Why is there a "booking fee" at Vue cinemas?

Poq

Booking 4 tickets from their site would cost me £3.00!

What a joke.

So I have to pay money as an administration cost to be able to pay them money for a service they are charging money for?

What universe do Vue cinemas live on?

Seems to be a manipulative trick used to inflate prices.

Oldfatgrumpy

Presumably it's to compensate Vue for the cost and inconvenience of increasing their profits by employing fewer box-office staff than they otherwise would. It stinks.

Naf

The simple answer; because they can.

ellay864

Is there any cinema chain that doesn't charge a booking fee? I'm sure I paid one recently to Odeon. Booking fees seem the norm everywhere now, then there's postage fees if you want to have tickets sent to you. The worst I had was a few years back when I paid an extra fee per ticket for 4 theatre tickets. I decided to try to avoid the £2 postage fee and pick them up from the theatre but was told there'd be a £2 fee for that too. So basically they say it costs as much to hold them in a drawer somewhere as to post them to me!

brightonman123

money making scam, imo. never seen a busy cinema lately, have always bought on the day.. some do mid-week £5 deals!

Steve059

It's because the cinema outsources the online bookings, and this company simply adds their cut.

I'm fortunate enough to live very close to my local Showcase cinema. For "Skyfall", I got them the old-fashioned way, in person at the box office, and just paid the basic ticket price.

dawn27

Just take a chance and buy on the day, i go to the cinema 2/3 times a month its not unusual for there to only be a few other people there, also we have had the cinema to ourselves before.
I went to see Star Trek on the first day and there were only about a dozen people in the cinema.
with Vue you can look online to book tickets and it will tell you how many seats are left for the screening, then not complete the booking and buy at the box office.

bestpud

At least you get to choose a seat with Vue.

As far as I am aware, Odeon also charge and you still have to get there early enough to find a good seat.

Theatres definitely charge a booking fee so I guess it's similar...?

Not that I agree with the charges, but I do like to know where I will be sitting and that there won't be a problem if we are running late.

dawn27

when we go to the theatre i usually find a good deal on lastminute and the booking fees are included in the price quoted, which is a good idea no nasty surprises on checkout.
Usually i wait for the £24 deals for meal and show, bargain

dawn27

you cant pick your seats so its potluck, the last two times we have been upgraded to the stalls in great seats a few rows from the stage

bestpud

dawn27 wrote: »

you cant pick your seats so its potluck, the last two times we have been upgraded to the stalls in great seats a few rows from the stage

That's the part I struggle with when it comes to late deals but I guess it's the same with the cinema - pay more and choose a seat or less and take your chances.