Cinemabooking

How it works

Holding a seat, fairly

A seat for a showing can only be sold once, but people need a few minutes to decide. So a seat is held for you on a timer, and released if you let it go.

The flow

  1. Step 1

    Choose a cinema

    Three sample cinemas, each showing five films across the next seven days.

  2. Step 2

    Pick a film and a time

    Showings that have already started cannot be booked.

  3. Step 3

    Choose tickets and seats

    Adult, child or concession, up to ten seats. The seat map updates by itself as other people hold and release seats.

  4. Step 4

    Hold your seats

    Your seats are yours for a short time, shown as a countdown. Nobody else can take them while it runs.

  5. Step 5

    Confirm, leave, or let it run out

    Confirm to book them. Leave to give them back at once. Walk away, and they become free again when the timer ends.

What the seat colours mean

  • Available
  • Your pick
  • Held by someone
  • Sold

The rules

Do I need an account?
No. It works like a guest checkout: each hold is its own basket with its own link, and that link is how you get back to your booking and your ticket. Another browser tab is simply another shopper.
Can two people book the same seat?
It is designed so they cannot. If two people ask for the same seat at the same moment, one gets it and the other is told it was just taken. You get every seat you asked for, or none of them.
What happens when my time runs out?
Your seats count as available again straight away. The next person to look sees them as free.
What if my time runs out while I am confirming?
If someone has already taken one of your seats, the confirmation is refused and nothing is booked, so you do not end up with a seat someone else holds.
Whose clock counts?
The booking service’s. Your countdown is corrected for your own device’s clock, so a fast or slow phone shows the right time left.
Is any payment taken?
No. Confirming stands in for payment. There is no card form and no personal details are asked for.

Try it with two tabs

You play both shoppers. Open the same showing in two browser tabs, side by side. With no accounts, each tab is a separate shopper, and each sees the other’s holds as they happen. Once you hold seats, the hold page also has a button that opens the showing as another shopper. A hold lasts 15 seconds.

Suggested showing: Salt Line at Kiln Street Cinema, tomorrow. Open it in a new tab, then open the same link again.

  1. 1Race for the same seat

    1. In both tabs, pick the same seat.
    2. Press Hold in tab 1. Tab 1 moves to its countdown.
    3. Press Hold in tab 2. It is told the seat was taken a moment ago, and the seat turns held on its map.

  2. 2Let the timer run out

    1. Hold a seat in tab 1 and do nothing.
    2. In tab 2 the seat shows as held.
    3. After 15 seconds, tab 1 says time ran out and tab 2 shows the seat as available again. Nobody pressed anything.

  3. 3Leave

    1. Hold a seat in tab 1, then press Leave and release seats.
    2. Within a couple of seconds, tab 2 shows it free.

  4. 4Confirm

    1. Hold a seat in tab 1 and press Confirm booking before the timer ends.
    2. Tab 1 shows your ticket with its code. Tab 2 shows the seat as sold, for good.
Start bookingRead the API docs