AMC Theaters is ditching its plan to charge more for better seats.
AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest movie chain, announced Sightline in February. It was their plan to charge more for a ticket depending on which seat you choose. There were three tiers:
- Standard Sightline: The most common in auditoriums and are available for the traditional cost of a ticket
- Value Sightline: These seats are in the front row of the auditorium, as well as select ADA seats in each auditorium, and are available at a lower price than Standard Sightline seats. Value Sightline pricing is only available to AMC Stubs members, including the free tier membership.
- Preferred Sightline: These seats are typically in the middle of the auditorium and are priced at a slight premium to Standard Sightline seats.
Theaters that used the Sightline program would have had a seat map that outlines each seating option when you’re buying a ticket. Sightline was applied to all showtimes that begin after 4 p.m. and was not applicable on Discount Tuesdays.
Sightline had already launched in certain areas by February. The theater chain expected to expand Sightline to all AMC theaters by the end of the year.
That is no longer the plan. In a press release shared on Thursday, July 20, the company said it was going to “pivot away from Sightline at AMC following the completion of the pilot test of the program.”
The company said AMC saw little or no increase in patronage of front-row seating, even though prices for those seats were reduced. The press release also noted that competing theaters didn’t try out their own version of “Sightline”.
“To ensure AMC’s ticket prices remain competitive, the Sightline at AMC pilot program will come to an end at participating locations in the coming weeks, and the initiative will not roll out nationwide,” the press release stated.
AMC plans on testing a different type of front-row seating -- with extensive seat recline -- in some theater locations across the United States later this year.
How did Local 4 viewers feel about AMC’s new Sightline program?
An informal poll of around 1,000 Local 4 viewers showed that people were not a fan of the Sightline program.
- 97% said they would not be willing to pay more for “better” seats at AMC Theaters.
- 89% said they would not sit in the front row even if a ticket was cheaper.
- 61% said they would stop going to AMC Theaters.