Important Update from August 2018: Due to some disappointing changes in MoviePass, we cancelled our subscription. Read why here.
After I strongly promoted MoviePass in January, I wanted to give an update on some of the changes they have recently made. (Unfamiliar with MoviePass? Read my comprehensive post here.)
MoviePass has gotten a lot of press in the past few weeks because they had pulled their $10 a month for unlimited movies offer and replaced it with a 4 movies per month + a subscription to IHeartRadio.com for $7.95 per month. Plus, it seemed like they kept cracking down on things and adding new restrictions.
A lot of people freaked out about it and I was ready to pull my support of MoviePass. In fact, I had publicly said I didn’t recommend them anymore and was working on writing a post about this.
BUT, then they recanted (or maybe it was part of their strategic plan??) and brought back the $10 a month unlimited offer. Which I was very relieved and happy to see.
3 Big Changes MoviePass Made
However, they made some pretty significant changes since I wrote my post that I think people need to know about before considering signing up for MoviePass:
- You can only watch the same movie once per account. To me, this is kind of a big deal, because this means that you can’t actually see one movie every day… because most theaters don’t show 30 different movies in one month! Of course, there’s no way I could go to a movie every day, but I still am bothered that they are claiming that they are still offering “unlimited movies” for $10 per month. To me, that’s deceptive marketing.
- You can’t login from more than one device. Once you have set up one device as connected to your MoviePass account, you cannot login to your MoviePass from another device.
- Some accounts are being asked to submit a photo of their ticket after they purchase it. This is supposedly to prevent fraud.
Final Thoughts
I still think that MoviePass can be a great deal. For $10 a month, if you go see 3-4 movies, that’s a great deal. But with these new restrictions in place, I’m not as big of a fan of MoviePass as I once was. However, I’m not pulling my support from them for now.
If you use MoviePass, I’d love to hear your honest thoughts and experiences with it and whether you still like them or have changed your mind because of the changes.
Note: I just saw that there is a new rival for MoviePass called Sinema. It looks like it’s only in California right now and that it’s not as unlimited as MoviePass, but if you live where it’s available, it might be a great option to look into. It looks like it only offers an annual plan right now. Do you have any experience with it? If so, I’d love to hear!
Important Update from August 2018: Due to some disappointing changes in MoviePass, we cancelled our subscription. Read why here.
Mandi says
PLEASE bring on the family plan. And make the system more user friendly. People should not have to upgrade their phones to get an app to work. I was on the fence and I think I will stay there until they get some of these issues worked out.
Crystal Winters says
Would love to have the option for a gift for my teenagers or a family pass. This would be a great option for this summer!
Kyla says
I’ve never used this, but was interested so I checked out the website. Looks like the $7.95 plan includes just 3 movies a month. I’m not finding anywhere it says 4.
Crystal Paine says
Yes, they changed it to that.
Kristy C says
For me, MoviePass is still a good value. I agree, however, that it does seem like a “bait and switch” operation at times. I also agree that “a movie a day” is misleading because most people would be hard-pressed to find thirty different movies showing in a single town or city on any given day.
I’m another one of those who was “given the opportunity to participate” in the ticket-upload beta test. While it doesn’t seem like a big deal to snap a photo of my ticket on the app, and it doesn’t change anything about how I use the service, it simply doesn’t make sense. If they are trying to cut down on fraud, this isn’t the way to do it. If I were so inclined, I could still purchase a ticket for someone else to use – this wouldn’t prevent that in any way, nor would they have any way of knowing who I handed that ticket to after I sent them the photo. So in my opinion, this new “precaution” is just stupid.
A person could also get around the new rule of not seeing a movie more than once, and quite easily, by simply purchasing a ticket to a different movie but walking into the theater you really wanted to go to. There are no safeguards built in to prevent this.
Personally, as long as I can still use my pass at least twice a month, it still works for me. But I’m watching them closely for unsustainable future changes.
Crystal Paine says
I found an article somewhere that said that some people had figured out how to use the card to purchase items other than movie tickets. I have no idea how, but this is just what I read online. So that was supposedly the reason they are asking people to upload pics of their movie tickets.
Barb says
We still place it in the “Amazing Deals” category. We each bought an $89.99 one year pass through Costco and our passes are now fully paid for, we’re 4 or 5 (we lost count) films AHEAD of break even and we still have use until next Jan. so in our opinion it’s a nobrainer.
We were disappointed in the new restriction of one viewing per film only, but in truth, we rarely see a film more than once so that doesn’t affect us.
We hope the deal continues,but since we’re already ahead of the game we can’t complain.
We see no downside.
Laura says
I am still in support of MoviePass. We got the year-long Costco deal that was available in Dec. The terms have changed, which takes means you have to pay attention to the details, but it is still a terrific deal. We don’t see as many movies as we thought we would, but it is still worth your while if you see at least 1 movie a month. I want them to stay in business and understand they need to adjust.
The hardest part for us is the theaters with assigned loungers. Those seats are super comfortable, but you need to reserve them in advance. Since we got MoviePass, we’ve been going to a theater with regular seats. We could see a crowded new release film while still getting our tickets the day-of. Now our favorite theater has changed to reserved loungers. This might affect our MoviePass experience, since you can only buy your ticket the day-of.
