Odeon Premiere Reward Card: Deals Note Discussion

MSE_Jenny

This thread is to discuss the deals note.. (Please read the note first)

Odeon Premiere Reward Card

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Magicmerly

This Scheme has been AMAZING for me.

I bought the Ultimate deal with the idea that if I spent the £9.99 on the card I'd basically be paying for a ticket anyway so I'd be paying just over a pound to join the scheme and was looking forward to getting my free ticket the next time I came.......

SO, first night a week later, I've registered my card and I think "Right Orange Wednesday is coming up" I wonder if I can buy the ticket with my points and Orange Wednesday the free one as per normal.

Not to be cheeky, I email the Odeon Premier people to check if this was possible.

They come back to me with it was , result !! so I go to the place armed with card and txt and emails from the Odeon people.

Get to the till ask them for the ticket to the film I wanted and I wanted to orange wednesday the other ticket, the guy tries to put it in but it doesn't work.... then he calls his manager in and he tries..... still doesn't work, "I don't think you're able to do that" says the manager, "that's not what the odeon premier people told me" *shows him email* time for the film comes rapidly close and even though the guys tried (and were shining examples of customer service) they failed, the manager says "I'm really sorry about this" and gives me TWO free tickets to the film we wanted to see, points still on my card......

Second time, a week later, I took my partner and my daughter to go see one of the 3D films, thinking we'd only pay for one adult and one child and get the third ticket free.

Go there, ask for what I wanted, again they try and put it through, again it doesn't work.....

Guy tries and fails, he calls in someone else, he fails, then he calls in I assume the big boss lady, so yes three people are trying to make this thing work, again film time comes, they're all very apologetic and the lady says "I'll just comp this one for you" me thinking I'll get the adult one free, I hand her my debit card to pay for the other two and she says "Oh I didn't realise there were three of you, give me a moment" taps on the computer a bit more and out pops three tickets \o/

SO, so far I've spent £9.99, got 1000 points from the start, have yet to spend them and managed to get 5 free tickets out of the system.

I'm not sure if they'll have fixed these teething issues yet but it's certainly been good to me, I gotta say I'm LOVING this new scheme

Coventry1

The only thing I'd like to say is something that doesn't get mentioned a lot - Orange 2for1 is only a saving if you're going with a friend! Isn't it? :-)

doverrog

The ODEON card could be great if you can get it! I've been trying to register for one/validate the card I got from my local Odeon, for weeks now and still no response from their customer services. The entry form on line asks for my date of birth, from drop-down boxes, but it won't accept mine as valid! I've tried emailing them etc but its till won't work and now they no longer reply to my emails.
So I'm currently £1.99 out of pocket!

Magicmerly

Yeah Orange Wednesday, you used to be able to get two films for the price of one if you were on your own, it appears that has stopped now which is a shame.

As for the email, both times I've emailed them at [EMAIL="ODEONPremiereClub@odeonuk.com"]ODEONPremiereClub@odeonuk.com[/EMAIL] they've responded quite quickly, if you've not tried it already I'd suggest doing it that way.

vaxner

Hi everyone,
I am currently an employee at one of the Odeon cinemas where these cards have proved very popular and I thought I would note down some helpful tips as they should apply to all Odeons.

1. First of all the rollout of cards across all the Odeon cinemas was only completed around the beginning of October so some cinema employees are perhaps still a little in-experienced when it comes to the finer points of the cards.
2. When it comes to tickets, points can be redeemed on standard (800 points), premier (1000 points) and gallery (1500 points) seats but you need to add 300 points to those values if you plan to watch a 3D film like UP i.e. standard = 1100 points; premier = 1300; gallery = 1800.
3. Points CANNOT be redeemed on the paid ticket on Orange Wednesdays! This seems to be a limitation due to the terms and conditions set by Orange (as listed here: web.orange.co.uk/article/orange-wednesdays-terms-and-conditions) not us in the cinema - the system simply will not allow it. You can however earn points on the ticket you pay money for.
4. Points will not expire so long as you use them once every 2 years. By use I mean you have to spend some points on something once every 2 years or you will lose all of your points. This is not really that big an issue to overcome.
5. There is no way to transfer points from one person’s card to another. I am not sure if this will ever be possible.
6. You have to be 16 years or older to be able to get a card.
7. Anyone can use a card so you can get one for the family and share between yourselves. This will help your kids collect points if they are under 16.
8. Other than tickets, points can so far only be spent on a small popcorn or small drink. There are plans once the scheme has been running longer for points to be useable on other products.
9. You can earn points on EVERYTHING you can buy in any Odeon with 2 notable exceptions - 1) no points on any alcoholic drinks 2) no points when you buy gift vouchers. However the person using the gift vouchers can get points.
10. You can get points when you use “Admit One” vouchers to pay for tickets. These are usually supplied by some companies to their employees at £3-£4 each. When redeemed at Odeon you will get the points equivalent to the price of the ticket e.g. you use an “Admit One” voucher for a £8 ticket you will get 80 points meaning you essentially get 40-50 points more than what you paid for. It should be noted that this is technically a loophole and according to the OPC T&Cs should not be allowed and could be closed at any time - see post #19 below for more details.
11. For some reason it currently is not possible to use an Odeon gift voucher to purchase the Odeon Premiere Card. I would suggest paying in some other way and using the gift voucher for tickets (thus earning points as well).
12. There is no way to spend the points without first registering/activating the card. When you do this DEFINITELY do it online as this is done instantly - if you decide to do it through the mail it can take up to 2 weeks to complete (not counting the strikes).
13. If you have a paper card and not the plastic one it is now possible to swap these over in the cinema itself. Be warned though the process is lengthy as it requires someone higher up to come down to the box office and overall on our part it can take up to 10 minutes to complete. If you need to do this make sure you come in when it is a quieter time and not right before your film or when it’s opening night/Orange Wednesdays. Your paper one will continue to work so long as you have activated/registered it.
14. Finally you can use the cards in any Odeon even if you purchased the card in an Odeon different to the one you frequent.

