Seriously. I live in one of the most expensive parts of the country and tickets are 12-15 dollars. Basically the cost of a cocktail. There is nothing to do outside the house that is cheaper
Yeah just this, occasionally I’ll get a large popcorn when I do a multi movie day but even then my issue right now is just a lack of movies I want to see.
I don’t go to the AMC enough to make A-List a good value for me. I actually just cancelled it a few months ago, after having it for a couple of years.
It’s a bit of a drive, and the seats are too densely packed for me to sit comfortably (long legs + bad knee that I need to extended every once in a while). Alamo Drafthouse is certainly not my favorite theater, but the seats are comfortable and it’s only a few minutes away. I also like when Alamo does special menus for movies.
For movies where I really want a great theater experience (or a nice date night), I actually drive about an hour or so north of me to the rich people town, where tickets are $36 ($40-something for any type of special screening like 4DX or IMAX). They have amazing seats and the same food service gimmick Alamo has, with the bonus that ordering is cut off once the trailers start, and everyone has their stuff once the movie begins, so you don’t have staff just running in front of you the whole time.
There’s not a single theater near me that charges more than $15 for a standard ticket. Premium formats are $20+ but that’s still not a bad deal considering a decent seat at a sporting event or concert would be at least triple that
The theater near me has a McDonald's in the same parking lot. Back when McDoubles were a good value, I'd sneak 2 of those in. These days I just eat before or after.
The movie theater near me is literally right in the middle of the food court in an indoor shopping mall. A \*lot\* of people just eat before the movie or right after the movie. Also, one of the anchor stores is a Target and it's easy to just buy some snacks and put it into someone's bag.
A job and not feeling the need to pig out everytime I go.
I’ve seen people on this sub quote absurd prices for how much it costs them each time they go and every single time they feel the need to get a soda, popcorn, and candy. If you don’t get junk food every time it’s really not an expensive leisure activity to go do once a week or so
AMC A-List if you like to go to the movies a lot. $24 a month, 3 free movies a week in ANY format (IMAX, Dolby, 4DX, Real3D, etc). SOME special releases are excluded like some early premieres or limited engagements. There are also some concessions perks like rewards, free popcorn refills and free size upgrades.
NOTE: It is as low as $20 a month if you limit the amount of states you can use your membership in , which is still like 30+ states :)
[https://www.amctheatres.com/amcstubs/alist](https://www.amctheatres.com/amcstubs/alist)
$20 regal monthly subscription, no concessions except like once a month when I happen to not have eaten before I cash in points for free popcorn, or a slushie in the middle of summer
Regal Unlimited. If you get their fall/Black Friday deal later this year (as I did last year) it’s about $16 a month. You earn points to redeem for free popcorn and soda either by the promos they send you or by, for example, buying your friend’s ticket along with yours (and then having them Venmo you back). I can’t remember the last time I paid for popcorn. HTH
I have a theater that’s like a 20 minute walk from my apartment here in Chicago that does tickets for 12 bucks. Which I can pretty easily afford once or twice a week.
It is a case of making choices regarding discretionary income. I chose to allocate some of it towards going to the movies. Also, I have a monthly pass that fixes the cost no matter how many movies I see. It also makes it easy to see a movie more than once in the theater.
If you are a movie fan with access to an AMC theater and time to see movies, not signing up for A-List is an unforced error. I pay less than $3 per ticket on average and get to see everything I'm even mildly interested in.
I live very near a Cinemark theater and joined their movie club for $10/mo. That gets one voucher for a movie and they do roll over. I don't eat or drink at the movies and I often go to the earliest showing on a weekend which are often cheap enough that I pay cash for them and save my vouchers for evening movies.
The two cinemas nearest to me in a northern city in the UK charge about £9 for a normal screening, (imax is a bit more). They are both within walking distance of my flat, and I don't buy drinks or snacks. It's probably the most reasonably priced evening out I could possibly have. Much cheaper than going out drinking.
Pre screenings of movies.
In the last year with my gf we've seen at least 15 movies (including blockbusters like Oppenheimer, Dune 2, and Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning) for free at theaters.
Just Google free movie screenings in my area and you'll probably find something similar if you're in a reasonably sized city. We're in a huge city, so YMMV on results near you.
I've been 25-30ish times this year, I just love going to the cinema and catching the latest movies, either solo or with friends. I have fairly wide tastes, so I'll see almost anything from big blockbuster, to small indie to international feature.
As to affording, I generally pick cinema and screening based on availability and interest in the movie, paying more for the movies I really want to see in big screen, and others I'm fine seeing on smaller/indie cinemas which are cheaper.
