Have you ever had the frustration of going online to buy a ticket only to see an error or get so annoyed with loading times that you try to find others way of buying a ticket? This is where we see which sites are up to snuff and which ones don't make the cut.
Without further ado...
1. Broadway/AMC (9/10)
Features:
Online ticketing (member/non-member)
Phone ticketing
Trailers
Gift Card shop
Membership Area
Forum
Their website looks really professional. Its interface is pretty user friendly. Going to buy tickets is easy as well. Just choose your seats, enter your credit card details and go. It's very rare to see the site get bogged down by too much traffic but when it does, they are back up and running within a couple of hours. They used to have several redirects a few months back which came in handy whenever one site was running slowly, but they have gotten rid of them. It seems like they are able to handle a bigger load now because loading time during Iron Man 3's opening weekend was pretty quick. One caveat to their website is that you have to buy tickets in the same row. For early birds, this isn't really an issue, however, if you're in a group of 3 and up, sometimes you have to buy seats in different rows. Putting them in separate transactions is really annoying and uses up more of your time online and at the theater.
The website also allows you to see past showtimes from earlier in the day. For the general moviegoer, it doesn't mean anything but for a box office analyst, it's very useful. All other sites bar you from seeing showtimes after they've started but Broadway/AMC doesn't which puts their site well out in front.
Broadway/AMC release dates are usually the most reliable and the site usually posts more films than all other theater chains. They also update quickly if they are any changes to release dates.
2. MCL (8/10)
Features:
Online ticketing (member/non-member)
Phone ticketing
Membership Club
Combo tickets
The recent revamp of the MCL website boosts it into 2nd. It used to be clunky and almost unusable but now the site is clean and functional. The lack of trailers is a negative but for a more primitive website, it's not bad. A huge plus is their combo tickets. You can order tickets and food all in one transaction which saves you time.
It depends on the theater but some MCL theaters allow you to see 5-15 minutes past showtime for any sellouts.
Release dates are sparse and they are one of the slowest to add or change.
3. Golden Harvest (6.5/10)
Features:
Online ticketing (member/non-member)
Phone ticketing
Trailers
Membership Club
Single seat gap restriction
One look at Golden Harvest's website and it looks very tidy but on a small scale. When you go to buy tickets, loading sometimes takes awhile and then you get an annoying pop-up asking if you're a GH member. The good news for most users is that it will only come up once because you can buy seats anywhere (up to 9 tickets per transaction). They also implemented a single-seat gap stoppage where the user is not allowed to leave a single gap between seats. Single users can buy still buy a couples' seat ticket even though there is a single seat gap. Now that's what I call smart ticketing.
An unfortunate downside is that they do not allow you to see any showings 30 minutes before showtime, making the site unusable for box office pundits. Their ticketing system is also the slowest out of the four big movie chains.
Release dates are sparse and they are one of the slowest to add or change.
4. UA/Cityline (6/10)
Features:
Online ticketing (member/non-member)
Phone ticketing
Membership Club
Trailers (Cityline only)
User reviews (UA only)
UA Online Area
UA is the 2nd biggest theater chain but their site is outdated. Online ticketing is extremely slow and is subject to frequent downtimes and scheduled maintenance times. Some nice features that it has are user reviews (UA site only) and they have an online area where guests/members can vote in polls and inform you of upcoming news.
They do not allow you to see a showtime past its start time but that does not really matter when the site is unreliable and unstable.
Release dates used to be slow and outdated but after releasing a ticket reminder page and in conjunction with Cityline, release dates are being added or changed more quickly.
5. The Grand Cinema (5/10)
Features:
Online ticketing (member/non-member)
Phone ticketing
Membership Club
Trailers
The biggest theater in HK has its own website. Although under the MCL brand, The Grand Cinema runs independently from the pack with some huge attractions and big drawbacks. Due to their 12 screen status, they are a little more patient with holdovers and try and keep them running a few more weeks than the traditional 6 screen theater. They have delved into arthouse territory as well though they shy away from the more fancy stuff. 12 screens allow them to host numerous festivals including films from foreign territories, music festivals and the like. Trailers are listed under a movie's page unlike MCL's page. When booking tickets to see a movie, the 5 minute timer from choosing your seats to confirmation is a slight hassle. The worst part of their ticketing system is their single seat gap implementation and they do not allow you to buy a single seat in a 2 seater nor do they allow you to buy 2 seats next to each other if there are 3 empty seats in a row. Loading times are usually quick but the system can get overloaded forcing you to pick your seats again.
They do not allow you to see a showtime past its start time.
Upcoming release dates are pretty accurate and they update often.
6. Chinachem Circuit (3/10)
Features:
Online ticketing (member)
Phone ticketing
Independent theater chain Chinachem's site is very lackluster and does not have the basic necessities that a major theater chain website should. There are no trailers, no other amenities and you have to sign up before you can purchase your tickets. The fact that non-members cannot buy tickets is a huge demerit.
On the plus side, like Broadway/AMC, they allow you to see any showtime that day no matter what time.
Release dates are only a few weeks out and sometimes they can be wrong.
7. Newport Circuit (0/10)
Features:
Phone ticketing
Trailers
No online ticketing...last place with no points given.
Not many upcoming release dates either.
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