seeing if I had a free ticket.
So many award-winning films, and the main multiplexes can't be bothered to show them - or their complicated contracts allowing them to show the blockbusters don't allow it, I dunno.
QueefInMyKisser@reddit
Just looked up membership at my local Everyman and it’s £680, or £350 for a 24 film limit.
Obviously I don’t ever go there!
DameKumquat@reddit
Ouch! I bet they have a promotion at so e point in the year, though. I live in between four Picturehouses, so if I did want a deal, they'd be the one.
(checks: £75 gives you 5 tickets, but priority booking and discounts on other food, drink, and tickets, or £120 for 10 tickets, member prices for 3 guests each time, other discounts and perks.)
No-Door-3181@reddit
Monzo Perks, a free ticket a month. That’s how I do it, but I’m sure there’s more deals.
Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit (OP)
Do you have any spare
robinscotland@reddit
Not bothered by the price - but am very bothered by the experience. I go less and less because I hate seeing phone screens out of the corner of my eyes, or people talking through it.
West_Yorkshire@reddit
You can have my cinema code if you want. Had it for 2 years and never used it once.
Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit (OP)
Hey that would be great could you please dm me as im trying to dm you but asking me for age verification
DECKTHEBALLZ@reddit
Get memberships..
SpudFire@reddit
They charge the same for children and adults? Never seen that, child tickets are always cheaper
GooseyDuckDuck@reddit
£4.99 where I live.
Spottyjamie@reddit
£4.99 any seat any film any time in my vue but annoyingly its dearer to book online than join the one queue for everything in person
dbxp@reddit
Iirc tickets are largely priced by the studios, the cinemas make their money on concessions
Not sure where you're going that they're £17 each, they're typically £5-8 here
samsaBEAR@reddit
All cinemas set their own ticket prices and studios have no influence over them at all, they just take their agreed percentage of each sale
doraisexploring27@reddit
Probably London. Before I moved away I remember paying £45 to take my niece to Aladdin back in 2019, and that was 7 years ago just for 1 adult, 1 child and popcorn!
nobodyspecialuk24@reddit
Yeah, our VUE cinema is £5 for the seats with loads of legroom at the bring of the back section.
Have been to a few autism friendly screenings for £2.50 which also have no adverts, although they seem to be for children’s movies only.
They openly say you can take your own food and drink in, as long as it’s not hot.
SpiritedVoice2@reddit
A lot of times I go to the cinema (vue also!) it's only half full and i can easily find a better seat than the cheapest one i paid for.
Also take own food, didn't know about the hot rule though, took a GDK once 🤣
ooh-sheet@reddit
I go to showcase cinema and it cost us ~£33 for 5 of us to watch super Mario last week
Sad_Bastardo@reddit
That’s very steep! Odeon and vue are like £7 for the cheapest tickets in Manchester. I can get them for £5 if i go through my works benefits page.
Legitimate_War_397@reddit
I go for free, earn a certain amount each month required for my bank to give me free cinema tickets.
Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit (OP)
Do you have any spare tickets
EtoshaLeopard@reddit
Odeon by me charges £6.75 for a small coke. Squash from home it is!!
Sometimes if you book a viewing on a weekend morning it’s cheaper…
72dk72@reddit
Take your own cans of coke in.
zero_sevenn@reddit
Monday’s are the cheapest for odeon. Tickets go for less than £5 all day
Organic-Path-8961@reddit
Our local Odeon is extortionate because it's the only cinema in town and they have no competition. £40 it was going to cost my partner and I to see the lilo & stitch movie in 3D! We just waited for it to come out on Disney+ like a month later.
Coconutpieplates@reddit
My odeon is £7. Get a couple of meerkat accounts, buy travel insurance for a day on each and that'll halve your cost.
Also bringing your own (cold/ sweet/ snack) and drinks is fully allowable.
Lopsided_Snower@reddit
I've been smuggling them in like I'm commiting the crime of the centuary, all these years
72dk72@reddit
None of the chains mind you bringing in your own drinks, popcorn etc, they just don't allow hot foods.
throwawayforever1034@reddit
Ive brought in a chippy before with my boy back in the day 😂
72dk72@reddit
Within aboutv25 mine we have all the chains so there is more competition and you can get standard seats for about £7 at some. Odeon is always the most expensive but its the de-lux with recliners.
Horror_Extension4355@reddit
We have Disney at home so point of principle I refuse to take the kids to the cinema to see any Disney film now.
DavidBmw1986@reddit
Get your employers to sign up to perks at work. Saves you loads. 20% off phone contracts. 44% off odeon, vue etc. huge discounts off hotpoint, shark, Samsung, lg, dell. Loads of things.