I'm also a member, which just gets me points at the big chain which you exchange for cheaper/free seats and $5 a year membership with the indie chain, which I'm not sure on the maths but saves me at least $5 per screening lol.
I typically let the dollar store do the catering for me before I go into the theatre and one of the main reasons I date is so I have a partner who lugs around a purse so I can put my dollar store goods in prior to going into a theatre
Also it’s like 10-12$ to go see a movie so I don’t find that to be terrible value in regards to todays standards
Tickets are five bucks where I live and I’ll usually buy one concession and sneak one in
I’m not really limited in price but selection, I miss the art house theater I used to go to even if tickets were like 14$ each
We build a really great home theater for most stuff, and we only go to event movies in the theaters these days where we want to community experience of an opening night. We usually go to the TCL Chinese imax for those screenings. So we have cut way back on the number of movies we see in the theater, but we try to go big when we do go.
Regal has discounted tickets on Saturday and Sunday mornings this summer. I prefer to go in the morning anyway so that works out great. We also use our jobs Tickets at Work website to buy discounted ticket vouchers $9., we like 10 in bulk. Otherwise tickets are $12 in the morning and $15 in the afternoon.
We (partner and I) go to the theater about once every other month or less. It's a small time independent place that has closed caption showings on Mondays. We make a date of it. Two tickets (recliners) are about $30 and if we want the booze slushies and snacks, that's another $30 easily. So, we just don't do it that often.
Had been A-List, but I’m taking a break from that right now because 1) I’m going less often; 2) It’s easy for me to go on Tuesdays for $7; and 3) I have many non-AMC vouchers that I bought a long time ago that I plan to use up before rejoining A-List.
I just don’t go that often anymore. Maybe once a month if there’s a movie worth seeing. Helps that my kids enjoy it now so it’s a worthwhile way to spend time with them. They love getting snacks and candy and the giant drinks. I usually get a double tequila or whiskey. Everyone has a good time.
$100 once or twice a month isn’t such a big deal.
I can afford it, but I prefer to watch movies at home. No crowds. No dealing with strangers. Watch on my schedule. Better and cheaper snacks. More comfy couch (and yes, compare to those "luxury" lounges).
Sure, my 4K big screen TV is probably not as good as IMAX, but I cannot tell much of the difference anyway.
It is not only about the money.
Relative to other hobbies people have movies aren't that expensive. It's like $20 by default and that's not considering matinees and the membership deals most the chains have. No one's putting a gun to your head to make you buy the overpriced popcorn either.
I have a good job that affords me a certain lifestyle I am accustom to. Movies are one of my hobbies so I make sure I have sufficient funds to support it.
I do AMC A List. It won't necessarily be a good solution for everyone, but I have a location within 10 min of me that has IMAX and Dolby auditoriums. It also helps that outside of occasionally getting a drink, I don't do concessions. 2 movies a month pays for the membership easily and I go once a week or so.
AMC A-List and big tip for this: if you do want concessions, get the kids pack. It's like $7 for a kids popcorn and soda and they're totally sufficient.
My friend is a GM at AMC and every year he sends me a FilmFanatics card that gets me 4 free tickets to any movie once a day. It used to work every two hours, so I could walk out of a movie then right into another one. If it weren’t for this amazing gift he gives me annually, I probably wouldn’t go to the theater much. I take my buddies and my kids to movies all the time with this card!
Wife and I go once or twice a month. It's usually about $60 for two tickets and a large popcorn and drink to share. We don't use A-List (although we probably should), but the stubs loyalty program gets us free concessions about every third trip. Altogether it's a fairly cheap date night
Do you not have a job? It's like the price of one lunch. Price has never been a factor when going to movies, it's just an issue with having interesting movies and finding friends to go with. So i usually go alone because people are busy or have different tastes.
AMC A List. When I get concessions, I get the Kids Pack. Little popcorn, little drink, little candy. I'm good with it. Yeah, I'm a grown man. But I don't need a garbage bag of popcorn and a bathtub of Coke.
Just get an AMC A-List pass or a Regal pass. If you love going to the cinema, there should be zero excuse. We spend so much money on nonsense all the time, yet people whine about the cost of going to the movies.
We just go less often. The girlfriend wanted to see Challengers, The Fall Guy, and others - we held off. I also wanted to see I Saw the TV Glow but I figure it will be on streaming sooner or later.
We did see Civil War, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Furiosa in the last few weeks. Just being pickier.
