Long lines at the theater? A new cell-phone service lets you bypass the ticket booth and head straight to the ticket taker.
The online movie ticket service Fandango can send tickets to your cell phone by text message, and, unlike popular apps for the iPhone and Blackberry, the Fandango tickets don't require a smart phone. They work on any phone that receives text messages.
“You buy your ticket on Fandango, send it to your phone via text message, go straight to the ticket taker ... when you get to the ticket taker, they scan your phone," Fandango's Melinda Petrow said.
The Los Angeles company is currently test marketing the idea at two San Diego theaters in Clairemont and Grossmont.
Moviegoer Jennifer Haslam said she likes the idea because "it would save time becuase you don't have to stand in line. Nobody would have to stand in line."
Joe Pettigrew agrees: "I'd love to leave my credit cards at home and do it all from the phone. I think that would be a great idea."
Fandango charges a service fee of a dollar per ticket for online sales but does not add any fees for the texted ticket. Where will the service go from here?
"We're really not sure," Petrow said. "We're going to see how it goes in these two markets and and eventually roll it out across the country."
