Is reserved seating really consumer-friendly?

[LeisureSuit912]

Today I tried to go see star trek with some friends at the local AMC. they apparently had just started doing reserved seating a week ago. when i go to purchase my tickets what pops up is this map of the theater, and it's like a boxed configuration with only like fifty something seats including some handicapped spots. we couldn't get three seats together because all the available seats were spread out among the theater. its like a bunch of individual people just took up all the seats in the rows and you couldn't get three people together even though there's like 10 spots left. We ended up not purchasing tickets because of that. A family right next to me trying to purchase tickets to Kubo ended up looking just as confused.
 
Are reserved seats really that consumer-friendly? It just feels like way too much of a corporate move like "oh moviegoers will like it cuz it's the 'best seat in the house' kinda deal," when in reality it's like booking airline tickets for an entertainment product.

This is a showing at 7:15 for Jason Bourne at my theater, and Star Trek looked pretty much like this on the map, except the front row looked just like every other row

[Ad Bot]

[Foxscotch]

1st of all ew who LIKES to sit at the front?
2nd I can't imagine it making a difference. I mean this is presumably first-come first-serve, just like it would be in the actual theater, so like...

[Planr]

that sounds terrible

[Nikki]

I've been in theaters where I reserve seats and I basically end up sitting somewhere else.
It really just depends on how many people show up.

[Dannu]

Idk this is how it has always been in euroland and it works. (to my knowledge)

[Ravencroft·]

Depends on the event/venue really. I buy reserved seating for the season at Saratoga race course and they're the best seats in the house. Same can be said for reserved seats at most auto racing events. As for concerts, raves, festivals, etc. it's hit or miss depending on clueless the promoters are.

[AtlasBlue]

1st of all ew who LIKES theaters?

[Foxscotch]

1st of all ew who LIKES theaters?

people with friends

[sir dooble]

My cinema does reserved seating, but seems to randomly decide whether or not they'll enforce it.
They randomly choose whether they will guide you to specific seats (whether you reserved seats or not) or if they'll just let you seat yourself.

The weirdest thing is that they tend to not guide you in the biggest screen on highly booked showings, but tend to guide you on the smaller screens with low turnouts. You'd think it would be the other way around.

[gr8dayseth]

whater u gay
the huge-ass screen and the sounds are forgetign radical

[Headcrab Zombie]

The "we couldn't get three seats together" problem seems to be that the designer of the theater decided to bunch everything together into pairs?
That's not really relevant to a reserved seating system

EDIT: Oh, I missed the part where you said that was a screenshot for a different showing

[Muzzles56]

You're watching a movie, not having a meeting. You don't need to sit beside friends in a movie because you're not supposed to talk. Doing so just disturbs people around you. Save your jokes and discussions for afterwards.

Reserved seating is fine. People have different preferences in terms of seating. Some like the back to get a better view (I prefer the back so I can see the whole screen without having to turn my head and all), some prefer closer to the bottom for easier access to toilets and whatever. Most people don't care, so it all works out.

[Bisjac]

it looks like stuffloads of spots with 3 seats next to each other. im not sure what you are seeing.

[sir dooble]

You're watching a movie, not having a meeting. You don't need to sit beside friends in a movie because you're not supposed to talk. Doing so just disturbs people around you. Save your jokes and discussions for afterwards.

I don't talk to my friends during the movie, but I still want to sit next to them. I arranged to go to the movies in order to be with them.
If we sat apart then we might as well have just watched the movie at seperate times and then met to discuss it.

You also lose the benefit of getting to laugh and joke over the trailers or credits.

[Daswiruch]

You're watching a movie, not having a meeting. You don't need to sit beside friends in a movie because you're not supposed to talk. Doing so just disturbs people around you. Save your jokes and discussions for afterwards.

if im paying this stuffty-ass theatrical company to watch some stuffty company's stuffty movie then im going to sit next to my friends, share some laughs, and joke about how stuffty it is
if they want people to be entirely quiet during the movie then they better be paying me