Don't forget about the service fees, the inconvenience fees, then more convenience feed to undo those and another round of inconvenience fees and then more convenience fees to undo those
Answer from another: nothing. We also have them in various places, like parking, or highway vignettes - you are not using their facilities, you save them money, so they charge you some extra
In the early days of the internet in the US the convenience fee was what the 3rd part sales software charged for online transactions but I think now with the it mostly being first party sales or integrated to the vendors POS it's just a way to charge more money without advertising it on the sticker price.
I think the "convenience" is referring to using a credit card. They charge businesses any time their card is used. This is the business passing that cost on to the consumer.
We go to AMC quite a bit and I think it's actually the fee for buying tickets online or through the app. So probably even worse than passing CC fees on to customers lol. Always buy our tickets in person for that reason (and matinees).
Adding to this for more context, in America, credit card fees on merchants are like 3-5% of the transaction. That’s why some places have started to pass them to consumers, especially in low-margin businesses like restaurants and movie theaters. If your margins are around 5% and Visa is taking 3.95%, that’s not super sustainable. Card network fees tend to be much lower in Europe. I’m not sure about elsewhere.
Thing is...usually the "convenience fee" isn't there if you pay in person. It's usually done in online sales. It actually costs less for you to use their online portal because they don't have to staff more employees in house. But for some reason companies like to charge you extra for buying online and put it as a "convenience fee" instead of going inside to pay. You could theorize that it has something to do with credit cards, but then why don't they charge you for paying by a credit card in store?
I quit going to movies when they started blaring loud obnoxious commercials under the guise of "entertainment" prior to the movies supposed start time. Going to a movie used to be a social thing you did with friends, but now with them blasting that shit at you at a volume that makes talking impossible what the fuck is even the point? The fact that ticket prices are climbing to this level with this kind of jack assery is ludicrous. And don't get me started on the 20-30 minutes of previews they show after a movies supposed start time. Just fuck this shit.
i don't mind true previews, but seeing standard TV ad garbage in a theatre that loud legitimately pissed me off last few times I went. swear they got louder. i also age incrementally, unceasingly, which doesn't help
That's the thing that bugs me so much. Most movies have around 10 minutes of ads. That is ample time to promote some of the lesser known movies that company has made but instead we get ads for insurance companies pretending that they are green, banks gaslighting you into thinking they care about you, McDonalds trying to trick you into their food I synonymous with a happy family and Matt Damon pushing cryto currency on you. I would rather watch an ad for a good movie.
lol what? you go to the movies to watch the movie… if you want to talk you can do it afterwards. also, it’s not like the ads take time off the actual movie
Yeah, might be this long already. Last time I went to see a movie was before the pandemic and even then it was something I'd do once or twice a year tops.
I saw Indiana Jones today it had 25 minutes of trailers, an admonishment to not ruin the movie, Nicole Kidman telling me how great going to the movies is, and a commercial for the projector. So a movie listed to start at 11 started at 11:28. it’s fucking ridiculous.
I find that pretty consistent for AMC. What ever the listed time is the film will play after 30min of trailers/promos. Its annoying but easy to plan around.
I watched the new spiderverse. I liked the Dolby Atmos/HDR demo as I hadn't seen them before, but they'll need to shorten them a little bit going forward
The first Dolby movie I saw Thor Ragnarok, and they ran that same damn ad for the projector then, so that’s like 5 and half years. But I do prefer the Dolby to imax, or at least the bullshit imax they run in amc theaters.
This is why you should support any surviving local theaters that aren't chains. Monopolies aren't created solely by the companies but with the help of the consumers too
I work at a pretty high end movie theater. All seats are recliners with tables, there's a full wet bar and restaurant quality food, and we do events and shit too. Tickets typically run $10-$15. This is ridiculous.
I gave up on theaters a long time ago. I wanna watch a movie in my PJs, smoke pot, and pause it when I need to. Plus I get lots of kitty snuggles during the viewing as well.
If you're stoned enough, a big screen and decent sound system is just as engrossing as a movie theater.
I was so stoned the first time I smoked hash, I kept falling asleep to Inception in theater. The score would jolt me awake and I had no clue what the hell happened in that movie.
I went back and watched it sober a few days later with another friend. After that, I had no clue what happened in that movie...
Nothing beats sitting on my own couch in my bathrobe with one kitty on my lap and another snuggled up to me at my side. Don't have to go out of the house, snacks are cheap. You'd have to pay me money to go to a theater, and a hefty amount at that.