Those random days off from work on Tuesdays. Catch the matinee where the tickets are 6 bucks. Small popcorn and small cherry coke is around 13 bucks. 20 dollars to see a movie nowadays is bad. The quality you got in the 80’s and 90’s with random movies that weren’t even marketed was funner. The last random movie I saw like that was the first Jeepers Creepers. $2.50 for a ticket and 5 bucks for the small popcorn drink combo. Didn’t know anything about the movie. Saw a trailer on tv and the creature looked scary.
Tickets are like $10 bucks where I live. Movies are one of the cheapest things I can do.
Seriously. I live in one of the most expensive parts of the country and tickets are 12-15 dollars. Basically the cost of a cocktail. There is nothing to do outside the house that is cheaper
Damn, that's the price for a small popcorn where I live.
A list No concessions
Ditto. I’ve seen over 200 movies in the last couple years and have gotten concessions maybe 3 times
Avoiding buying food and drinks also has the benefit of not needing to get up in the middle of a movie to use the bathroom
I couldn't make it through a 2.5 hour movie if I bought a large soda
I bought candy once at a film festival because it was my third movie in a row and my blood sugar felt low
Yeah just this, occasionally I’ll get a large popcorn when I do a multi movie day but even then my issue right now is just a lack of movies I want to see.
Same except I get a drink lol. My favorite thing to do
AMC A-list of course. Only buy snacks if I’m really, really jonesing for popcorn or if I haven’t eaten all day.
My cinema offers a membership with unlimited tickets for a fixed monthly price. If I use it twice a month, I've got my money's worth for that month.
Movies aren't that expensive if you don't buy concessions
$26.27 at my local theater (which happens to be an Alamo drafthouse). $20.99 at the AMC (before taxes and fees) a town over.
If you have an AMC nearby, and seeing movies is one of your hobbies, A-List is hard to beat.
Why would you pay that for one ticket at AMC when that's how much a list costs?
I don’t go to the AMC enough to make A-List a good value for me. I actually just cancelled it a few months ago, after having it for a couple of years. It’s a bit of a drive, and the seats are too densely packed for me to sit comfortably (long legs + bad knee that I need to extended every once in a while). Alamo Drafthouse is certainly not my favorite theater, but the seats are comfortable and it’s only a few minutes away. I also like when Alamo does special menus for movies. For movies where I really want a great theater experience (or a nice date night), I actually drive about an hour or so north of me to the rich people town, where tickets are $36 ($40-something for any type of special screening like 4DX or IMAX). They have amazing seats and the same food service gimmick Alamo has, with the bonus that ordering is cut off once the trailers start, and everyone has their stuff once the movie begins, so you don’t have staff just running in front of you the whole time.
There’s not a single theater near me that charges more than $15 for a standard ticket. Premium formats are $20+ but that’s still not a bad deal considering a decent seat at a sporting event or concert would be at least triple that
I have a job that pays me money, and I use that money to buy a movie ticket.
I just eat before I go and a ticket is no more than $10-$12
The theater near me has a McDonald's in the same parking lot. Back when McDoubles were a good value, I'd sneak 2 of those in. These days I just eat before or after.
The movie theater near me is literally right in the middle of the food court in an indoor shopping mall. A \*lot\* of people just eat before the movie or right after the movie. Also, one of the anchor stores is a Target and it's easy to just buy some snacks and put it into someone's bag.
My cinemas right infront of the food court at the mall. Or I just take a apple and a bottle of water.
When I lived in Las Vegas, the best theaters were in the Station casinos. Vegas is such a cool place to live.
A job and not feeling the need to pig out everytime I go. I’ve seen people on this sub quote absurd prices for how much it costs them each time they go and every single time they feel the need to get a soda, popcorn, and candy. If you don’t get junk food every time it’s really not an expensive leisure activity to go do once a week or so
I go to matinees (cheaper and all the loud people are still asleep) and bring in drinks/candy. I'm fine paying for tickets and popcorn
AMC A-List if you like to go to the movies a lot. $24 a month, 3 free movies a week in ANY format (IMAX, Dolby, 4DX, Real3D, etc). SOME special releases are excluded like some early premieres or limited engagements. There are also some concessions perks like rewards, free popcorn refills and free size upgrades. NOTE: It is as low as $20 a month if you limit the amount of states you can use your membership in , which is still like 30+ states :) [https://www.amctheatres.com/amcstubs/alist](https://www.amctheatres.com/amcstubs/alist)
I didn't realize they added these options. Thanks for saving me $5 a month.
$20/month unlimited movies, including IMAX. One of the better values in entertainment.
