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MoviePass filed for bankruptcy in 2020, but MoviePass 2.0 has been launched. Find out more at => MoviePass 2.0 — Another Chance to Subscribe to Movie Tickets
If you’re a movie fan, you’ll probably be interested in the latest offering from MoviePass: for $9.95 per month, you can see one movie per day, every day, at nearly any movie theater in the US.
That’s right, for about the cost of one movie ticket (or less than the cost in some areas), you can see a movie every day of the month in a movie theater. That $10 could buy you up to 31 movie tickets, depending on how many days in the month there are.
MoviePass has been in business for years, but the price of watching a movie per day was higher for the exact same service — $35 to $50 per month, depending where you live.
Last week MoviePass dropped the price of its monthly service to $10 per month, which has proven extremely popular for the site.
Which Theaters Accept MoviePass
While $10 a month for a movie a day sounds like a good deal, this deal is only a good one for you if there are movie theaters near you where you can use MoviePass.
According to their site, MoviePass is accepted at over 4000 theaters and over 36,000 screens across the United States. You can check to see which theaters near you participate by going to the MoviePass website and entering your zip code on the map.
How to Use MoviePass
To use MoviePass you need:
- an iPhone or Android phone
- the MoviePass app
- a membership to MoviePass
- a MoviePass membership card
To get started, go to the MoviePass website and sign up for a membership. Within five to seven business days you should receive a membership card in the mail.
The MoviePass membership card is a Mastercard debit card that is used to pay for the ticket at the movie theater.
While you’re waiting for your card, download the MoviePass app to your phone.
When you receive your membership card, register your account in the MoviePass app. Then search for movie theaters near you.
Go to the movie theater where you want to see a movie and check in to the movie via the MoviePass app. You must be within 100 yards of the theater to check in.
After you’ve checked in, you should receive a notice that your membership card has been loaded with the amount of money the movie ticket costs. You must buy your ticket within 30 minutes of the money being loaded. (After that time the money will be removed from your card if it hasn’t been used.)
Then go to the box office and purchase your ticket with the MoviePass card. The movie theater will be paid the full price for your ticket.
Head into the theater and enjoy your movie!
Then you can do the same thing the next day and every day after that, so long as you’re a member of MoviePass.
This video shows how MoviePass works:
About 6% of the movie theaters allow etickets through the app so you can purchase tickets before you are nearby the theater.
Note that the card cannot be used for concessions, such as popcorn or candy, nor for IMAX or 3D movies.
What Else You Need to Know
How MoviePass Makes Money
MoviePass loses money at $10 per month with this deal, but plans to earn money by collecting user data and selling targeted advertising.
MovePass Is Overwhelmed Right Now
Because of the recent drop in price to $10, MoviePass has been overwhelmed with the response. They admittedly have been unable to keep up with demand.
In a blog posted on their website earlier this week, A Letter to Our Growing MoviePass Community, MoviePass explained that the price drop resulted in “unprecedented volume of traffic” that caused its website and apps to crash.
Although the site and apps are back up and running, the response time for new requests, customer service and other issues has been longer than expected. The company has apologized and says it’s working hard to meet demand.
The comments to the blog post and reviews for the apps indicate many customers are unhappy with the service now, with unresponsive apps and long waits for new MoviePass cards.
Because of that, you may want to hold off a bit before signing up for the service, until things calm down and the company is better able to cope with the traffic.
AMC Movie Theaters Is Resisting MoviePass
Although movie theaters are receiving full price for movie tickets, at least one theater chain is unhappy with MoviePass. AMC Theaters does not believe the business model for MoviePass is sustainable and is worried that customers will become used to paying very little for a movie ticket.
MoviePass has responded by saying that its business model is sustainable. The CEO of MoviePass, Mitch Lowe, previously worked for the DVD rental company Redbox and that company was frequently told that their business model of renting DVD’s for $1 per night wasn’t sustainable.
The saving grace for MoviePass may be the format of payment. Because MoviePass has partnered with Mastercard to use its debit cards for payment, MoviePass cannot be blocked by AMC unless AMC refuses to accept Mastercard as a payment form for movie tickets. If that happens, MoviePass says it will partner with another credit card company.
“I think the only way they can stop taking our credit card is by violating the rules of Mastercard, which means they would have to give up Mastercard altogether. If they did that, I’d just switch to another credit card company.” Lowe said in a recent interview. See, CNet, How MoviePass will defy AMC to get you into theaters.
The Future for MoviePass
After MoviePass gets past its growing pains, it plans to expand its service to include IMAX and 3D movies, concessions (unlimited popcorn would be awesome!), and a couples’ plan for two people at $20 per month.
Your Thoughts
Do you like going to the movies? Does the idea of $10 per month for a movie a day in a theater sound appealing to you? What would you like to see in the future for MoviePass?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
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Hi Carolyn! This sounds almost too good to be true! I went on the web site and typed in my zip code and got no response. I am thinking their site is still overwhelmed so will try again later. Thanks for disclosing that they will be collecting user data. It seems like privacy is becoming a thing of the past if you want convenience. (Of course Netflix is doing the same thing when I use it so guess I need to get over it.)
Hi Penny, I think you’re right about the map results. I plugged in a lot of different zip codes around the country and always got a lot of results, including close to where I live near Philadelphia. It would be worth trying again to see if you can locate movie theaters on the MoviePass map.
Yes, often when we get stuff for free or at a discount, it’s because we are giving up information about ourselves. If you asked most people if they would rather remain anonymous and pay for a service or give up information about themselves for a free product/service, most would take the freebie.
But it is important to know that’s what we’re doing so at the very least we’re making an informed choice.
Hello Carolyn,
Great shout over here 🙂
I was drag toward this post of yours by seeing the heading.
Seriously $10 dollars for a movie for the whole month, thats really sounds interesting and this looks so good at this time as
going to a theater for watching movies is quite expensive these days.
One question, are they giving these exciting offers here in Aisa ?
Thanks for the share.
Shantanu.
Hi Shantanu, I’m glad you enjoyed this. I’m not aware of this deal anywhere else but perhaps, like Netflix, it will expand around the world if it’s successful. Let’s hope it is!