Before the pandemic, the US wasn't too bad. Large cities got expensive, but most places a movie ticket ran around $10.
Now, to make up for lost money, some chains are trying to charge extra for getting "a good seat" or other perks that used to be just part of the price of the ticket.
I think they overestimate demand. I haven't been to a movie since 2019. I don't think I'm missing out. Home TVs are just so big now.
It's crazy these days, it makes no sense to go pay $20+ each to see a movie when I can wait a month and stream it on an 80 inch OLED at my buddy's place if it doesn't break any records at the box office. Color quality is better, couch is more comfortable and I don't have to worry about anyone dragging their screaming kids in.
AMC is a huge multiplex chain, they seem to own about half of all theatres in the US, as a result they can overcharge to their heart's content because they might be the only one in town with the movie you want to see. They also attempt to pass their service off as a "premium" experience. In reality it just means larger seats. For this they've destroyed the movie-going experience. Not much love lost on my end, however, I'm not really a movie person. It mostly sucks when my child really wants to see something.
You can still find more reasonably priced tickets. We go to a second-run theater that only charges like $8 a ticket for movies that have just left the main corporate theaters and even Regal offers discount days where ticket prices are more reasonable.
I almost never go to the theater but I just checked and here in the Netherlands it's €13,50 for 2D and €16,50 for imax. That's crazy. The last time I went to see a movie in the theater was somewhere at the end of 2019, and it was like €10. That's a 30% price increase in under 4 years, christ.
the convenience fee is the thing that pisses me off the most. yes it’s convenient that you don’t have a to pay a worker to deal with me and the 10 other people that got a ticket at the same time and yet i have to pay?
How is it legal to make up a fee then offer a paid membership to avoid the fee you just made up? How is that different from the mob guys that would collect your "insurance" membership so that you didn't incur a "business burned down" fee?
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $20 for both of us. It's like $9.25 per person.
Holy shit that's outrageous. Me, 2 other adults and 1 kid all saw Spider-Verse 2 at the fanciest theater I know the other week.
It was like $7 a ticket. You're being robbed.
There was a movie theater when I was a kid in the 80s and you could see movies that had already stopped being shown in the regular theaters for a while for $1. So, like, if you missed Return of the Jedi or Temple of Doom in its original run, you could catch it later on the big screen for $1.
As a producer who aims to make 2-10 million dollar genre flicks, I don't see why ticket prices shouldn't be scaled to budgets. Don't want to pay 25 bucks to see Avengers 16? Pay 10 to see a low to mid budget crime or horror flick instead.
To keep profits up, theaters should bring back double features, intermissions, and sell popcorn with THC butter. Snack sales will explode.
i bought a VR headset (one of the cheap Facebook ones) and it is remarkable how immersive the illusion is when watching a film. totally different than sitting close to a screen at home, it just sucks to wear the thing for 2 hrs
I think in the age of streaming saturation, going to movies still offer an experience for people vs watching Netflix on your couch. It should ultimately be something that's most of all, fun, and exciting.
Nobody should ever feel like they are getting ripped off for the money they paid, even if everything is getting more expensive, and having blatant tagged on fees, or request for tips for things that didn't use to ask for tips, just makes people feel bad that they got cheated out of their money. And that's not fun.
Yes, I have AMC's A-list and I only need to go for 2 movies (or 1 IMAX) a month for it be better value than paying for every individual ticket. One ticket is $16 and the A list membership is $25 a month
I actually went to a theater a couple of days ago after not going to one for a couple of years and I was shocked at the price. I’d much rather wait until I can just watch it from the comfort of my own home.
Also not worth it when others are talking and using their phone in the theatre.
for a UK perspective, we have a cinema chain over here called Everyman, it's cinemas but every seat is a sofa/couch! and you can order food to the seats. unless it's a peak screening, you usually get a whole couch to yourself. matinée shows are roughly ~$17 for adult, ~$11 for child. what's pictured in the OP is no doubt one of those pull-down chairs with the itchy carpet material too. ouch!
Not only that, but then the prices of all the food inside is unreal. I just wait until discounted ticket days at my local theater if I really wanna go see somethin
AMC sucks, don't you have any other theaters around there to choose from? There is a theater near me that only charges $7 for normal tickets, and even cheaper for matinees. Then the AMC theater in my same town charges $12.50 for a ticket...plus that stupid convenience fee.
