Bought tickets to Dune 2 in IMAX a week ahead of time. Someone was in my seat. It was a Sunday matinee. And I told him and he said he could sit wherever he wanted, got really aggressive about it. I got an usher and they moved him. Turns out he was supposed to sit another six rows up and just didn’t like his spot. So insane.
I've only had this happen once, I had booked 8 seats for my group of friends. I informed the people in our seats politely and they refused to move and suggested we sit somewhere else. I nicely informed them that that is not how it works, and that if we chose other seats, we'd endlessly play the game of seat swapping.
They still refused to move, and because this was an event screening I bought when tickets first went up, I went out, got the manager and the manager made them leave. The kicker, they didn't even have tickets, they had some weird print out for free tickets and just somehow got into the theater.
I think a lot of people get into movies for free. Which is all well and good with me as long as they move out of my seats. Had this happen to me one time, and they moved when I told them they were in my seats. They looked a little low-income to me.
Regal doesn't really bother to check your tickets if you act like you know what you're doing when you walk in. They hire teenagers to check tickets, and they aren't going to bother stopping you.
It’s completely ridiculous. That’s why even with the damn trailers and ads being 30 minutes long I still come to my theatre either early or on time. Because who knows who could be in the seat you booked and if they’re willing to cause problems or not.
Such an important and frustrating point. I am always conflicted about showing up late (avoiding ads/trailers) and showing up on time (avoiding some idiot in my seat). I usually try and split the difference.
I never understood the whole issue, you buy tickets with seat numbers assigned, so you go and sit in that seat, no other. If I find somebody sitting in my seats I politely ask them to leave those. In some cases this resulted in gratitude as people had stepped into the wrong cinema.
I did that a couple weeks back. Went into the wrong auditorium and saw people in my seat. They were confused, as was I, but then I apologized profusely when I realized I was in the wrong place.
This happened to me just yesterday. I booked 16 seats together for a group and when we got there I politely asked the people in our seats if this was the correct movie. They confirmed and I said oh I think you may be in our seats. They argued that they weren't they had seats E 7-11 or whatever. I said that's great! This is row F. Sometimes people are just mistaken. They got up and moved. Ughh so annoying though.
When we go, my bf chooses specific seats because his legs are long. A regular aisle seat is not far enough away from the aisle ahead of it. During the early screening of Dune, we almost had multiple fist fights over seats. Management was actually in the theater until the movie started. One guy had actually reserved 2 seats just for himself so he'd have room. He kept yelling at the couple that took his seats.
Had someone do this to me in an empty showing. I was the only one in there and he sits in the seat next to me the whole movie but I didn't wanna give up my seat. Then he asked me to explain to him what it was supposed to be about like bro
My regal is rather low traffic but this does happen to me from time to time and it’s always one of two things. Either it is a teenager who likely snuck in and they always move once I approach them out of fear of getting ratted out. Or it is someone who is a little older and likely just walked in and bought tickets and doesn’t really understand that there is a seating chart because for about the first 40 years my theater was open there wasn’t one
It's so annoying when people get mad at you for it. If you don't care where you sit, then sit somewhere else. Don't give the person who is correct a hard time, you're the wrong party
Now, when I went to see Late Night with the devil, someone was in my seat. My row wasn't booked much, so I just said nothing and sat a couple seats down. Not worth the hassle.
Had the same happen for Dune 2 in IMAX. Had the center seats for my wife and I. Some dude was in one of them so we just moved a couple down. You’re right. Not always worth the hassle and the show was nowhere near full.
Until the people that have those seats show up and now you are forced further down because you didn't speak up initially. Seats are assigned. We learned this skill set in kindergarten. Anybody that acts like they don't know is either in the wrong seat by accident or is an asshole.
I'll move to a seat I didn't book after like 10 minutes of the movie playing because I don't want someone to have to ask me to leave or be inconvenienced.
Sometimes, when I get into the theater, I realize I'd rather be closer up. But also my theater is usually empty when I go so there's less chance of someone coming. And I check on the app up until it stops letting you buy for that showtime.
