Movie theatres should have assigned seating...

[BigToque]

After coming to India and Singapore for the last 3 months (still in Singapore) I was very shocked to find that theatres all had assigned seating. I was ticked off at first because I got a crummy seat for a show that had like 10 people in it. Eventually, after I realized that I can select the seats I want, I've completely changed my ideas about it.

Everything is totally fair. First in line to buy tickets gets first dibs at seats. Nobody can complain and you don't get all the pushing and shoving like you do now when people try to get the best seats for new releases.

Someone explain to me why this isn't already done here in North America...

 

[axelfox]

Yeah, I went to go see The Scorpion King in Singapore, and I was suprised when I got called out for sitting in someone else's seat in a theater with 20 people.

 

[richardycc]

because America is the home of the free. You are free to seat whereever you want.

 

[brigden]

Why do we need assigned seating? If you arrive late be prepared to get sh!tty seats.

 

[blackdogdeek]

the ziegfeld in nyc has assigned seating.

my favorite is the P aisle, seat 161 or 181 i think.

 

[LordSnailz]

Assigned seating is not going to work ... the theatre is going to try to sell as many seats as possible and it won't work if people know that they're going to get crappy seats.

Although, I know the theatre by LAX has assigned seating but of course they charge a little more than the rest.

 

[moshquerade]

um... first come first served. that's the way i see it.

 

[ReiAyanami]

turk: you jumped to the stereotype of a black family at the movie theatre didn't you?
JD: like honeybees to honey

JD: this is special holiday gum <sell it with the eyes, sell it with the eyes> [/bambi eyes]

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: brigden
Why do we need assigned seating? If you arrive late be prepared to get sh!tty seats.

Having assigned seating reduces all kinds of problems. There is no pushing and shoving to get seats. You can't arrive an hour early and save seats for the 6 friends who will eventually be joining you. You maximize the number of tickets you can sell and possibly lower prices (how many people leave a movie and get a refund when the theatre is only 3/4 full but everyone needs their personal seat buffer between them so only single seats are left).

Free for all seating is horrible in my opinion now. I've always arrived early to get good seats so I don't have to put up with all kinds of crap, but honestly why waste my time before the movie when with assigned seating I can arrive 5 minutes before the show and sit down with no commotion whatsoever.

 

[NutBucket]

Some of them do. There's a theater by my house with a special "director's hall" (leather seats, much better sound system) that has assigned seating. Course, its also $14 a ticket. I've seen a few movies there and it was pretty good. Spiderman was definitely worth the extra money.

 

[brigden]

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: brigden
Why do we need assigned seating? If you arrive late be prepared to get sh!tty seats.

Having assigned seating reduces all kinds of problems. There is no pushing and shoving to get seats. You can't arrive an hour early and save seats for the 6 friends who will eventually be joining you. You maximize the number of tickets you can sell and possibly lower prices (how many people leave a movie and get a refund when the theatre is only 3/4 full but everyone needs their personal seat buffer between them so only single seats are left).

Free for all seating is horrible in my opinion now. I've always arrived early to get good seats so I don't have to put up with all kinds of crap, but honestly why waste my time before the movie when with assigned seating I can arrive 5 minutes before the show and sit down with no commotion whatsoever.

Never in my twenty-plus years of going to the movies have I ever once encountered "pushing and shoving."

Assigned seating will make it impossible for theatres to sell tickets to people who arrive at the last minute.

 

[CVSiN]

fvcuk that I dont want to sit anywhere but the middle anyway.. there is no way im gonna go to a theatre that has assigned seating so i get stuck pressed in the first 5 rows looking straihgt up at the screen..
get there late expect a crappy seat end of story....

 

[tami]

loew's 34th street also has assigned seating. there are 2 rows (with tables in between for food and drinks) in the center of the theatre for the purpose. it's $13.99 a ticket, as opposed to the standard $8.99 for the same theatre.

i don't do assigned seating. not in ny, at least. the theatre will be full anyway.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: brigden

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: brigden
Why do we need assigned seating? If you arrive late be prepared to get sh!tty seats.

Having assigned seating reduces all kinds of problems. There is no pushing and shoving to get seats. You can't arrive an hour early and save seats for the 6 friends who will eventually be joining you. You maximize the number of tickets you can sell and possibly lower prices (how many people leave a movie and get a refund when the theatre is only 3/4 full but everyone needs their personal seat buffer between them so only single seats are left).

Free for all seating is horrible in my opinion now. I've always arrived early to get good seats so I don't have to put up with all kinds of crap, but honestly why waste my time before the movie when with assigned seating I can arrive 5 minutes before the show and sit down with no commotion whatsoever.

Never in my twenty-plus years of going to the movies have I ever once encountered "pushing and shoving."

Assigned seating will make it impossible for theatres to sell tickets to people who arrive at the last minute.

While entering the theater to see ROTK last year I noticed a few ppl being confronted by a rather large security guard. They were upset that they couldn't go into the theater when other people were. Sure, they should be able to go in at the same time as everyone else that waited in line.......:roll:

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
um... first come first served. that's the way i see it.

If you and a friend camped out for a few days to get tickets to your favorite concert or sporting event (say super bowl) and then on gameday you were on your way to the game (quite early mind you) and your car breaks down and you arrive just in time for kickoff, you wouldn't be upset that you ended up sitting in the worst seat possible and your friend had to sit on the other side of the stadium because there were no other seats available?

