Do you go to the movies enough where you think an “unlimited pass” would work for you? Are you the movie buff that runs to the theaters every Friday Night? Well then MoviePass maybe right up your alley as it’s a service that for a monthly charge will allow you to see “unlimited movies” monthly. Varying on your location you would sign up and pay $25 to $40 a month(I pay $30), and you can watch one movie a day. If you can do so, that would provide you with 30 movies a month. Anyone able to do that, may need some friends.
This isn’t MoviePass’ first go around with this service either. Looks like back in summer 2011, when they had beta tested it they worked with MovieTickets.com and would provide a paper voucher which could be redeemed. Movie exhibitors such as AMC didn’t take lightly to this and MoviePass went back to the drawing board and tweaked the program. Now they created a reloadable debit card that you receive when you sign up. To the movie theaters it looks like a regular debit/credit card since they are working with Discover, if they accept Discover your good to go.
There are some requirements to make this a success. You have to “check-in” into the movie theater by selecting the showtime of the movie you want to see either via the iOS app that is available or if your like me via the mobile web since there isn’t an Android app yet (cmon MoviePass). You have to be within 100 yards of the theater and do so within 30 mins of the film. Hasn’t been a hassle so far on my part but can imagine for those large blockbusters that sell out pretty quick starting in the Spring. Another kicker is it’s a one year subscription, if you cancel before so a fee will be applied. After 1 year you can cancel without penalties.
Update: So a day after I did this review, the Android app was released for MoviePass. Its similar to the web version I been using. It will require you to have GPS on and will take you to those settings if you dont have them enabled.
Is this for you?
Besides the restrictions and the fact you can’t see the same movie more than once you can possibly get some bang out of it. If you live in NYC for instance like me, the average ticket costs anywhere from $10-$14. And I know there are matinees and those cheap “golden ticket” passes but not everyone is either going to a movie at 12 in the afternoon or have access to those passes. I saw two movies in 3 days each at $14 a piece and have already almost covered my monthly fee. But I can imagine they get their money on the people who go here and there which is what they are hoping.
Only gripes I have had with using the card thus far was it not loading up the amount when I was ready to check in. I called customer service which is very nice and loaded the card up for me and I was able to redeem at the kiosk with no problem. Another time the card didn’t work and I had bought my ticket and then they refunded me right after back to my credit card. These are great things that they do but I would definitely want it to be a much smoother process.
If you go to the movies more than 2-3x a movie religiously, its worth it to get the MoviePass. It can help you save money if so. If you’re a here and there movie watcher then it’s not for you.
You can sign-up for MoviePass at MoviePass.com or I can shoot you an invite as I have a couple.
