MoviePass Adds Monthly Limits
I have written about MoviePass quite a bit here because it is/was one of the best deals out there. You were able to see a movie every day for a flat $9.95 a month – sometimes as low as $6.95 a month. Well that isn’t the case anymore, on their homepage they now list a monthly limit for their newest offer.
Related: MoviePass shuts down members accounts for program abuse.
New Details
Everyone has always wondered how this could be remotely profitable for MoviePass and figured it wouldn’t last. They must have finally come to that conclusion.
MoviePass has capped the number of movies new members can go to at 4 per month. Here are the terms:
“Offer includes four movies a month with MoviePass and an extended, free 3-month iHeartRadio All-Access trial.
Only available to new subscribers. Will be billed for the full three month plan at sign-up, then billed quarterly afterwards.”
Before you freak out and overreact that is still a pretty amazing deal. But it isn’t as good as it used to be IN THEORY.
How many people actually go to more than 4 movies a month with the MoviePass? I probably average 3-4 per month. I doubt many do more than that. It is a devaluation for sure but it probably isn’t as bad as you are thinking it is right now.
What About Current Members?
There hasn’t been an official release yet or anything. A member of our Facebook Group noticed it on their home page and brought it to our attention. Thanks Jared! The way I am reading it this is only for new members signing up.
Will this change in the future? I am sure it will. Especially for anyone who paid for a year up front I am guessing once that year is up there will be a limit for your next sign up. For people locked into a monthly rate, like me, I am not sure when or if any changes will be made.
Conclusion
This definitely takes some shine off of this amazing deal. It doesn’t offer outsized value like it once did but it still offers value. As long as it stays at 4 movies it still offers good value, especially to people in larger markets with expensive movies. $2.50 a movie would still save me $4-5 every trip.
This does make Sinemia look more competitive now. That program only allows 2 movies per month but it also allows you to book them online and go to premium shows. I will have a review of it upcoming soon.
What are your thoughts on this change?
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I don’t mind them changing the terms on the subscription, but I paid for unlimited until the end of November. A year’s worth of movies. They shouldn’t be able to just change the rules midstream unless you are paying month by month. I find the rules for using the moviepass rather complex, and personally will not be signing up again. I’d rather pay more and get a seat in advance online from fandango. I don’t want to keep track of the movies I’ve seen. Plus I’ve had a couple of experiences where I ended up having to pay for the movies. They have terrible customer service. Not worth it (at least to me).
I signed up for the annual subscription in January, and am already well past the break-even point. While not as fantastic as once per day, four movies a month seems more than fair. In addition, I’ve racked up top loyalty status and enough points for several free tickets to take my partner, so I can’t really complain at all if the plan goes away completely, and I’ll certainly renew if the same (limited) deal exists next year.
I agree it is still a good deal and would still work for me even if they changed existing plans as well.
Truth be told I’m 100% ok with this. If it makes MP sustainable by weeding out the heavy hitters then I have no complaints. I’m sure this is highly YMMV but a saturday movie would cost $13.50 per ticket. My wife and I average maybe 1-2 movies a month. If we call it 1.5 movies per month then you’re looking at $40.50 – $15 = $25.50 savings. Even at 1 movie per month that’s an $8 savings!
As far as the reserve seating is concerned I found a way to get my foot in the door with another site that’ll allow me to reserve and then cancel once I’m at the counter and ready to pay with my MP card. I’ve only done this for the popular movies (like Jumanji) but I’ll not mention it here because I don’t want it to get abused.
I agree – 4 movies is a fair number where you still can get good value and it should be sustainable if they work out deals with the theaters etc.
Fear mongering FAKE NEWS! You would do great at Fox News!!!
You should be ashamed of yourself! No wonder so many people hate the media. This is just another promo to test the market, like their year in advance promo they had up before this one.
You should be ashamed of this comment?!? As of the time of your comment (I just looked again) the Moviepass website has one option only. You can sign up for a $9.95 per month plan for 4 movies. Exactly what it says in this post.
Todd – don’t u mean CNN? Last I checked, CNN is retracting stories due to incompetence or laziness in regards to fact-checking stories. Just because Fox doesnt follow your political views doesn’t give you the right to blame Fox News for doing what CNN has been doing the past few years, esp. with Trump in office.
I guess you are anti facts Todd? I linked to their homepage which clearly shows the 4 movies limit. You don’t think it is going to stay there? It may and it may not but it most likely will because unlimited isn’t sustainable.
IMHO, a pay one price and just pig out has too many pitfalls. First, it bring in the customers whom want something for nothing. Locally, there’s a saying, “they will eat feces to save a dollar”. Next, even the bottomless cup has been curtailed. Then there are cell phone plans that are partially paid for by the taxpayers. What might have the cell phone users spent their share on and was it necessaries.
The new limits are almost certainly in response to auditor reports that the current subscription based model is losing money for Helios and Matheson, the company which owns 92% of MoviePass. That company lost $150 million in 2017, mostly due to its acquisition of MoviePass. Enjoy your subscription while you can. See https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/19/is-moviepass-sustainable-its-parent-company-is-bleeding-money-auditor-says/
For me, after reading all my miles and points blogs (including yours!) every day, I barely have time to watch anything on Netflix, let alone on Amazon Prime! Really enjoy your posts, Mark. You’ve been doing a great job since joining MtoM.
Wow – thanks for the info. That article may need to be in my around the web tomorrow!
Thank you for the kind words as well…they are much appreciated.
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