My local Orpheum is $9 for adult tickets and includes a drink and a regular popcorn. $11 gets you a ticket, large drink, and large popcorn. Drink refills are $1. Both theaters have recliners, couches, and Love seats at the back. They're awesome! Though you have to show up quite early if you want a comfy seat.
You also have to go to a good theater, because a lot of the time you go and the picture is too dim and out of focus, and the sound system isn't balanced properly. That will be $60 dollars.
Imagine wanting some popcorn and candy to top it off... streaming from home is the way to go now and they did it to themselves.
It's a shame too, because there are some movies that just benefit from that large form factor viewing. I'd love to go see Oppenheimer on imax but I'll be damned if I have to spend 50 bucks to go watch it alone with some refreshments and snacks.
That's a ripoff. I imagine that theater is a lot nicer than the one nearest to me but tickets are usually $12 for an adult and $6 for a child. But on Wednesdays all tickets are $6 regardless of age. They call it date night but you don't have to bring a date. You can even come alone. Or so I've been told ಥ_ಥ
The popcorn isn't even all that expensive either, but the drinks are. I think mostly because drinks are the easiest to sneak in.
Our local theater has huge heated leather seats, a fantastic sound system, and you can go to a matinée for $6 with popcorn included. I love Marcus Theaters, they do it right. Good food and drinks, too, delivered to your seat.
Going to the cinema has become a luxury at this point, like (classical) theatre or opera. Which is not a bad thing per se, but the industry should stop complaining.
They are falling for the same logical missteps that cable took. Losing customers = rate hikes. Pushing more away leading to more rate hikes. Instead they should be lowering costs and finding ways to encourage people to come back
I live near an Alamo Drafthouse in Colorado and never went to movies more since they started doing $7/ticket Tuesdays in like February which I believe was only meant to be limited time originally but SO MANY people kept coming and getting food/drinks/popcorn/etc they're still doing it.
It's very smart on their part that they may be losing money on the movie ticket but getting their staff paid more so it works out.
Yep, people like going to a show. It's a simple equation of cost vs reward. As the other response mentioned, movies just aren't worth 20 bucks plus 15 for food. They aren't good enough. For 7, I would totally go.
Don't forget the shitty product too. TV and movies are mind numbingly bad these days. Sure there's the occasional good/great show or movie, but the vast majority are just shit. Add that to everything else you pointed out and it's no wonder they're in trouble and keep hiking the fees.
I actually went to a theater a couple of days ago after not going to one for a couple of years and I was shocked at the price. I’d much rather wait until I can just watch it from the comfort of my own home.
Also not worth it when others are talking and using their phone in the theatre.
Man. I stopped going to movies when they started showing ads before them. If I pay you, you don't get to double dip with advertising imo. To see this is ludicrous, and I hope they all fail.
That's a humorous take, because I've known so many people who went to see crappy movies because of the movie previews for something they liked. This was way before the internet took over as a way to see videos, but still, interesting to note the opposite.
For a family of 4 which includes 2 adults and 2 children, we’re looking at $100 for tickets and snacks easily. It’s crazy how expensive going to the movies have become. That said, I really like recliner seats + Dolby Atmos without having to worry about “getting the best seats”, so some of the hike is a little more digestible. Movie theater snacks though, now that’s highway robbery.
And all that money spent just to sit in a room with many people looking at their bright phones, talking to eachother, chewing loudly and causing a mess.
The last time I went to a movie was whatever year Once Upon a Time in Hollywood came out. I honestly don't even know where or if a theater is located anymore.
I'm glad my daughter is an adult because we still had the second run dollar theaters when she was little. So... Many... Animated... Movies
I'm about to go completely devoid of simulation. I cut cable in 2009, just cancelled Netflix, will not renew Amazon Prime (there appears to be an all or nothing refund for cancelling mid-year and I'm in the morning category), just left Reddit, deleted Facebook years ago, never had Instagram, Twitter, tic-tac, or any other social media.
The only thing that's still worth anything to me is Spotify, and I won't be surprised if they pull some shitty shenanigans in the near future.
If you look at how the budget for a movie is spent, you'll realize that at least half of that money goes into marketing, ads and other annoyances. It's nuts.
$3 in my country (Sri Lanka) at a high quality cinema.
But it's just as expensive compared to the average household income, so your point stands.
Cinemas have gotten really popular here though, probably because we didn't regularly get the latest releases until roughly ten years ago. Also the middle class has been growing, at least until we destroyed the economy last year. Maybe one of the few markets where cinema patronage is still growing.