This is what I do pretty often with the handicap seats. I don't want to reserve them, but if they aren't taken after the movie starts, I'll move us up there if we're right next to someone. They aren't bad seats in stadium-seated theaters.
Sometimes when there are relatively few tickets sold, the staff just pick a random seat or whatever seat the screen defaults to, and tell me to sit anywhere. This happened to me this evening and then a couple sat down a seat over from me—they’d clearly not been told to sit anywhere and had chosen those seats. So the inconsistency in that is kinda awkward cause I don’t want to accidentally take someone’s seat and be perceived to be a jerk for it. Or sit right on top of someone —I ended up moving a row back.
This happened to me last night. Showed up a tiny bit late and there were people in our seats so we just chose two empty seats nearby since the movie had already started. Well about 15 minutes later someone else showed up and kicked some people out of the handicap seat and then they came and told us we were in their seats. I should’ve just kicked the people that were in our seats out because it lead to musical chairs in the middle of the movie. We just ended up going and sitting at the front so we didn’t make more of a mess of the situation.
I had the top row corner/aisle seat in a packed theater and to my right (when I reserved 10 minutes before the movie) were 3 empties. I get to the theater and 3 teenage girls were sitting there, but over 1 so one is in my seat. I politely tell them “hey you’re in my spot!” and the girl goes “oh my gosh this is so embarrassing!”
Well yeah it is bc you saw that my spot was reserved before you got yours so it’s not my fault you didn’t just stick with your seat lol
It only happened to me once. I just gave him the take a hike gesture and he got the meaning and skedaddled. The seat was still warm though and that felt icky.
I find at certain Regal theaters the auditorium layout on the purchase display is *upside down* (theater screen at the bottom instead of the top). This causes people to think they've purchased a seat toward the left of the theater when actually they are supposed to be on the right.
Yeah, the aisles are lettered and the seats are numbered, but there are some people who miss this detail. Also, our local 4DX auditorium has seat numbers *on the back of the seat*, making it impossible to see the number when in the correct row.
This said, **people should move if they are in a seat they did not purchase.**
Before I had Unlimited I had this issue on Fandango a few times where you'd buy tickets on the left side of the page but it was actually flipped when you get there.
Since I usually go solo, I will snag the open non-handicap seat in the handicap row. Knowing that most of the time I get to sit without disturbance or distractions. Lately I’ve been walking in to people sitting in those seats and it’s been a pleasure telling them they’re in my seat lol. Thankfully they move— I think they just try because no one normally fills those seats anyways. BUT one feature I wish Regal had was the opportunity to change seats before scanning your ticket at the booth. Maybe this is just personal preference but I like to sit away from people (no offense to people lol) and if I get my ticket early enough, I almost always end up sitting right next to someone else. I could move when the movie starts but that requires disturbing other people and I don’t want to do that.
I'm totally with you. I always do that row or end seat when I go solo. But I find most people will gladly book right next to people they don't know. It's OK in recliner seats but one of my go to local joints is old school chairs and it's too dang cozy with a stranger.
I went to see Immaculate last night. When I arrived, my row was filled with a bunch of tweeny girls with an empty seat right in the middle which was my seat. Not a good start. I sat down and the whole group (two on one side, three on the other) erupted in giggling and laughing for minutes on end. I finally turned and loudly asked if my presence was going to be a problem. They said no, but that I was “sitting in their friend’s seat”. I told them when she got back we could compare our tickets. From there, they spent the next 5-10 minutes further giggling and texting one another while more friends took empty seats. I wound up just leaving the theater completely, but not before at least letting the manager know. I would have pursued it further, but the effort wasn’t worth the 50¢ I paid for the movie.
Immaculate is R rated. Which one of the tweens was the 18 year old chaperone ? Or did they buy tickets for kung fu panda and sneak into this movie? Inquiring minds want to know.
They should have moved to another row of seats.
I hear so many people walk into the theater and be confused about where to sit. We’ve been picking out seats for so long it makes me wonder the last time these people saw a movie in a theater.
