New Movie Discount for Duke Employees

Going to the movies just got cheaper.

The Duke University PERQS and employee discounts program recently introduced a new benefit for staff members -- discounted movie tickets at all Consolidated Theaters. Among the theaters sponsoring this new discount are Southpoint Cinema in Durham, Crossroads 20 in Cary, and Raleigh Grande Cinema 16 in Raleigh.

The program offers two types of movie discounts. Movie Madness tickets may be purchased at $5 each, but they are not valid during the first two weeks of a movie's release.

Premium Movie Madness tickets are sold at $6.50 each, and have no standard restrictions regarding newly released movies. However, on rare occasions studioson usage . may restrict discount tickets for all shows.

Introduced in December, the movie discounts are already a big hit with Duke employees.

"The movie tickets are one of our top sellers," said Mindy Kornberg, assistant vice president for human resources - work environment. "Because we [offer them] every week it's a very hot item for us."

"It's a great savings," said Duke Hospital employee Kathy Pierce. "I find them to be a nice present to always have. I have a pack of them right now that I used for gifts this weekend."

Another advantage of the discounted tickets is that you can buy them on the Thursday or Friday before a movie comes out and avoid most of the hassle of long lines, Kornberg said. Most theaters will require you to exchange the discount coupon for a ticket at the box office.

Discount tickets may be purchased every Thursday from 8 a.m. to to 5 p.m. at the office of Staff and Family Programs, located at 154 Trent Hall, and every Friday from 7:30 a.m. to to 5 p.m. at the Medical Center Human Resources office, located in room 1527 of the Blue Zone in Duke South.

The PERQS program, which started four years ago, offers numerous annual discounts throughout the Triangle, including discounts at many local restaurants, hotels and car dealerships.

"If anybody's in the market for a car, we have major dealer discounts -- with every most major auto manufacturers of cars," Kornberg said.

In addition to the annual discounts, the PERQS program offers discounted tickets for many one-time only events, such as the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus and the Harlem Globetrotters. Employees enrolling as subscribers to the PERQS email listserv are notified of these time-sensitive discounts by email.

Employees wishing to receive regular updates about new PERQS discounts or services can visit www.hr.duke.edu and subscribe to receive for e-mail notifications.

For more information on the PERQS program, call the Office of Staff and Family Programs at 684-9040.