Really hoping my country doesn't follow suit to this. I can get a seat in a nice cinema with big seats that can become a bed with a push of the button for only 10 usd (which includes free popcorn!). Did you perhaps pay using a Credit Card? From my experience every time I buy stuff online like bus tickets which you usually buy at their booth, I have to pay extra for the "convenience".
Two things worth checking with your local theater: they may have cheaper viewings on Tuesdays, and look for any rewards program that will most likely waive your convenience fees on top of earning points. Points make your drink/concession purchases much more reasonable.
We SHOULDN'T have to do this, but until something better comes along, these are ok alternatives.
The problem is the opposite. People are still going to the cinema. If they didn't, cinemas wouldn't get away with this crap. They would either go away or knock it off.
We go to a chain called Cinemark and the tickets are far cheaper than AMC. I think for 6 people on opening night with heated D-Box seats (the kind that move and shake and vibrate) directly in the middle of the theater cost me $100. Plus I have a membership so free tickets and no fees too.
If we went with regular seats we would have gotten them at around $10 per person. Heated recliners all around.
Same. I pay 9.99 a month for the club and that gets me a free ticket every month. I get a sizeable discount on food with that too. When a blockbuster film comes out, I have enough credits for the family, we pick our seats and everything in the app, and just go. Full reclining seats in a really nice theater. I spend $120 bucks a year and as a family of 3, we can see whatever, whenever, 4 times a year.
In the UK I feel like we've come out of a huge price hike. Things are relatively affordable now. Now though there's also more cinemas that offer a premium price for a more premium service - IMAX/Dolby Vision, big reclining seats etc that I happily pay more for.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $20 for both of us. It's like $9.25 per person.
That's crazy. I think I spent that much seeing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 but I went with my partner and we ordered food and alcohol to our seats. If we would've just done without I think it would been like 20 dollars for two adult tickets. Your theater seriously robbed you.
I pretty much only go on Discount Tuesdays now. One of my local theaters also waves the "convenience" fee if you join their free rewards program. Helps me save a lot that way.
I'm also not the biggest fan of the whole required reservations thing either. It makes spontaneous movie nights with friends a massive hassle. You have to have a designated ticket buyer now, or somehow perfectly coordinate your online buying times to ensure you get seats together.
Have to hit the matinees. I take my son to a nearby movie theatre that has a full bar/menu and the tickets for he and I to go are around or under $15 for both of us. $7.25 for me and I think $5 for him.
Nah, it's not that it's gotten more expensive, it's that most of the films are shit or otherwise unsatisfying. Maybe a combination of the two? :)
Of the films I've seen at the cinema recently, the last one I remember really enjoying was Joker (which is not even recent), and the most recent one I mostly enjoyed, but then it had a shit cliffhanger ending instead of feeling like a complete film in its own right. I was literally saying to my friend before the film started that Dune pissed me off because of the absolutely shit ending, and then the same fucking thing happened. I don't go to the cinema and pay $15-20 for the ticket to come out feeling like I watched half a season of some Netflix show. I could have a month of Netflix for the same money, watch what I want at my own convenience and pause/rewind if I need the toilet or want to check something.
I still like going to the cinema, but I feel like the movies have got to be more varied, more surprising, and fucking end properly instead of teasing a second part in a fucking year. I would love it if they were more respecting of my time and didn't run on for three fucking hours too. I'd love more movies like Terminator 2 where there is zero fluff and the whole thing ends in 2 hours? That's what the cinema is for!
Pricing for the large scale theatre chains in Canada is similarly brutal.
The only movies I go to now are at the local independent cinema. Cheaper per ticket, membership that gets you access to two free members-only mystery screenings a month, the building itself is fucking gorgeous and I swear they grease their popcorn machine with crack.
Went a long time pretty much swearing off theatres entirely, but COVID gave me a bit of a "You need to support nice things that you want to keep existing" shake, so I'm happy to toss them a couple of bucks for the experience once and a while.
Same thing going on here in Finland. Movie tickets are often 20-25 € for "normal" movies, shit ton of ads to go through and rude customers scrolling Insta or talking through out the movie.