 

[tfinch2]

I don't know where you barbarians go see movies at but I've never had to put up with pushing and shoving...

 

[MaxDepth]

Some twerp tried to save seven seats around him when the theater started to fill up quickly for the show (Spiderman 2). There weren't any other jackets or bags besides his stuff so we went ahead and sat down. He tried to stretch his body to lay down in the seats and that's when my 6'5" 308 pound friend decided to sit in the chair where his knees were.

We told him to go cry to the manager. He didn't do anything but sulk and when his friends showed up (about the start of the movie) we all had a good laugh. I don't mind if one maybe two couples try to save seats for the others getting drinks or hitting the head, but saving seats is beyond a bad idea.

 

[brigden]

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: moshquerade
um... first come first served. that's the way i see it.

If you and a friend camped out for a few days to get tickets to your favorite concert or sporting event (say super bowl) and then on gameday you were on your way to the game (quite early mind you) and your car breaks down and you arrive just in time for kickoff, you wouldn't be upset that you ended up sitting in the worst seat possible and your friend had to sit on the other side of the stadium because there were no other seats available?

A movie is not a one-off event. It usually plays several times a day for several weeks, if not months. If you don't want to sit in a crappy seat, arrive a few minutes before the movie starts. End of discussion.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
fvcuk that I dont want to sit anywhere but the middle anyway.. there is no way im gonna go to a theatre that has assigned seating so i get stuck pressed in the first 5 rows looking straihgt up at the screen..
get there late expect a crappy seat end of story....

What's the difference?

You still have to get there the same time. In fact, it's actually better b/c you can show up an hour early, reserve the seats you want, and then go do your own thing for an hour instead of lurking around the theater so that you can be right there when the doors open so that no one snarfs your seat. You can get up during the previews for one last potty break and not have to leave a personal article in the hopes that no one takes your spot. PLUS, if there are no good seats available, you can reserve seats for the next available showing and come back at your leisure to find your seats ready waiting without having to come back and waste ANOTHER hour waiting like a vulture.

The earlybird still gets the worm with none of the waiting, muss or fuss. It boggles my mind that anyone could possibly be against this.

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: Stefan
After coming to India and Singapore for the last 3 months (still in Singapore) I was very shocked to find that theatres all had assigned seating. I was ticked off at first because I got a crummy seat for a show that had like 10 people in it. Eventually, after I realized that I can select the seats I want, I've completely changed my ideas about it.

Everything is totally fair. First in line to buy tickets gets first dibs at seats. Nobody can complain and you don't get all the pushing and shoving like you do now when people try to get the best seats for new releases.

Someone explain to me why this isn't already done here in North America...

I totally agree with you on that. It is like that in thailand as well. They also have a few other cool perks like love seats and someone to cater to you during a movie if you want

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: CVSiN
fvcuk that I dont want to sit anywhere but the middle anyway.. there is no way im gonna go to a theatre that has assigned seating so i get stuck pressed in the first 5 rows looking straihgt up at the screen..
get there late expect a crappy seat end of story....

umm hello, you can choose..

 

[Injury]

I don't exactly see a problem with NOT having assigned seats. This isn't grade school and people are not idiots. Only once have I been to a movie so packed I couldn't get seat next to my friends.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: brigden

A movie is not a one-off event. It usually plays several times a day for several weeks, if not months. If you don't want to sit in a crappy seat, arrive a few minutes before the movie starts. End of discussion.

Plays have assigned seating. There's no reason not to have assigned seating in movie theaters other than that people don't like change. The theater wouldn't have trouble selling tickets close to showtime, if you get to a popular movie late you KNOW you're going to get a bad seat.

 

[K1052]

There are no substantial benefits to the theatre operators for them to implement it.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: brigden

Originally posted by: Stefan

Originally posted by: brigden
Why do we need assigned seating? If you arrive late be prepared to get sh!tty seats.

Having assigned seating reduces all kinds of problems. There is no pushing and shoving to get seats. You can't arrive an hour early and save seats for the 6 friends who will eventually be joining you. You maximize the number of tickets you can sell and possibly lower prices (how many people leave a movie and get a refund when the theatre is only 3/4 full but everyone needs their personal seat buffer between them so only single seats are left).

Free for all seating is horrible in my opinion now. I've always arrived early to get good seats so I don't have to put up with all kinds of crap, but honestly why waste my time before the movie when with assigned seating I can arrive 5 minutes before the show and sit down with no commotion whatsoever.

Never in my twenty-plus years of going to the movies have I ever once encountered "pushing and shoving."

Assigned seating will make it impossible for theatres to sell tickets to people who arrive at the last minute.

Well I'm sure some theatres are better at controlling crowds than others. There isn't much you can do when there are 450 people in line waiting for a movie and then have the guy pull away the little rope so people can start walking in.

At the theatres in my area, the people in line have already passed the guy who has ripped the ticket, so you have people cutting right to the front of the line and just rushing in as fast as possible. I've seen it get pretty bad.

In my experience, if all that is left is the "front rows", people will leave and get refunds to their tickets. If they know that is all that is available when they buy the ticket they'll either buy the seat or wait for another show. This can certainly reduce the lines at customer service for people looking to get refunds.

I can only see assigned seating as being beneficial by helping everything run a lot more smoothly.