Cinema cuts ticket prices after petition
ODEON in Bridgend has slashed ticket prices after complaints from film fans that they were too high.
Cinema-goers at Odeon, which is located at McArthur Glen, will now only have to pay £5 a ticket compared to the previous price of £12.75.
The website states that tickets now cost £5 all day, every day. However, if you book online you will have to pay a 75p booking fee per ticket.
It comes after a recent petition was set up which claimed that residents in Bridgend were being “ripped off” by Odeon.
In Bridgend, a standard ticket to watch the new Lion King movie when it was first released originally cost £12.75 for an adult and £10.50 for a child, while premier tickets cost £14.55 when the film was first released.
At the cinema’s branches in Swansea, Cardiff and Llanelli, a standard ticket to watch the same film is £5.75 for adults and children. It’s £6.25 for premier tickets in Cardiff and £7.25 in Swansea and Llanelli.
The high ticket prices led to some locals saying that they would boycott the Bridgend Odeon until prices were brought in line with other cinemas.
Hailey Nash, from Brackla in Bridgend, decided to set up the petition after she was inspired by the actions residents in Carmarthen and Llanelli took in a bid to lower their prices in their respective cinemas.
She said: “Bridgend prices were completely extortionate and priced many families out of being able to enjoy a film.
“I don’t believe it is fair for Odeon to have pricing structures just because they do not have local competition.
“It is the same film regardless of which cinema you go to.
“I have access to travel further for lower tickets, but there are many families living in Bridgend area that do not and I wanted to change the inequality Bridgend residents were facing.”
The 35-year-old said that she is pleased that Odeon has now listened and cut the prices.
She added: “It will save families and open up the experience to some that couldn’t afford the old prices.”
Odeon in Llanelli recently cut prices by almost half to match the neighbouring Swansea cinema after complaints from people in the area.
And Vue cinema in Carmarthen also slashed its admission fees by more than 50% at the beginning of July after it came under fire for charging customers more than twice as much as film fans elsewhere in the country.
Odeon has been approached by the Echo for a comment.