Father's anger at £70 cinema trip: what could he have done?

One man's comments on Facebook have hit the headlines, after he posted a complaint to the page of the Vue cinema chain. He said he paid £70 for a trip to the cinema - including the price of the tickets and the food - which he calculated was roughly equivalent to ten hours' work. However, there are ways he could have paid far less.

Dean Mcquade posted his comment on 2 April. He put up a picture of the nachos he had bought for £5.50, and said: "I'm no penny pincher & after been at work all week, when it gets to the weekend I want to do something with my kids but come on Vue £5,50 for these, £5,50!!! There must be more than £5 profit in that! Put that with the ticket prices a drink & some sweets for them your looking at £70. That means a man of 25 on national minimum wage has to graft 10hrs to take 2 kids to the cinema for 1.5hrs on his day off. Madness."

The chain was quick to reply. A customer service representative called Jade apologised for the distress and wrote: "It is a generally well-reported fact that the majority of the money taken at the box office goes to the film maker/distributor; therefore in order to make cinemas a viable business all cinemas charge premium prices for the food and drinks sold. The alternative is to charge a higher price for tickets which would restrict more people from enjoying the cinema."

She added: "Please note that you are able to bring your own food and drink into the cinema rather than purchasing from our confectionary stands. This is with the exception of hot food or alcohol."

It's worth highlighting that a Vue family ticket would have cost Dean £23.52 for one adult and two children - so he would have had to spend a fair bit on snacks and drinks to get to £70, but regardless of the figures involved, his post stands that going to the cinema can be costly.

It's a common problem, but some families have found inventive ways to bring the cost down.

Cheaper alternatives

Katherine Lynn, a 44-year-old primary school teacher from Somerset, says: "I recently watched Charlie Brown at the Weston Odeon with my kids. Tesco is en route, so I parked for free and bought much cheaper sweets and drink in there before we went to the cinema."

There are those who argue that it's perfectly possible to get through a screening without eating or drinking anything. But if you fancy a treat, supermarkets and pound shops near the cinema mean it should be perfectly possible to pick up snacks and drinks for the family for £2.

Katherine also keeps an eye open for kids' clubs. Charlie Brown was on at the Odeon's Kids' Club, so she saw it with her two children for £6, plus the cost of supermarket snacks. Elsewhere the Odeon screenings cost between £1 and £2.50.

She highlights that Vue has a similar kids club for £1.99 per ticket; and there's a Cineworld Movies for Juniors screening for £1.60 or £1.75. The films are not the newest releases, but at that price are worth considering.

Rhian Whitehead, a 39-year-old mum of two from Bristol, prefers to visit independent cinemas. She explains: "I don't use the big cinemas because they're outrageously expensive for tickets and food. Small cinemas like the Watershed in Bristol and the Curzon in Clevedon offer a better, cheaper experience." By seeking out smaller, independent cinema, a family of three can see a new release for a total of £16 - and under 3s are free.

This particular cinema also offers special deals on a Monday, where all tickets are £5. Its one of a huge number that offer deals on quiet days, that are worth looking out for. Vue, for example, allows you to sign up to Super Tuesday, and get a third off your ticket on Tuesdays.

Bec Gilray, an entrepreneur and 35-year-old mum, points out that you can also get two tickets for the price of one at a number of cinemas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays if you buy qualifying insurance products through Comparethemarket - or switch energy providers through the site. It means you can either get the deal by shopping around for cheaper energy, or by buying very cheap single-trip travel insurance for around £5.

Padraig Floyd, a journalist from London, similarly seeks out independent cinemas, and is a member of Picturehouse Stratford in order to benefit from members' discounts. He says it's also worth looking out for special discounts for screenings for particular groups. The Picturehouse, for example, has a screening at a reduced cost for OAPs at £5.50 - with a free tea or coffee thrown in. Odeon runs a similar deal for between £3 and £3.95.

For the dedicated bargain-hunter, there are also opportunities to watch films for free. These come up occasionally, and it's worth watching sites like HotUKdeals.com for when users post details of the latest screenings. There's not usually any flexibility on what you see - or where - and you'll need to be quick to get tickets - but when it's free you can't afford to be too choosy.

But what do you think? Are cinemas good value for money? And how do you cut the cost? Let us know in the comments.