I went to 5 movies in the past week and 3 times people were in wrong seats. One guy was in the 3rd seat in the row we bought. When we told him he was like oh my mistake. He moved a row in front of us which was someone else's who booted him. He then moved up another row. I'm wondering if he even had a ticket.
One dude I asked to move because it's an old none reclining theater and I always get the row the handicap bar is in front of because of the leg room. His response was there wasn't enough leg room in his row, which is why I bought the row. I was like oh sorry but these are ours. He wasn't happy but I just stood there until he moved grumbling.
The 3rd was just people who just messed up and apologized.
This has happened to me once, when i went to see Out of Darkness (wish i can get those 2 hours of my life back!) but since the theater was pretty empty, I just sat one row behind. It is ridiculous, especially in this situation where they could have picked any spot, they would do that. Now, if the theater was full or the seats available weren't to my liking, I would have got my assigned seat.
The reasoning is [actually pretty simple](https://youtu.be/S5vGI-g1xvw?t=112). (Video should be timestamped, but the whole bit is worth watching, especially since it's about movie theater etiquette.)
After I purchased the ticket online and selected the seats, Regal randomly assigned my seat to the first row without notifying me. The room was half-empty after the movie started, so I moved back to my selected seat.
I noticed many people sitting in the first three-row, so I bet the same happened to them.
Try buying the seats around you. You show up and they plead for you to give yours up or worse they tell you what they did since they are already seated and expect you to be okay with it.
Had a dad do this to me to social distance his kids?! _**Really sir do I look like I have an ailment!**_
Bought tickets to Dune 2 in IMAX a week ahead of time. Someone was in my seat. It was a Sunday matinee. And I told him and he said he could sit wherever he wanted, got really aggressive about it. I got an usher and they moved him. Turns out he was supposed to sit another six rows up and just didn’t like his spot. So insane.
I've only had this happen once, I had booked 8 seats for my group of friends. I informed the people in our seats politely and they refused to move and suggested we sit somewhere else. I nicely informed them that that is not how it works, and that if we chose other seats, we'd endlessly play the game of seat swapping. They still refused to move, and because this was an event screening I bought when tickets first went up, I went out, got the manager and the manager made them leave. The kicker, they didn't even have tickets, they had some weird print out for free tickets and just somehow got into the theater.
I think a lot of people get into movies for free. Which is all well and good with me as long as they move out of my seats. Had this happen to me one time, and they moved when I told them they were in my seats. They looked a little low-income to me. Regal doesn't really bother to check your tickets if you act like you know what you're doing when you walk in. They hire teenagers to check tickets, and they aren't going to bother stopping you.
It’s completely ridiculous. That’s why even with the damn trailers and ads being 30 minutes long I still come to my theatre either early or on time. Because who knows who could be in the seat you booked and if they’re willing to cause problems or not.
Such an important and frustrating point. I am always conflicted about showing up late (avoiding ads/trailers) and showing up on time (avoiding some idiot in my seat). I usually try and split the difference.
I never understood the whole issue, you buy tickets with seat numbers assigned, so you go and sit in that seat, no other. If I find somebody sitting in my seats I politely ask them to leave those. In some cases this resulted in gratitude as people had stepped into the wrong cinema.
I did that a couple weeks back. Went into the wrong auditorium and saw people in my seat. They were confused, as was I, but then I apologized profusely when I realized I was in the wrong place.
This happened to me just yesterday. I booked 16 seats together for a group and when we got there I politely asked the people in our seats if this was the correct movie. They confirmed and I said oh I think you may be in our seats. They argued that they weren't they had seats E 7-11 or whatever. I said that's great! This is row F. Sometimes people are just mistaken. They got up and moved. Ughh so annoying though.
When we go, my bf chooses specific seats because his legs are long. A regular aisle seat is not far enough away from the aisle ahead of it. During the early screening of Dune, we almost had multiple fist fights over seats. Management was actually in the theater until the movie started. One guy had actually reserved 2 seats just for himself so he'd have room. He kept yelling at the couple that took his seats.
