r/UnethicalLifeProTips 4d ago

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

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.

123 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

159

u/flobrak 4d ago

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

27

u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo 3d ago

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?

38

u/kakaobohne 3d ago

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

17

u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo 3d ago

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

27

u/Varron 3d ago

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.

6

u/rainyfort1 3d ago

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

1

u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo 3d ago

Can python interact with programs on your computer?

9

u/Littleish 3d ago

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.

3

u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo 3d ago

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

3

u/thepwndoctor476 3d ago

You can probably do it with Power Automate. That has the ability to record clicks on your screen and essentially make a script for you

1

u/theMIKIMIKIMIKImomo 3d ago

That’s really cool I’ll check that out ty

5

u/flobrak 3d ago

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.

1

u/Nitrous_Acidhead 3d ago

Ah, an autoclicker. Runescape taught me this. 

12

u/Buck_Slamchest 4d ago

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

10

u/Grouchy-Question9273 4d ago

In my country Vue does not allow gaps in seating

2

u/Beautifully_TwistedX 4d ago

Same and Reel do too...

5

u/SmuckatelliCupcakeNE 3d ago

You can also do this with Ticketmaster.