Let's Make a Deal

My family and I went to see Harry Potter on Sunday.  We don't see very many movies in the theater.  Maybe three a year.  The biggest, and probably only, reason you won't find us at the movies very often is because of expense.

For Harry Potter, the non-3D edition, we spent nearly $40 on tickets.  When we went in, we were determined to not go crazy at concessions.  My wife and kids got sucked into this shiny machine with a huge touchscreen and LED lights that dispenses candy.  There went another $7 before we even made it to the counter.

At the counter we got one large popcorn and one medium drink for all of us to share.  That was more than $10.  I'm nearly to $60 to see the movie.  No wonder we only go if it's something that more than two of us REALLY want to see.

Harry Potter was a great movie.  Overall I don't feel bad about spending so much on a great movie.  I realize it's expensive to make movies, but I was thinking that I would like to see more movies.  I'd like to see more movies, but I don't want to re-mortgage my house to do it.

So I'm asking for a deal.  We have a few options here.  Let's get my total price closer to $40 per family trip to the movies and I'll probably go one or two extra times per year.  If I see two more movies per year the movie industry is up twenty bucks.  With a slightly smaller hit on my bank account per movie, I could honestly see myself going an extra time or two per year.  If this comes true for a lot of other people then it seems like a win for everyone.

The other option is some kind of rewards card.  For every ticket I buy, you stamp my card until I get a free movie.  Knowing that the concessions is where the theater is making their money, they can encourage me to get a few extra things by stamping my card another time for every two popcorn buckets I buy.  Imagine standing at the counter with a bunch of begging kids and telling them they are going to share one popcorn.  Then the cashier reminds you that you'll be one stamp closer to a free movie if you just get one more popcorn.  Hmm...  The downside to this plan is by the time I've seen my third movie that year, my card will have been washed twice and crumpled into the back of my wallet wet, torn, and faded.  I'd probably lose it before cashing it in.

Tell you what movie people, let's go with option A.  I'll keep taking my family to your movies and you adjust the price to keep me from having to get a bank loan to do it.

What's the next movie we'll see?  Hard to say.  At the earliest it'll be Christmas and I'm not sure what movie will be out.  Likely the next movie I see is still being filmed for release next year.  It'll take me that long to save up for that second popcorn.