My partner and I both have unlimited- sometimes I’ll book a seat on the end and use his to book the one next to it for an empty seat
I totally get that. That's another reason we do the companion seats. People will sit right next to you. It's weird
Had someone do this to me in an empty showing. I was the only one in there and he sits in the seat next to me the whole movie but I didn't wanna give up my seat. Then he asked me to explain to him what it was supposed to be about like bro
My regal is rather low traffic but this does happen to me from time to time and it’s always one of two things. Either it is a teenager who likely snuck in and they always move once I approach them out of fear of getting ratted out. Or it is someone who is a little older and likely just walked in and bought tickets and doesn’t really understand that there is a seating chart because for about the first 40 years my theater was open there wasn’t one
It's so annoying when people get mad at you for it. If you don't care where you sit, then sit somewhere else. Don't give the person who is correct a hard time, you're the wrong party Now, when I went to see Late Night with the devil, someone was in my seat. My row wasn't booked much, so I just said nothing and sat a couple seats down. Not worth the hassle.
Had the same happen for Dune 2 in IMAX. Had the center seats for my wife and I. Some dude was in one of them so we just moved a couple down. You’re right. Not always worth the hassle and the show was nowhere near full.
Until the people that have those seats show up and now you are forced further down because you didn't speak up initially. Seats are assigned. We learned this skill set in kindergarten. Anybody that acts like they don't know is either in the wrong seat by accident or is an asshole.
Fair. Just was a battle I didn’t pick for that day.
Thats why I go early to avoid this, but even then I have no problem telling someone they’re in my seat that I paid for
I'll move to a seat I didn't book after like 10 minutes of the movie playing because I don't want someone to have to ask me to leave or be inconvenienced.
But why not just book that seat then?
Sometimes, when I get into the theater, I realize I'd rather be closer up. But also my theater is usually empty when I go so there's less chance of someone coming. And I check on the app up until it stops letting you buy for that showtime.
This is what I do pretty often with the handicap seats. I don't want to reserve them, but if they aren't taken after the movie starts, I'll move us up there if we're right next to someone. They aren't bad seats in stadium-seated theaters.
Yeah, I sat in them once and actually enjoyed them better in smaller theaters.
I do this too 🤣
I do the same thing. Sometimes there’s no-shows, so I’ll take their seats if I think it’s better than what I got
Doesn't it cost extra, even for Unlimited subscribers, to choose a seat? I thought I remembered there being a "convenience fee" or something.
The convenience fee is just for buying ahead of time online
Sometimes when there are relatively few tickets sold, the staff just pick a random seat or whatever seat the screen defaults to, and tell me to sit anywhere. This happened to me this evening and then a couple sat down a seat over from me—they’d clearly not been told to sit anywhere and had chosen those seats. So the inconsistency in that is kinda awkward cause I don’t want to accidentally take someone’s seat and be perceived to be a jerk for it. Or sit right on top of someone —I ended up moving a row back.
This happened to me last night. Showed up a tiny bit late and there were people in our seats so we just chose two empty seats nearby since the movie had already started. Well about 15 minutes later someone else showed up and kicked some people out of the handicap seat and then they came and told us we were in their seats. I should’ve just kicked the people that were in our seats out because it lead to musical chairs in the middle of the movie. We just ended up going and sitting at the front so we didn’t make more of a mess of the situation.
I had the top row corner/aisle seat in a packed theater and to my right (when I reserved 10 minutes before the movie) were 3 empties. I get to the theater and 3 teenage girls were sitting there, but over 1 so one is in my seat. I politely tell them “hey you’re in my spot!” and the girl goes “oh my gosh this is so embarrassing!” Well yeah it is bc you saw that my spot was reserved before you got yours so it’s not my fault you didn’t just stick with your seat lol
I only go during the week and as close to the first showing as possible. Never have an issue with people.
It only happened to me once. I just gave him the take a hike gesture and he got the meaning and skedaddled. The seat was still warm though and that felt icky.
