Ugc queue(moan/question)

ronano · 16-02-2005 12:33pm #1

I've gone at 10am/1am/5pm/8pm and every single time there have been extremely long queues,ugh i wish they'd get their act together and yes before someone says it i know the ugc card is great value but waiting 15minutes in a queue is no fun. So so so

What are the best times to go to the movies so as to avoid the queue(going an hour before hand is not an option i'm really just asking when is the cinema traffic low)

therecklessone · 16-02-2005 12:36pm

Pre-book with a credit card and collect from the machines?

herobear · 16-02-2005 1:45pm

tthe queues are only really this dreadful right now because of the jdiff, give it until monday, will quieten down slightly by then

ixoy · 16-02-2005 2:16pm

therecklessone wrote:

Pre-book with a credit card and collect from the machines?

Seconded. I pre-book my UGC Card tickets now as well because I'll be damned if I'm waiting 15 mins in a queue when I can have 40c charged to my credit card and be guaranteed my seat.

I found that Saturday afternoons used to be okay but all hell seems to have broken loose lately and no time is guaranteed to be good..

smiaras · 16-02-2005 2:17pm

This post has been deleted.

ixoy · 16-02-2005 3:06pm

smiaras wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Same as the regular booking - 01 8728444.

It's a voice recognitiion booking system and it will ask you, after you've selected the film and times, whether you want to book using a UGC Unlimited card. It then tells you there's a 40c charge per ticket. You enter in your UGC card number via the keypad phone, followed by the CC number.

Ya then go to the credit card machines, in the lobby, and insert your UGC card (not your credit card!) for a ticket that was booked on your UGC card. Any other, regular, tickets are obtained by inserting the credit card into the machine.

Ph3n0m · 16-02-2005 3:12pm

ixoy wrote:

Same as the regular booking - 01 8728444.

It's a voice recognitiion booking system and it will ask you, after you've selected the film and times, whether you want to book using a UGC Unlimited card. It then tells you there's a 40c charge per ticket. You enter in your UGC card number via the keypad phone, followed by the CC number.

Ya then go to the credit card machines, in the lobby, and insert your UGC card (not your credit card!) for a ticket that was booked on your UGC card. Any other, regular, tickets are obtained by inserting the credit card into the machine.

The only problem with that system is you cannot book specific seats in the cinema - they will only give "best available"

matrim · 16-02-2005 3:16pm

Can you book student tickets over the phone, or do you have to queue to get them?

ronano · 16-02-2005 3:36pm

I've found the queues to be this way prior to this week and the early morning queue is from just having one person on the front. I had heard of ugc card booking over in the uk and thought it was not over here yet. How pathethic am i that it made my day! You can book student tickets using credit card over the phone,get them from the machine and up you go,sometimes the guys at the stairs will ask you for a student card but usually not

ixoy · 16-02-2005 3:38pm

Ph3n0m wrote:

The only problem with that system is you cannot book specific seats in the cinema - they will only give "best available"

Agreed. I tend to go in free seating periods which can be worse given I turn up at the last minute and get shoved down the front.
Maybe they'll adopt something like Ster Century and let you book online and select your seats. That'd be neat.

matrim wrote:

Can you book student tickets over the phone, or do you have to queue to get them?

Have to queue in that case. Or get a job and pay full price

RuggieBear · 16-02-2005 4:01pm

you can book student tickets over the net. You just to show your student card when you get to cinema (Which i have never had to do yet!!! :rolleyes: )

Ph3n0m · 16-02-2005 4:03pm

To be honest, I always plan when I go to the cinema - I really hate the "lets go at the last minute" - as there will always be a long wait.

Normally myself or the gf will go to the cinema either the day before or several hours before and get our specific seats - even if we are told its free seating.

It would be ideal if UGC had a similiar booking system to Ster - as I tried to use the voice recognition one - and it was completely futile - no decent instructions plus it would not recognise what I was saying, even though it clear and precise.

As for that unlimited card - yeah been trying to get one for the past 4 months, but anytime I have gone up to get it - no one is there to give me the card, the computer is broken or the line for the card is huge

ObeyGiant · 16-02-2005 6:57pm

Ixoy: can you pre-order more than one ticket on your unlimited card? Meself and herself both have unlimited cards, and queueing is for chumps, but if we can only get them one at a time with the pre-ordering thing, then I guess there's no choice.

ixoy · 16-02-2005 8:24pm

ObeyGiant wrote:

Ixoy: can you pre-order more than one ticket on your unlimited card?

Yup. Awhile back I used my CC to book 3 unlimited and 2 regular tickets, with no problems. You just say how many Unlimited cards you're using, enter all their numbers, and finally enter the Credit Card last. 40c for each UGC card used. Well worth it on a busy night.

Tusky · 16-02-2005 10:01pm

ixoy wrote:

Yup. Awhile back I used my CC to book 3 unlimited and 2 regular tickets, with no problems. You just say how many Unlimited cards you're using, enter all their numbers, and finally enter the Credit Card last. 40c for each UGC card used. Well worth it on a busy night.

It should be free to book, Im already paying 16 euro a month.

herobear · 16-02-2005 10:11pm

ixoy wrote:

40c for each UGC card used. Well worth it on a busy night.

each ? :eek: ffs thats robbery and is f***ing ridiculious

i agree with tusky

i never tend to book really(not in ugc anyway) i just goto late morning/early afternoon showings there, hardly never a queue then

Crania · 20-02-2005 12:05am

The queue's are very long but they have so much staff that it only takes a few minutes to get your tickets. I think the UGC is brilliant and I always go there, its by far the best cinema in Dublin. If only they had buttered popcorn mmm.......

dearg_doom · 21-02-2005 4:18pm

Tusky wrote:

It should be free to book, Im already paying 16 euro a month.

Agreed!!

I cancelled my card because I'm ****ing sick of waiting in a queue for a half an hour just to tell them I want to see a movie I've already paid for!!

There has to be better ways of keeping tabs on the card-holders, like a dedicated booth; an electronic self service jobby, touch screen or whatever and insert your card; or just having glorified card-readers at the escalators.

dearg_doom · 21-02-2005 4:20pm

CoolCiaran wrote:

The queue's are very long but they have so much staff that it only takes a few minutes to get your tickets.

I know they have a lot of booths in UGC but I've never seen more than 3-4 staffed at any one time, even at peak times

ixoy · 21-02-2005 4:22pm

dearg_doom wrote:

There has to be better ways of keeping tabs on the card-holders, like a dedicated booth; an electronic self service jobby, touch screen or whatever and insert your card; or just having glorified card-readers at the escalators.

Agreed - I've always wondered why the hell they don't have dedicated readers. It's in their own best interest as they could cut down on staffing costs. Maybe it's to prevent too many UGC card holders getting tickets and not seeing the movies themselves? And they figure they're more likely to bother if there's a 40c charge?

Kevin_rc_ie · 21-02-2005 4:30pm

let's not get carried away here. even if the queue stretchs out to the arcade area, it's a maximum wait of 20 mins. The only issue is, the screen may sell out or you'll miss the first few minutes.

However, queuing for anything, for any length of time is a pain in the ass. I don't have a cc but I have a UL card so unfortunetly I can't prebook.

Another thing that annoys me is, if you go for a film at 17:00, the queue will only be 10-15 ppl max but you can't buy a show for 17:30 and 20:00 at the same time for example (most of the time they won't/can't do it, did it a few times for me). So you've beaten one queue, and you want to go and see something else and there's 150 waiiting downstairs. I know the queue go fairly smoothly but more often than not I just go home.

Ugc queue(moan/question)

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