RealisticL3af@reddit
What sort of cinema are you going to ? my local cinema in london is like £7 for a ticket
Repulsive-Echidna-74@reddit
My Odeon is like a fiver to be fair
Desperate-Drawer-572@reddit (OP)
Wish mine was
zero_sevenn@reddit
It is if you can go on a Monday
Hellohibbs@reddit
Where the hell are you?!
kingoffuckery@reddit
I got to vue, they charge a fiver
zero_sevenn@reddit
Odeon is around £5 on a Monday. Odeon saver deal
marstoncutler@reddit
Cineworld near me became a Vue a couple of years ago. All screenings £5. Took loads of trade from the other 2 cinemas around, then refurbished the seats and jacked the prices up.
MysteriousB@reddit
Never understood it, Manchester City Centre had 4.99 tickets around 2017-2022, Preston in the same time period was almost 10-15 and the cinema is out of the way in the middle of nowhere.
doraisexploring27@reddit
When I lived in London I couldn’t believe the prices at our local Odeon (I remember taking my niece in to see Aladdin in 2019 and spent £45 on tickets and popcorn just for the two of us), now I’m in north east Scotland now and our local Cineworld tickets used to be £6.99 but have recently gone up to £8.99. That’s still miles better than the prices down south though so I can’t complain really!
scenecunt@reddit
I managed to get a years membership for £66 at my local cinema, 10 films for “free” and then £1 for any older films.
sixe6throwaway@reddit
I’ve not paid full price on a ticket in about 9 years. Always used some sort of discount code. If you’re on a big network you should be able to get discount codes. Vodafone has 4 for £16 at odeon. O2 has vue voucher codes
Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit
Lack of people going these days, everyone watches Netflix myself included, they have to cover rising costs
d_dawg_23@reddit
Attendance is slightly increasing year on year post pandemic
Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit
Honestly I was speculating based on the current economic situation
zero_sevenn@reddit
A lot of people that go are solo cinema goers. They have the monthly Odeon Limitless membership or Cineworld Unlimited membership.
You cover the cost of the membership if you go twice a month, or after one visit if you visit a luxe cinema. Good value for money.
BrillsonHawk@reddit
Odeon is expensive as fuck - go somewhere else. I do go to odeon, but we do the monthly thing so we can see as many movies as we want (only two of us).
However if i wanted cheap, but still a good quality cinema i'd go the showcase cinema, which has a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children) for £25 or alternatively you can buy adult and children tickets both for 6 quid each, which would actually save you £1 over the family ticket
Visuals_BySam02@reddit
I get 2 for £8 tickets through my phone network at Odeon, happy to send it over the code if you'd like :)
Betweentheminds@reddit
O2? Are they still doing that?
Visuals_BySam02@reddit
Nahz Voxi/Vodafone, I don't go to an odeon that much but whenever I do I always use it.
karennotkaren1891@reddit
I can get this with vodafone. My local cinema isn't an odeon so never actually use this
Dangerous_Success715@reddit
Odeon do cheap tickets on Mondays. Just to be £6 but they’ve upped it
atomicBlitz0514@reddit
I have messaged you but for you and your 2 kids tickets alone is £17.32 and you can add a kids munchbox each for £3.52 each child x
atomicBlitz0514@reddit
Max cost is no more than £25 including snacks for them for all your tickets x
flangeflangeflanges@reddit
Went today. 2 adults 2 children. £20. Local Odeon. Look around for money off vouchers.
Past-Obligation1930@reddit
My local community one was 8 quid a ticket, and there was never a crowd. We loved it.
We always recognised that it was in no way a going concern, but got the best use out of it while we could.
Phil1889Blades@reddit
Sheffield odeon was about to£8 and then they turned into a Lux and started trying to charge £17, Sheffield said “fuck that” and they appear to be £10.50 - £14.50 dependent on the seat swankiness
Dennyisthepisslord@reddit
My local is a Vue and it's £5.99 pre booked for the cheap seats £10.99 for expensive ones.
Are you in central London where the prices ARE higher?
Yogafireflame@reddit
I bought a mid-range but full HD (1080P) 3D projector a while back for ~£250 and a second hand ~150 inch screen a while back. Absolutely amazing when we have film nights as a family and definitely more than worth it for the price. Can set it up in 10 mins and connect to the home cinema and sub and it’s lovely lounging on the sofa like a king. I go to the cinema much less often nowadays, as £50 for the family is a tad steep.
Weak_Worth_2735@reddit
Cinema is one of the few affordable things in the UK. Just find the codes and deals. And take in your own food. I’ve often skipped from one film to another once inside!
SpiritedVoice2@reddit
Odeon is insane near me too, made the mistake of going last year, never again. Vue is £6 plus you can get free tickets with loads of things (sky benefits, Lloyds bank, etc).
kiolly66@reddit
Try off brand cinemas. Our local Cineworld is crazy prices, but there is a 'plaza' cinema about 30 minutes drive which is about 5 pounds a ticket!
