I love the new theater seating at the movies! In fact, it's probably increased my frequency of trips to see a movie on the big screen by 50%. But there's one problem with the seating I haven't been able to avoid; The proximity of other guests to me while I'm watching my movie.

I just think it's weird to be laying in a reclined position right next to someone I don't know. The invasion of personal space is a distraction from the sensory immersion experience I go to the theater for in the first place.

And since it's reserved seating, the old "one empty seat buffer" rule no longer applies. I've tried a lot of different ways to keep a little distance from the next-door movie lover, but short of buying seats all around you, there was no sure fire way to win the seat roulette. Until Now.

While buying the tickets online, I noticed there's a "hold" feature that starts a timer on your selection while you are selecting the seats just for you. Well, using this technology as your hack, you can temporarily hold the seats or seat next to you indefinitely, or at least until the trailers start, which would generally keep others from selecting the seats next to you, and just sit somewhere else.

First, select your seats and pay. Then, go back in the cue and select the seats right next to the seats you just bought. They will hold them in cue until you decide to buy them or not. Some ticket sites will wait up to 10 minutes. But while you are holding them, others who go online to buy seats can't access them, and will sit somewhere else.

So that works, for a bit... but what about closer to showtime? That was my worry this week when we went to see a popular movie, on Senior Day of all days! Well, once you sit down in the theater, you can again hop online with your phone, and again hold those tickets at bay as showtime approaches. Don't use your the theater app, as I don't think it works the same way.

But I've just used this practice with success. Looking around the theater, pretty much all the seats were filled in the first 10 rows. But we had a nice bit of elbow room! Thank-you technology!

More From 97X