The future of movie ticket buying
MoviePass is struggling, but other subscription services are jumping in
Is it time to sound the death knell for MoviePass?
The intrepid movie ticket subscription service – which has mushroomed to 3 million subscribers since announcing a too-good-to-be-true deal of “unlimited” movies for $9.95 a month last August – has been hit with a string of misfortunes this past week. The trouble began last Thursday when users nationwide reported that the app was down, which was later revealed to be caused by the company running out of cash. More outages and social media scorn ensued as a $5 price hike was announced Tuesday and subscribers were blocked from seeing major new movies for the first two weeks of release.
Fortunately for thrifty moviegoers, theater chains have smelled blood in the water and devised their own moneysaving subscription plans. Cinemark Movie Club, for instance, gives you one movie ticket (3D showings excluded) at Cinemark theaters for $8.99 a month; unused tickets roll over, and the fee includes 20% off concessions. Alamo Drafthouse is testing subscription models for its boutique dine-in cinemas, which would offer unlimited movies and reserved seating.
USA TODAY tested out a couple of the highest-profile subscription plans to see how they stack up against MoviePass.
MoviePass
If you’re already a MoviePass subscriber, you’re probably familiar with the increasing restrictions on using the service: In addition to seeing only one movie a day and having to buy your ticket at the theater, you can’t see films more than once and may need to snap a photo of your ticket stub to verify your purchase. There are also some major releases, such as summer blockbuster “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” that may charge additional fees or not be available on the app at all.
Despite the inconveniences and impending price increase, which takes effect within the next 30 days, MoviePass’ greatest advantage over its competitors is that most every theater accepts it, which gives cinephiles the option to see films they might not normally cough up $15 for. We happily chose Kelly Macdonald drama “Puzzle” at New York’s cozy Angelika Film Center, which we purchased with MoviePass with no issues.
AMC Stubs A-List
A little more than a month ago, MoviePass’ most vocal detractor, AMC, announced its own rival subscription plan, which gives you three movies a week at AMC theaters (3D and IMAX included) for $19.95 a month. So far, the service has drawn in 175,000 subscribers, and plenty more are likely to follow if their experiences have been as positive as ours.
Of the three major subscriptions, Stubs A-List is easily the most convenient. At any given time, you can buy up to three tickets for movies now playing or opening that week. All you have to do is select the theater, date and showtime for the movie of your choice, pick your seat, and click a box to reserve your ticket. And unlike MoviePass – which requires you to use a company-issued debit card to buy your ticket – Stubs A-List is all digital, so you can simply pull up the ticket on your app once you get to the theater. Plus, there are no restrictions on how many times you see a film. (We opted for “Mission: Impossible” twice in one day and have zero regrets.)
Sinemia
The fledgling subscription service has been around for a few years but has only recently ramped up its offerings to rival MoviePass. Sinemia features a variety of membership plans, such as $3.99 for one 2D movie a month or $14.99 for three movies a month, which also includes 3D and IMAX-4DX showings. It also introduced four tiers of “family plans,” beginning at $7.99 for two people to see one 2D movie a month.
However you do the math, it’s still not as great a deal as either MoviePass or Stubs A-List. It’s also a huge headache to use if you don’t opt for a physical Sinemia card. To purchase a ticket using their cardless service, you find your desired theater in the “planning” tab of the app. Once you enter the approximate date, time and number of people for the movie you’d like to see, Sinemia generates a temporary credit card number for you to use on Fandango, Movie Tickets.com or another ticket-selling website to go through the process of actually ordering the ticket.
It’s an unnecessarily confusing process bringing two apps into the mix. Not only did we have to check into the Sinemia app for our afternoon showing of “Skyscraper” – which you can do only a half-hour before or after the movie starts – but we also had to use Fandango to pull up the ticket on our phone once we got there.
So which is the best deal?
It all comes down to a matter of taste. For those who don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks to see the hot new releases, MoviePass is still the most affordable option and offers the widest variety of choices. If you’re unlikely to branch out into lesser-known films and wished MoviePass had let you see “Avengers: Infinity War” more than once, you can’t beat AMC Stubs A-List for its user-friendly service, reserved seats and ability to rewatch recent flicks. Sinemia simply has too many kinks to work out before we can wholeheartedly recommend.