Well I hope that answers any questions that there are about the cards and feel free to ask any more and I will try and do my best to answer them.

Oh one last thing - as employees we frequently get a lot of backlash/retaliation over the fact that we are asking you about the cards and charging for them. Please remember that we have to ask as part of our jobs and even if you are getting the £1.99 card you are still getting 100 points (equivalent to spending £10) - you are essentially making a profit of 80 points in the transaction so you cannot really lose. If you definitely do not want a card then please just simply decline politely without swearing or name calling!

Magicmerly

Hi vaxner

I thought I'd check it again today and it appears your point 3 is wrong according to your Premier Points office.... So what IS going on here who's right and who's wrong because currently I'm inclined to go with the head office responce than a local odeon employee (with the upmost respect of course).

Dear Simon,
Thank you for your email,
Yes, you can buy tickets for Orange Wednesday with your card, as long as you have enough points.
Yours,
ODEON Première Club

26/10/2009 12:34
To: "ODEON Première Club" <[EMAIL="ODEONPremiereclub&#64;odeonuk.com"]ODEONPremiereclub@odeonuk.com[/EMAIL]>


Hi guys (and gals)
Sorry to bother you, I just want to get something cleared up.
Is it possible to buy a ticket with my premier points card and then Orange Wednesday a second ticket thus giving me two free (as long as I have the points) tickets to see a movie ?
If you could let me know I'd very much appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
Simon


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vaxner

Hi Magicmerly,

You have admittedly made me doubt what I said so I will double check this Wednesday by trying to buy a couple of tickets by using a orange code for one and paying for the other with points.

The main reason I posted before was apparently (this is what I was told by higher-ups) Orange recently changed their terms and conditions to prohibit any form of vouchers from being used to pay for the paid ticket on Orange Wednesdays - this includes using points. Some cinemas will overlook this when people use vouchers such as gift vouchers, "Admit Ones" and guest passes but the actual ticketing system will prevent anyone when they try to use their points.

There was an update to the system about a week ago which made a few improvements so things might have changed.

Like I said I will double check this all and will reply letting you know what our actual ticketing system will let through. Since we are restricted by the ticketing system in what we can actually sell to the public this will hopefully be the definitive answer to the question.

thepearce

Some useful information here but exactly what benefit are people getting when buying gift vouchers now? Seems to be you are buying something more restrictive than the traditional cash.

Magicmerly

Thanks Vaxner, I suspect it will be the same as it was the first time I tried, however I would say with headoffice sending mails like that out it does open a bit of a pandoras box doesn't it ?

vaxner

@thepearce

For the most part gift vouchers are restrictive in the sense that you can only use them in Odeon cinemas but they do work in any Odeon and act as cash - you receive change from them and they can be used to purchase anything (with the exception of the OPC card). Most people nowadays I think buy them as gifts for others who they know enjoy film or for those they want to have come to the cinema.

@Magicmerly

As promised I tried today on 3 different occasions with 3 different cards (all had in excess of 1000 points each) for a normal seat and film (no 3D/premier etc) and the system refused to accept points as payment for the Orange Wednesdays paid ticket. The ticketing system will get as far as showing you the amount of points you can redeem (this is after two tickets have been selected and the orange code has been entered) but once you try to tell it to redeem 800 points it simply refuses throwing up a message that it is not possible.

I have no idea if this applies to every Odeon but since we all use the same exact ticketing system I suspect that it most likely does.

My apologies for the bad news and especially for all the contradictory information (in terms of the email you received). This could all be down to a software bug that the Odeon Premiere Card Call Centre are unaware off or simply Orange's terms and conditions.

I hope this is all resolved soon and with any luck someone in Odeon head office will see this and things might get fixed or at least confirmed.