Growingkidsmom says
I don’t use movie pass – don’t go to the movies often enough, I don’t have the time. But working in the tech industry it is sad the amount of fraud that’s out there and although I can see people’s issues, I can see that in order for this to be sustainable business model folks need to follow the rules and that’s why you have to put restrictions on it like only one phone, only seeing each movie one time, and adding your photo to your account. I bet there were a lot of enterprising individuals that had figured out they could buy one pass and put it on all their friends phones and walla free movie night for everyone. Since there were no restrictions on viewings they could get everyone in on the same pass. This is speculation and of course and educated guess based on past experience and knowledge of the ways people will manipulate the system. I think before you condemn a company you should try to consider the situation from their point of view. Without the restrictions this is most definately not a sustainable model.
Kristy C says
Actually, a person could not buy more than one ticket per day no matter how many different phones/apps were used, because the pass itself is kind of like a credit card which will only authorize the cost of one ticket per day.
There are still, however, many easy ways to abuse the card – like going to the theater earlier in the day to buy a ticket then giving or selling it to someone else, for instance.
How sad that fraud costs so much and ruins so many experiences for honest people!
Sarah says
My fiancé and I signed up for movie pass in mid-March and are STILL waiting for him to receive his card. They don’t track their cards when they ship either, so we have to wait a few weeks when they say they’ve sent it to even follow back up. The customer service has been terrible and it is very hard to get in touch with anyone. We are really looking forward to using the service, but it has not been a fun process so far!
patti smith says
Still loving our MoviePass, so many date nights with my husband. Seen many movies that we wouldn’t have normally and really enjoyed them! We were both flagged as now having to take photos of our tickets, but doesn’t look too difficult. Even if we see two movies a month we still come out ahead in our area and we see lots of movies. It has been great:)
Luba @ Healthy with Luba says
Unfortunately, that the problem with “deals” sometimes. When not too many people use the deal, it works, but it’s not sustainable long-term, as this one is. One way it could be sustainable is that people buy the pass and end up going once or twice a month (I am not sure how often the average American frequents the movie theater).
Janice Singer says
I love it! My husband and I are huge movie fans and go almost every Saturday night to a movie now with the movie pass. Basically once we have gone to one movie a month, we have already paid for it as one movie ticket is way more than 10 dollars. It makes no difference to me that we can’t see a movie more than once. There are always new movies coming out. Before Movie Pass, we only went to movies we really really wanted to see on the big screen because it was just too expensive. I can’t say enough good things about Movie Pass!
Carrie says
They also upgraded the app so if you have an older phone it’s not letting you update the app and therefore can’t check in and so people are having to cancel/loose out on the rest of their pre paid year or get an upgraded phone
Kris says
Yes. My husband had to update (which he really didn’t want do) to continue using his pass. That was frustrating for him.
Teresa says
I have an older phone. With most recent update, I have to buy a new phone or accept I got 3 months out of a 1-year pass. I would not have purchased MoviePass if I had known this. I’m concerned if I buy a new phone how easy/quickly I can transfer to new phone. I paid for pass middle of December but it took 6 weeks to receive pass and have it working. Has anyone downloaded pass onto a new phone?
Crystal Paine says
Oh yikes! I hadn’t heard that! Thank you for mentioning that. Ugh.
sally says
Unlimited means quantity. Quantity is number. That would mean different items or things. To me, that is not deceptive. It is just misunderstood.
Crystal Paine says
Yes, I can totally see where you are coming from. But since they promoted this so hard as completely unlimited and that you could go to a movie every single day and that now they are still advertising it as “See a New Movie Everyday” — well, to me, that’s deception marketing since it’s not truly possible to see a movie every day.
Rosana says
I understand if you buy something expecting it to be a certain way and it turns out not as good as expected that you would be upset. But when you stop and think about it, 4 movies per month for $7.95 is still a VERY good deal (at least in my area, and from what I understand we are lower then most other places in the country.)
Lisa says
I am very upset about the only see a movie once option. I am thinking of canceling.
Barbara Bomberger says
In all fairness, if it continues in its present form it will probably go out of business in the next year. It’s not a sustainable business model. So while I agree with your assessment, I would still be happy with the four movie option.
Crystal Paine says
I agree — except the founder seems to know the movie industry well and seems to have hope that it won’t go out of business based upon his past experience. Only time will tell!
Alicia says
Huh, good to know! As a mom of movie lovers, I appreciate the update! And thank you so much for your honest opinion!!
Crystal Paine says
You’re so welcome!
Mo Yarbrough says
I got my Movie Pas on April 6th and have seen 10 movies since i got it. I agree that they shouldn’t be advertising “unlimited” when if you can’t see a movie more than once, there is no way to see a movie every single day of the month. My husband had his pass in Jan and at the time, he was TOLD that he could only see a movie once (i guess this has changed a few times). So, I went into getting my pass thinking I could only see a movie once, because of this the new change didn’t bother me (i can see how it is upsetting to others) Also, i was able to get in the special pricing where it was only 6.95 a month if you paid for the year up front. So, for me I’m thrilled to see a few movies a week, and if i want to see something twice, i’ll just go on Tuesday the $5.00 day.
I really enjoy going to the movies but i was always hesitant because of the cost associated, it has been so awesome, to be able to just pick a movie to see and not have to worry about cost. (especially cause i’m one of those who brings water and a snack from home)
We just saw Bad Samaritan last night, it was REALLY good. i jumped out of my seat a few times.
I’m also one of the “lucky” ones who has to upload a photo of my stub. This doesn’t bother me very much, as it is super easy.
Over all, i’d recommend the Movie Pass. I wish they had an option for kids!
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for sharing your perspective! I really appreciate it!