Yeah, it truly is. There are some local smaller and cheaper cinemas here and there, but they usually cant show new movies at all. They are rare, too. There are couple of big movie chains that dominate and effectively force an duopoly/triopoly with their prices.
this is absolutely wild. where do you live? we go to the "emagine" theater chain and have been able to get the front row "cuddle seats" for 12$. it sits two of us to one loveseat. bring a friend/partner or have a giant seat to yourself. i think emagine is only in a few states tho (USA).
I haven’t been to a full price showing since 2015 or 2016. I went to a handful of $5 Tuesday showings just before the pandemic but it’s so inconvenient given my commute that I haven’t been to a theater at all since 2017. The only part I miss is not having a family member’s constant running commentary during the whole show.
Went to an AMC theater recently after not going to one for years. I waited through about 30 minutes of forced ads before the movie started. The "shut off your cell phone warning" was about 10-15 min early. Guess I'm prepared to show up later than the advertised times in the future and skip it, but can't say I want to go back.
Movies are releasing into streaming at record pace these days too, so I skip the cinema altogether now. Used to be you'd wait half a year for a movie to go from theaters to video, now it's up on a streaming service the moment its theater run is finished.
I subscribe to Cinemark Movie Pass for $12/month and every additional ticket is another $12. I also get a 25% discount on concessions which definitely causes me to go the theaters more than I otherwise would. That’s with inflation because a couple years ago it was $8.99 not $11.99 so more but not unreasonable in this market. I wouldn’t go anywhere that charges more than double unless it’s a special occasion or location.
I also subscribe to Cinemark Movie Pass, and it's well worth it. My family loves going to theaters, so I also get a lot of points. Now and then, I can redeem points for multiple free tickets. It won't be an "XD" movie, but I don't see a difference. Plus, we get one free movie ticket every month that rolls over. Very much worth it for avid movie goers.
I got into Moviepass again because of this. They changed it from the last iteration to be points based. Around me a matinee is 10/20 and a normal time is 20/30 based on day of the week. They have deals certain days too where any movie is 7 points as well. I get the 34 credit plan for $10/mo and I get to go see 1 or 2 movies a month for less than 1 movie normally
That’s insane, in the UK we have ODEON which is probably the most expensive cinema at £15ish a ticket and then we have others like VUE where it’s only £6.
I barely get change out of $100 for two people and food in "Austrortia" . That's with one large popcorn, a choc-top and two large sodas. Needless to say I don't go very often.
We have some cinemas around here that offer an unlimited option. For a set monthly fee, you can go to the cinema as much as you want. Obviously you have to pay for all the extras (3D, popcorn and stuff). I have one and I go to the movies like 3 times a month on average.
I had the Cineworld Unlimited pass for a few years and went to see a lot of movies that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten to see - not all of them would have been worth a full ticket's price, but once I had already seen enough in a month that the rest were basically free, it was a "why not?" situation!
I, uh, heard that the theatres are doing good numbers this summer, actually. I wouldn't know, though. The last movie I went to was a Sunday matinee for a movie that every had seen already, so it was pratcually a private showing.
You can get the A-List subscription or whatever they call it (basically AMC'e version of Movie Pass). Some friends and I do this and we all see a movie usually every Tuesday.
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
For AMC specifically, they have a subscription plan where you can pay a smaller amount and get three movie tickets a week. For me, here in the Midwest, it pays itself off in two monthly visits, and I usually go 2-4 times a month, so in my situation I'm actually saving money.
They would do better if they brought prices down, though. I usually bring my own food and drinks due to the high concession prices.
I go to the movies at least once a week. This is one of the few cases where the subscription is where it's at. 25 dollars a month gets me three movies a week. I usually only see one but that nearly pays for itself the first week. It's great!
Is it IMAX 3D or just plain old 2d ? Their price is a lot cheaper for 2D where I live, and I don’t bother the 3D ones because wearing two sets of glasses is not fun
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
It’s not the best theater experience in the world but tickets to a standard screening near me are $8 for regular or $5 for matinee. Much better than the $26 per ticket I spent elsewhere for Avatar…
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
Honestly that's why we joined Cinemarks club. You get a ticket a month, plus another one for $1.99, and then as many more as you like for $9.99. with no fees. And you get discounts on snacks and drinks.
I subscribe to Cinemark Movie Pass for $12/month and every additional ticket is another $12. I also get a 25% discount on concessions which definitely causes me to go the theaters more than I otherwise would. That’s with inflation because a couple years ago it was $8.99 not $11.99 so more but not unreasonable in this market. I wouldn’t go anywhere that charges more than double unless it’s a special occasion or location.