October 10, 2024

AMC slidable seat ticket pricing will be hardest on its own employees

AMC announced earlier this week that it will be offering slidable prices for seats in its theaters. To put it in the simplest way possible, the nicer the view, the more expensive the seat.

The news hasn’t played well, with fans (including this blogger) upset that we’re once again facing price hikes on a medium of entertainment that is quickly approaching triple digits for a family of four to experience at a decent hour, if they also want refreshments.

But AMC executives underestimate the toll it will take on their own employees.

Enforcing these new prices will be a nightmare.

You know that there will be patrons that select a less expensive seat and then proceed to sit wherever they like. We see it now in other theaters with rumble seats that have speakers built into them. We also see it with handicap guests seats.

We already have problems with pirating, cellphones, and customers misbehaving in theaters as is. This will only aggravate the situation further and increase confrontations during the screening, dragging down the film for everyone involved.

The movie theater experience is unmatched, but the case for streaming services gets better with every decision made by the chains such as this one.

There is a business angle here. AMC wants more customers on its A-List program, where the seating premiums will be exempt. While A-List is a good deal, forcing people to subscribe by nickel and diming them everywhere else is not.

Let’s hope AMC rethinks this strategy and looks for other ways to increase revenues such as venue hosting, school partnerships, and more reasonable advertising solutions.

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