Movie Pass seems like a company that will exist in a minor way long after people think it's dead. I was at a mall the other day and saw a Suncoast. I thought that chain vanished years ago!
MoviePass Suspends Service Citing Technical Problems, Plans to Recapitalize Company In the words of Ian Faith, their appeal has become more selective.
I have never encountered a company that is better at spin. That press release is priceless! Companies never pull their web site down and essentially go out of business during an upgrade. You build it behind the scenes and then go live when it’s ready, as I assume everyone here knows. I hate it when companies treat people like they are completely stupid. Glad I bailed along with everyone else long ago. That CEO doesn’t deserve to hold that position.
The real shame is that MoviePass existed before they did the $9.99 thing. My wife was a member at $49.95 a month and was perfectly happy with it and would have continued with it for years at that level. She signed up in December 2016 and then they did the giant price drop August 15 2017 (on her birthday!) Before they did that they were able to deliver the service reliably.
Don't forget the AMC Stubs program, even without the A-List option. Even at the FREE level, you can still watch movies for $5 each on Discount Tuesday's. The online ticketing charge is waved when you purchase four or more tickets. You can join their AMC Stubs Premier level membership, for only a $15 annual upgrade over the free membership. This includes all of the benefits of the free membership, plus it allows you to book any tickets without an online service fee. Perks also include, free size upgrades on popcorn & fountain drinks and a free refill on a giant popcorn. It basically gives you all of the A-List benefits, with the exception of the 3-free movies each week. Note: the $5 Discount Tuesdays does not include special theaters or 3D movies, only 2D movies in any regular theater.
So now that I’ve joined the free level of AMC Stubs, I realize I will have to see 42 morning matinee movies before I earn a $5 reward. *laughs*. This is not enough for me to even let them scan my card when I go in the morning. So I will keep this in my back pocket to use for $6 Tuesdays (it’s $6 here) on an occasional Tuesday with some friends.
The $9.99 thing was intended to be a limited-time promotion, and management fell in love with how many customers they were getting.
I would pay an extra $9.99 for each movie if I didn't have to sit through 6 (or 7 or 8 or...) previews of what seems like variations on the same dumb movie. With the obnoxious kettle drum to punctuate the quick fade to black. And the ugly cinematography.
Yeah, I know the perks. I was Stubs Premier before A-List - you can pay for membership with the $5 certificates you earn, so it pays for itself pretty easily. I think I "lost" like 1.5 years of Premier membership due to A-List, though. I think I renewed my membership early and then A-List came along and made it useless. AMC said I'd still have that 1.5 years of Premier waiting for me if I bailed on A-List, but it's unlikely I'd ever do that!
How much do they require you to spend as a basic member to get to 5000 points? I accumulate rewards pretty quickly - I think they count the $22/month A-List fee toward my 5000 points. I think I average a $5 reward once every 5 weeks or so - more if I go Cameo Combo crazy!
I just cancelled my A-List, but that is just because I moved out of the area. That is what I do. My seat is already reserved, why not?
I earned 118 points for one morning matinee, which is $6 and change with the tax. I don’t buy snacks, so 5000/118 = 42 movies!
Well, I’m glad you guys did so well with it both before and after the change. They simply gambled the theatre chains would play ball after they saw how many extra bodies they could put in the seats. Not necessarily a bad approach, and it did work great for a short time, but in this case they lost. However, as we know that approach has worked for others. Still, we won. It worked the way true competition should. The theaters saw it worked and just did it themselves, and it’s hard not to blame them for that. And I think the Movie Pass CEO had a big mouth and an arrogance that the chains decided they didn’t like. With a guy like that, where you need the cooperation of others when they don’t need to give it, Movie Pass was doomed to fail as soon as it was mass marketed at $9.99.
We have a great new theatre here called Icon. They have $6 Tuesdays and all you can eat popcorn and drinks if you can believe that. Unlike the competition, all 15 or whatever theaters have the nice lounges. I suspect we are seeing too many cineplexes opening so they decided to do something different to drive traffic. They had the guts to open right across from a well established Hollywood Theatre. At first their self serve popcorn just wasn’t good, but they must have got the memo and now it’s every bit as good as other chains. This is where the free market really helps the consumer when it’s allowed to work. Kind of a shame a company like Movie Pass showed them this would work, and now they are essentially done, but again I think it was their own fault.
So they basically give you 20 points per dollar at the regular plan, I guess. I think the "Premier" gives you 100 points per dollar - didn't realize the free plan was that much crummier! If you go to at least 2 movies a month, I'd recommend you go with the Premier plan. The points add up so much faster, and you can use the certificates to pay for renewal, so by your second year, you'll never have to shell out actual money for it. If you never buy concessions, it'll take about 8 bargain matinees per $5 reward, so 24 movies a year means you have enough to pay for the plan. Is online ticketing free with the basic plan?
AMC essentially has all you can drink. It's never been clear to me if they formally allow drink refills, but it's self-serve, and I've never seen an AMC employee "guard" the machine. As for popcorn, that's not all you can eat, but given that I only get the small popcorn, AYCE doesn't matter to me!
Online ticketing is NOT free with the basic plan. The only thing you get is $6 Tuesdays. For sure I see at least 24 movies a year. Maybe I'll sign up for the next level. Thanks.
I didn't think online ticketing was free with basic but not sure! Pre-A-List, I was reluctant to sign up for Premier, mainly because I mostly went to Regal. However, I went to AMC enough to be worth it, especially when I found out I could use the $5 rewards toward renewal and I'd get free online ticketing - which I suspect I knew back when I signed up, even if I forgot now! Free online ticketing is a big deal for me, especially in the era of reserved seats. If all venues were GA, it wouldn't matter much, but I don't want to have to get to the theater an hour early to reserve a seat or pay a surcharge to buy online. Since you go to a lot of movies, why not go A-List?
That is specifically why I brought it up earlier in the thread. For $15 annually, the waived booking fee is worth the upgrade alone.
Our other big chain here you can also refill, but it doesn’t say anywhere if that’s policy or not. I presume since it doesn’t say you can’t, it is. I guess I was just surprised that at Icon, it’s actual policy. I find I’m still getting a large because I don’t want to get back up during a film, but my wife sure isn’t shy about it. I’m very surprised about the popcorn being refillable though. They really get you there, and we definitely get a smaller size than we normally would and refill and share.
With AMC membership, you get a free large popcorn for your birthday. As noted, I just want the small - even the medium is way too big for me. This year I told the guy to just give me a small and not a large. I joked that I'm probably the first person ever who wanted less popcorn than I'm allowed - he agreed and just gave me the small for free without using my coupon!
I still don’t think A-List is a good deal for me. That’s $25/month out of my pocket whether I go to the movies or not. Some months I don’t go at all, for instance I think it was either March/April or April/May that there was not one movie I wanted to see at AMC. That would have been $50 thrown away, as far as I’m concerned. I won’t go to the movies and see any old thing just to go to the movies. I have to really want to see it. And I am generally not in favor of adding yet another monthly bill to my pile, which has to be paid whether I use the service or not. I can see $15/year though, especially since you tell me I can use the rewards to pay for the membership fee renewal. And as you and @SandAndGlass say, the free online ticketing alone is worth the upgrade. I hate reserved seating, but I do find I’m having to do it more and more even for morning matinees on the weekend.