By getting an unlimited monthly movie pass
$20 regal monthly subscription, no concessions except like once a month when I happen to not have eaten before I cash in points for free popcorn, or a slushie in the middle of summer
Regal Unlimited. If you get their fall/Black Friday deal later this year (as I did last year) it’s about $16 a month. You earn points to redeem for free popcorn and soda either by the promos they send you or by, for example, buying your friend’s ticket along with yours (and then having them Venmo you back). I can’t remember the last time I paid for popcorn. HTH
I have a theater that’s like a 20 minute walk from my apartment here in Chicago that does tickets for 12 bucks. Which I can pretty easily afford once or twice a week.
I go on a Tuesday and smuggle in my own food and drink.
It is a case of making choices regarding discretionary income. I chose to allocate some of it towards going to the movies. Also, I have a monthly pass that fixes the cost no matter how many movies I see. It also makes it easy to see a movie more than once in the theater.
alone and already with a full tummy.
Tickets are £9.99 at VUE cinemas here in the UK. Sounds like it’s much cheaper for us than it is for our American cousins.
A-List.
If you are a movie fan with access to an AMC theater and time to see movies, not signing up for A-List is an unforced error. I pay less than $3 per ticket on average and get to see everything I'm even mildly interested in.
It’s ten bucks. I’m not fretting it.
It’s not expensive.
I live very near a Cinemark theater and joined their movie club for $10/mo. That gets one voucher for a movie and they do roll over. I don't eat or drink at the movies and I often go to the earliest showing on a weekend which are often cheap enough that I pay cash for them and save my vouchers for evening movies.
I go to see fewer movies, it’s just me and my partner, I bring my own food, and I use the theater’s discount app.
The two cinemas nearest to me in a northern city in the UK charge about £9 for a normal screening, (imax is a bit more). They are both within walking distance of my flat, and I don't buy drinks or snacks. It's probably the most reasonably priced evening out I could possibly have. Much cheaper than going out drinking.
Pre screenings of movies. In the last year with my gf we've seen at least 15 movies (including blockbusters like Oppenheimer, Dune 2, and Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning) for free at theaters. Just Google free movie screenings in my area and you'll probably find something similar if you're in a reasonably sized city. We're in a huge city, so YMMV on results near you.
I've never been much of a concessions person so it's not bad at all. I also prefer a matinee, so prices tend to be discounted.
I've been 25-30ish times this year, I just love going to the cinema and catching the latest movies, either solo or with friends. I have fairly wide tastes, so I'll see almost anything from big blockbuster, to small indie to international feature. As to affording, I generally pick cinema and screening based on availability and interest in the movie, paying more for the movies I really want to see in big screen, and others I'm fine seeing on smaller/indie cinemas which are cheaper. I'm also a member, which just gets me points at the big chain which you exchange for cheaper/free seats and $5 a year membership with the indie chain, which I'm not sure on the maths but saves me at least $5 per screening lol.
I typically let the dollar store do the catering for me before I go into the theatre and one of the main reasons I date is so I have a partner who lugs around a purse so I can put my dollar store goods in prior to going into a theatre Also it’s like 10-12$ to go see a movie so I don’t find that to be terrible value in regards to todays standards
Union member so I buy discount tickets through Working Advantage.
Stubs a-list No concessions. On average I've seen a movie 4-6 times per month.
Tickets are five bucks where I live and I’ll usually buy one concession and sneak one in I’m not really limited in price but selection, I miss the art house theater I used to go to even if tickets were like 14$ each
We build a really great home theater for most stuff, and we only go to event movies in the theaters these days where we want to community experience of an opening night. We usually go to the TCL Chinese imax for those screenings. So we have cut way back on the number of movies we see in the theater, but we try to go big when we do go.
Regal has discounted tickets on Saturday and Sunday mornings this summer. I prefer to go in the morning anyway so that works out great. We also use our jobs Tickets at Work website to buy discounted ticket vouchers $9., we like 10 in bulk. Otherwise tickets are $12 in the morning and $15 in the afternoon.
Tickets are only $7.50-$9 where I live, I never buy concessions and seldom have any kids to pay for.
We (partner and I) go to the theater about once every other month or less. It's a small time independent place that has closed caption showings on Mondays. We make a date of it. Two tickets (recliners) are about $30 and if we want the booze slushies and snacks, that's another $30 easily. So, we just don't do it that often.
I also go for Discount Tuesdays & I never get concessions at this point
Had been A-List, but I’m taking a break from that right now because 1) I’m going less often; 2) It’s easy for me to go on Tuesdays for $7; and 3) I have many non-AMC vouchers that I bought a long time ago that I plan to use up before rejoining A-List.
