ULPT: Manipulate cinema booking system to get the seats you want

[u/MazeAsh]

My (UK) experience has been that cinema booking systems don't like you leaving any gaps when selecting your tickets. So if I want a central seat, but there's a couple of seats empty nearby, I'm told to try again. Also, if when I'm in the cinema there are no patrons around me, I like the idea of keeping it that way for a better (less crunchy) experience.

With that in mind, get yourself a second device and go to the same booking on each, you don't usually need an account for this. You can select any 'gap' seats and they will then be reserved for you. This allows your primary device the opportunity to choose the seats you want.

Reserved seating usually last for about 5-10 minutes depending on chain. If you want to keep the seats next to you clear it's usually only effective to do so once seated, refreshing the basket as it lapses.

[u/flobrak]

I once had a script to keep the bookings alive for the row above, beneath and next to me and my friends, in an almost fully booked theater. We sat alone in the middle. Lol. Kept the script alive while going to the theater, so nothing could be booked. Was in the early days of sit by number :D

[u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo → u/flobrak]

When you say you “had a script” what does that actually mean?

Do you have a program that you type commands into that will control your web browser?

[u/kakaobohne → u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo]

Probably all it takes would be to open the booking / seat selection webpage, selecting seats and doing that again after the time runs out.

[u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo → u/kakaobohne]

I get that, I’m just wondering what kind of program you could use to program those actions into it and have them be executed

[u/Varron → u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo]

Usually, the programs are self-written, using a plethora of different frameworks and tools. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but Selenium was a big one to automate web based things.

[u/rainyfort1 → u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo]

It's been a while but I was taught to do it using Python, but I can't remember the specifics

[u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo → u/rainyfort1]

Can python interact with programs on your computer?

[u/Littleish → u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo]

There is a python library called selenium which is basically for web automation - it essentially runs a web browser and your code can interact with that.

[u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo → u/Littleish]

Thank you I’m definitely going to look into this, I’ve always wanted to get back into programming even if just as a hobby

[u/flobrak → u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo]

I don't remember everything, except it had to be done in the browser opera. Some kind of refresh to keep the seats reserved. So very very basic.

[u/Buck_Slamchest]

What cinema are you using ?. When I’m booking on Vue I can select any seat I like.

[u/Grouchy-Question9273 → u/Buck_Slamchest]

In my country Vue does not allow gaps in seating

[u/Beautifully_TwistedX → u/Buck_Slamchest]

Same and Reel do too...

[u/SmuckatelliCupcakeNE]

You can also do this with Ticketmaster.