If you haven’t heard of CGV or Velvet class then you aren’t alone. I found out about it two days ago.

When we moved to Singapore, TW’s work organised a city orientation tour and the lady mentioned that there was a level of cinema viewing better than gold class. She also made mention that in Thailand that was better still.

TW’s work colleagues had also alluded to this but there weren’t any movies out that we wanted to see when we were in Bangkok. Avengers End Game is out and we are in Jakarta so I took to the internet to find some information on the better than gold class viewing.

I read two blogs – Google chrome my trusty translator. They were both very interesting and from what I could read, a locals perspective. Enter some guilt for the privileges I have with a handsome dose of appreciation for all that I do have. The first, here, was a new mother who finally got to go after being offered while she was pregnant and not feeling like it. Her child was 2 years old by the time her dream was realised.

The second, found here, was a little more informative, as far as letting us know what to do. Now that we have been to the cinema, I realise that we went to the same complex. They had mentioned snacks and needing to ask staff to bring them out. Had I known this was the same theatre I may have asked but because I thought it was one of the others in Jakarta, I wasn’t confident to question it. We had no snacks laid out in the waiting area. There were straws and indications that something should be there, just those spaces were empty.

I didn’t see anywhere on our ticket and apart from reading her blog, I wouldn’t have known there were meant to be snacks and drinks while waiting so I am not 100% sure that is still running.

We used the self serve ticketing machine to buy our tickets, the next showing was 5:15pm but that was not in velvet class. We weren’t really sure what to do but we chose that option anyway.

Once we opened it though, all the different options came up. Movies we could no longer buy tickets for still showed on the screen but we couldn’t select them. We could choose from a variety of options. Velvet is what we came to experience so the next showing in velvet class was 6:20pm. I didn’t notice it at the time but the description says the movie is in English and subtitled. TW was worried the movie would be dubbed. I was sure it wasn’t but we didn’t actually check or read that when buying our ticket. I read online it was subtitled and if we looked better the ticket machine did say it.

This is the seat map of Velvet class. You have to buy both seats. You can’t share a bed/seat with a stranger. So if you were to click on either D9 or D10 it would sell you both.

Now, 220,000 might look like a lot and to some, it really would be a lot of money. But for Aussies – we got a ticket for us both to see the Avengers in the level above gold class for $23. For both of us, not each. Both. Your looking at $42 per person in gold class in Sydney plus the booking fee if you buy the ticket online which puts your spend at over $90. Even if you go to their Monday Madness as a member you are still spending $25 per person. That means for a couple you are spending at least $50 for gold class. So I was excited to see what our $23 would get us.

For comparison I looked at the gold class price. It wasn’t that much cheaper and it was a later showing. The good thing about gold class is you can buy just one ticket. So you could spend 100,000 to see it rather than 220,000.

We should go and see a movie in gold class, to compare. There are a few more seats in the cinema. I already know the lounge doesn’t bother with putting out the complimentary snacks or drinks. Not without asking. Though before I ask I would need to double check if it is still the policy to do so. It looked like it was but anyway. No big deal.

TW had some work to do so rather than wait until the movie started we did some other things and had dinner. When we returned we decided to get popcorn and water, it is a super long movie after all.

You get one blanket for two people and TW promptly stole all the pillows. The mattress is fine. Neither overly comfortable nor uncomfortable. I didn’t find it hard or soft. I didn’t get sore or cramped but I also wasn’t so comfortable that I drifted off to sleep. Though I may have if I got the choice of pillows.

We were in row D – A is the highest at the back and F was the lowest. I think we were in a good spot. We could see the whole screen but weren’t too close. I think F would be too close and I read that A was a little too high so the bottom of the screen was cut off it laying down.

The view while I was standing up

No people obstructed our view of the screen. I often get stuck sitting behind the tallest person and can’t see a huge amount of the action but this was a great way to prevent that. At the start of the movie, staff were delivering food but they only briefly blocked a tiny portion of the screen while walking up the stairs.

Each seat has a divider to block out the neighbours. Once you sit all the way back, you really can’t see anyone else. The divider has a button so you can call staff and order food. Most people ordered before the show started and it was delviered when it started but a few people got hungry half way though.

There were some promotions. For hot food, things more like meals. And I don’t know what the sign says. We guessed it says don’t record the movie but it says the ending credit so now I am not sure. Some guy did watch one of the movies with a go pro attached to a giro… so TW said to me bootleg movies must be pretty good these days.

The actual menu has a decent number of things.

We got our popcorn from the main lobby. Which meant we didn’t get any food delivered during the movie. Which is sad. I was looking forward to a milkshake and platter couples combo but we had just had dinner so TW was super full. Even so, he upgraded to the mega popcorn. The large popcorn and two bottles of water cost $9.

I’m impressed. We had woodfired pizza for dinner, water a movie in better than gold class and had popcorn and drinks for the movie and it all cost under $50.

As for the movie. I don’t want to spoil it too much for you and I feel even this is giving too much away but here you go. My one word review = yawn.