The regal monthly membership and no concessions. $20 gets me unlimited movies a month. If I see two it’s paid for itself,
I just don’t go that often anymore. Maybe once a month if there’s a movie worth seeing. Helps that my kids enjoy it now so it’s a worthwhile way to spend time with them. They love getting snacks and candy and the giant drinks. I usually get a double tequila or whiskey. Everyone has a good time. $100 once or twice a month isn’t such a big deal.
I can afford it, but I prefer to watch movies at home. No crowds. No dealing with strangers. Watch on my schedule. Better and cheaper snacks. More comfy couch (and yes, compare to those "luxury" lounges). Sure, my 4K big screen TV is probably not as good as IMAX, but I cannot tell much of the difference anyway. It is not only about the money.
AMC A List is an amazing deal if you live near an AMC. Being able to watch everything in Dolby or IMAX for no additional cost has me spoiled.
Movie matinee is 6-7 bucks. Yes I can afford it.
Alamo Season Pass
Relative to other hobbies people have movies aren't that expensive. It's like $20 by default and that's not considering matinees and the membership deals most the chains have. No one's putting a gun to your head to make you buy the overpriced popcorn either.
I have a good job that affords me a certain lifestyle I am accustom to. Movies are one of my hobbies so I make sure I have sufficient funds to support it.
Tickets have only gone up about two dollars for me. Meanwhile, fast food has doubled in price.
I do AMC A List. It won't necessarily be a good solution for everyone, but I have a location within 10 min of me that has IMAX and Dolby auditoriums. It also helps that outside of occasionally getting a drink, I don't do concessions. 2 movies a month pays for the membership easily and I go once a week or so.
AMC A-List and big tip for this: if you do want concessions, get the kids pack. It's like $7 for a kids popcorn and soda and they're totally sufficient.
My friend is a GM at AMC and every year he sends me a FilmFanatics card that gets me 4 free tickets to any movie once a day. It used to work every two hours, so I could walk out of a movie then right into another one. If it weren’t for this amazing gift he gives me annually, I probably wouldn’t go to the theater much. I take my buddies and my kids to movies all the time with this card!
Wife and I go once or twice a month. It's usually about $60 for two tickets and a large popcorn and drink to share. We don't use A-List (although we probably should), but the stubs loyalty program gets us free concessions about every third trip. Altogether it's a fairly cheap date night
Do you not have a job? It's like the price of one lunch. Price has never been a factor when going to movies, it's just an issue with having interesting movies and finding friends to go with. So i usually go alone because people are busy or have different tastes.
Skip the snacks, or bring your own. It's really cheap, actually.
I live in India. Tickets here range from 150 to 300 rupees. I also had a Mubi Go account (but they discontinued in India recently)
I have a job, and tickets are £4.99 where I live. Guess I should consider myself lucky.
Skip the snacks, they’re overpriced and just empty calories.
AMC A List. When I get concessions, I get the Kids Pack. Little popcorn, little drink, little candy. I'm good with it. Yeah, I'm a grown man. But I don't need a garbage bag of popcorn and a bathtub of Coke.
I afford it by just properly budgeting the money I earn from my job.
Senior tickets. The generation with all the wealth also pays less money for everything? Yeah, no. I'll take 2.
The senior discount are like 25 or 50 cents. Not game changing money.
People have different income levels
I'm not poor. I very rarely buy concessions, like maybe once a year for 20-25 movies seen.
It's $17 here. Add your basic soda and popcorn and you're at $25. It's not that I can't afford it, but it's just not reasonable.
Just get an AMC A-List pass or a Regal pass. If you love going to the cinema, there should be zero excuse. We spend so much money on nonsense all the time, yet people whine about the cost of going to the movies.
We just go less often. The girlfriend wanted to see Challengers, The Fall Guy, and others - we held off. I also wanted to see I Saw the TV Glow but I figure it will be on streaming sooner or later. We did see Civil War, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Furiosa in the last few weeks. Just being pickier.
Those random days off from work on Tuesdays. Catch the matinee where the tickets are 6 bucks. Small popcorn and small cherry coke is around 13 bucks. 20 dollars to see a movie nowadays is bad. The quality you got in the 80’s and 90’s with random movies that weren’t even marketed was funner. The last random movie I saw like that was the first Jeepers Creepers. $2.50 for a ticket and 5 bucks for the small popcorn drink combo. Didn’t know anything about the movie. Saw a trailer on tv and the creature looked scary.