AMC Reserves Premium Seats for Top Loyalty Members

AMC Theatres announced plans Tuesday to reserve its best seats for paying members of its top loyalty programs, a move aimed at rewarding frequent customers amid ongoing efforts to revive attendance. The policy, set to launch later this year, will block premium seating areas in auditoriums and grant priority access to A-List and Stubs Premiere subscribers at no additional cost beyond their membership fees.

During an earnings call, AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron described the initiative as "preferred premier seating," where "we will block and reserve the best seats in the house in our theaters to be accessed first only by our A-List and our Stubs Premiere members." He added, "We will assure the best seats in our auditoriums are held, at first anyway, for our best customers." The company did not specify which seats qualify as premium, though past experiments suggested central locations with unobstructed views.

A-List, the highest tier, costs between $19.99 and $27.99 per month depending on location, with higher rates in markets like New York and California. It allows members to see up to four movies per week in any format, along with benefits such as waived online booking fees,...