We were in Bournemouth last weekend and the Odeon is mad expensive, we ended up going to the regent and is was more than half the price for a family of 4!
LJ161@reddit
The odeon lux near me has a parent and child ticket for £15. Im unsure of the age restrictions of the child ticket but it may be worth seeing if thats an option for yours?
Western_Sort501@reddit
Get £3 Cineworld tickets with three or they do £2 family films on weekend mornings and mornings of school holidays usually slightly older releases
Adorable_Orange_195@reddit
I have a cineworld card £12.99 plus they do kids pay £1 days and other offers like this frequently so I take my nieces and nephews when they visit. They also do family tickets for selected films £45 for either 2 adults 2 children or 1 adult 3 children. So in my experience works out cheaper than other cinemas.
However I’d also suggest taking own food and drink and only buying one bag of popcorn and putting some of it into little bags for the kids yourself to avoid additional expense.
NLFG@reddit
My local does £2 matinee tickets on the weekend. Family of four is £43 for normal films iirc.
malin7@reddit
Was it Odeon Luxe with reclinable seats? They're always a lot more expensive
karennotkaren1891@reddit
This is my thinking... £17 is crazy for one ticket
Proper_Security_3050@reddit
If you’re with Octopus energy you can get 2 tickets for Vue cinema for £8 each month with octopus rewards.
Deep_Pepper_5405@reddit
We went to this shopping area thing to do some shopping and wanted to see a movie. Walked to the cinema, looked at teh prices and left and drove to Vue.
eggs_and_ham_i_am@reddit
Weekend kids club. £3 a ticket. Not the newest of new films, usually 6 months to a year after initial release,, but we've watched loads of films with that.
jelly10001@reddit
Not sure what cinema you are looking at, but my local Odeon (a Luxe in greater London) has seats from £10.95 for Super Mario on Saturday. Otherwise all Odeons do saver tickets on Mondays and anyone who goes more than once a week can save with a myLimitless pass (Cineworld has a similar all you can watch pass, plus my local Cineworld now sells all tickets for £7.99 Monday to Thursday).
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
You can usually get them for free with things like Vitality insurance if your work provides it, bank accounts, certain phone providers, credit cards, etc.
Last time I paid full price for a cinema ticket was probably years ago.
Bez121287@reddit
Where are you going?
Cinema has been the cheapest its ever been.
The Vue cinema chain, do seats for 4.99 or 5.99
My local arc cinema which has an imax, 12.50
Normal screens are 6.99.
Cinema has gone cheap but the food is where they make their money.
I think you need to look at other cinemas around you.
atomicBlitz0514@reddit
Message me I have a blue light card I can book them for way cheaper x
Evening-Web-3038@reddit
Just checking the site and the first thing I noticed was the "mylimitless" ticket priced at £16.99.
Maybe they are pricing the regular tickets in such a way as to encourage people to buy this package (or the plus version) instead? That way you are encouraged to come 2 or more times a month or you 'lose value', and of course you *probably* spend money. Clever if true, if not a bit uncompetitive given Vue can go as low as £5... (and you can get free tickets with bank accounts etc)
Fwiw I just checked my local one, which is in a lowish cost of living location, and a ticket to the mario film @ 630pm tomorrow is £15.50. Ah ok, so yep in line with yours a bit and it surely must be them pushing the 'mylimitless' product!
baddeafboy@reddit
Same here in usa
Appropriate-Read7966@reddit
Any Maxime cinema near you ? I Pay £9.50 for two
Ok_Net4562@reddit
I know the response will be " why should we have to" but if you're paying full price at the cinema you're not being savvy enough. Theres codes, kids passes, family hours, work clubs, clubcard points.
bestorangeever@reddit
The prices vary from area when it comes to cinemas, cineworld in aldershot cost me like £5 a ticket when I was down there but when I’d go back up to Wolverhampton it cost me like £15 a ticket
Weak-Property4908@reddit
£17 each?!
My local is £7.50
Popular-Jury7272@reddit
£3.50 at my local cinema. The whole area is a shithole but at least it has that going for it.
veryordinarybloke@reddit
I guess they're expensive premises to run? Compared to other nights out it's not that much . A show, or gig, or theatre etc.
BeardedBaldMan@reddit
Because they're compensating for fewer tickets being sold by raising the price and film makers are spending more and more making shit films.
Netflix killed the relatively cheap film and that was part of what cinemas relied on
when_music_hits@reddit
Everyman is worse, but altogether a better experience. Last time the wife and I went, it must have done us 100 just in the seats,food and drink. Any better experience would require the kids to be better cooks/barstaff and to leave us alone while the latest big screen full fat soundsystem done it's thing
curryandbeans@reddit
8.75 for me
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