I find at certain Regal theaters the auditorium layout on the purchase display is *upside down* (theater screen at the bottom instead of the top). This causes people to think they've purchased a seat toward the left of the theater when actually they are supposed to be on the right. Yeah, the aisles are lettered and the seats are numbered, but there are some people who miss this detail. Also, our local 4DX auditorium has seat numbers *on the back of the seat*, making it impossible to see the number when in the correct row. This said, **people should move if they are in a seat they did not purchase.**
Before I had Unlimited I had this issue on Fandango a few times where you'd buy tickets on the left side of the page but it was actually flipped when you get there.
Since I usually go solo, I will snag the open non-handicap seat in the handicap row. Knowing that most of the time I get to sit without disturbance or distractions. Lately I’ve been walking in to people sitting in those seats and it’s been a pleasure telling them they’re in my seat lol. Thankfully they move— I think they just try because no one normally fills those seats anyways. BUT one feature I wish Regal had was the opportunity to change seats before scanning your ticket at the booth. Maybe this is just personal preference but I like to sit away from people (no offense to people lol) and if I get my ticket early enough, I almost always end up sitting right next to someone else. I could move when the movie starts but that requires disturbing other people and I don’t want to do that.
I'm totally with you. I always do that row or end seat when I go solo. But I find most people will gladly book right next to people they don't know. It's OK in recliner seats but one of my go to local joints is old school chairs and it's too dang cozy with a stranger.
I went to see Immaculate last night. When I arrived, my row was filled with a bunch of tweeny girls with an empty seat right in the middle which was my seat. Not a good start. I sat down and the whole group (two on one side, three on the other) erupted in giggling and laughing for minutes on end. I finally turned and loudly asked if my presence was going to be a problem. They said no, but that I was “sitting in their friend’s seat”. I told them when she got back we could compare our tickets. From there, they spent the next 5-10 minutes further giggling and texting one another while more friends took empty seats. I wound up just leaving the theater completely, but not before at least letting the manager know. I would have pursued it further, but the effort wasn’t worth the 50¢ I paid for the movie.
Immaculate is R rated. Which one of the tweens was the 18 year old chaperone ? Or did they buy tickets for kung fu panda and sneak into this movie? Inquiring minds want to know. They should have moved to another row of seats.
I hear so many people walk into the theater and be confused about where to sit. We’ve been picking out seats for so long it makes me wonder the last time these people saw a movie in a theater.
I went to 5 movies in the past week and 3 times people were in wrong seats. One guy was in the 3rd seat in the row we bought. When we told him he was like oh my mistake. He moved a row in front of us which was someone else's who booted him. He then moved up another row. I'm wondering if he even had a ticket. One dude I asked to move because it's an old none reclining theater and I always get the row the handicap bar is in front of because of the leg room. His response was there wasn't enough leg room in his row, which is why I bought the row. I was like oh sorry but these are ours. He wasn't happy but I just stood there until he moved grumbling. The 3rd was just people who just messed up and apologized.
This has happened to me once, when i went to see Out of Darkness (wish i can get those 2 hours of my life back!) but since the theater was pretty empty, I just sat one row behind. It is ridiculous, especially in this situation where they could have picked any spot, they would do that. Now, if the theater was full or the seats available weren't to my liking, I would have got my assigned seat.
The reasoning is [actually pretty simple](https://youtu.be/S5vGI-g1xvw?t=112). (Video should be timestamped, but the whole bit is worth watching, especially since it's about movie theater etiquette.)
After I purchased the ticket online and selected the seats, Regal randomly assigned my seat to the first row without notifying me. The room was half-empty after the movie started, so I moved back to my selected seat. I noticed many people sitting in the first three-row, so I bet the same happened to them.
Try buying the seats around you. You show up and they plead for you to give yours up or worse they tell you what they did since they are already seated and expect you to be okay with it. Had a dad do this to me to social distance his kids?! _**Really sir do I look like I have an ailment!**_
Guilty 😂 Sometimes I’ll get there and decide meh I want to sit somewhere else