Moviepass - Page 2

SackAttack · 04-26-2018, 04:08 AM

They send you a card that you can use to purchase the tickets. AFAIK the app isn't required.

Though I haven't signed up yet, either. Was thinking about doing it after my tax returns came back but, uh...

Butter · 04-26-2018, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

They switched their plan 2 days after I was thinking of joining

So does this work? heard stories of their customer service not working and if the app doesn't work you are screwed.

Their customer service is poor, and if the app doesn't work you ARE screwed.

My experience has been a seamless one though. The way it works is you sign up, you get a card through the mail. Once you get the card, you go to a theater, check in to see a movie, then you put the last 4 digits of your card onto the app, which verifies and authorizes the card. You pay for your ticket with the card. The end. It's pretty simple.

MrBug708 · 04-26-2018, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SackAttack

They send you a card that you can use to purchase the tickets. AFAIK the app isn't required.

Though I haven't signed up yet, either. Was thinking about doing it after my tax returns came back but, uh...

Maybe I'm wrong, but you need the app to order the tickets. I havent tried without the app though

molson · 04-26-2018, 11:50 AM

Yup, you check in on the app when you're physically at the theater, and then you buy the ticket with your card, which functions as a regular debit card. So you have to have your phone and a functional app with you at the theater.

There are a small number of supported e-ticketing theaters. For those, you can check in on the app and buy your ticket elsewhere before you get to the theater.

molson · 04-26-2018, 11:57 AM

The moviepass CEO gave a non-committal answer last night about whether the unlimited plan is ever coming back for new users.

So since it hasn't been specifically mentioned here, and since moviepass doesn't make any of this clear at all, for all of you still riding the gravy train of unlimited movies, avoid split transactions at all costs. Moviepass has been banning users for this. Basically, when you check into a movie, moviepass puts money to cover the cost of the ticket on your card, plus a little extra. Your account will get red flagged if ALL of the money they put on your card is spent. There's a few ways that can happen. If you're seeing a movie with another moviepass subscriber, and you hand the cashier both moviepass cards, they sometimes ring up the total amount for the two tickets, charge one card it's max amount, and then the other card the leftover balance. So it's important to never let a cashier process two moviepass cards at a time. Buy one ticket, complete the transaction, then buy the second ticket. Also, sometimes a theater increases its prices and moviepass hasn't accounted for it yet. If a kiosk or cashier ever says, "you don't have enough on this card, you have to pay an extra 45 cents (or whatever)", cancel the transaction immediately, and either pay out of pocket for the whole ticket, or skip the movie. From moviepass' perspective, if you spend all of the money they put on the card, you're breaking some rule like buying concessions with the card, or buying a premium movie ticket.

You can actually look up your moviepass account history from the last few months here - what money is put on your card, what is spent, etc. This site is legit, and is used by the moviepass subreddit to help sort out reasons that users get banned, etc.

Find Card For Quick Balance

CrimsonFox · 04-26-2018, 04:15 PM

jeez!

Fidatelo · 05-08-2018, 08:05 PM

Today’s SEC filing suggests MoviePass’ time is running out

larrymcg421 · 05-08-2018, 08:42 PM

I'm somewhat amused at some of the hysteria surrounding the Moviepass changes and the statement in that article about uncertainty if users could get their money's worth. If you got the card today, saw a movie today, you could get your money's worth out of it.

I actually now have to take a picture of my ticket and submit it on the app. So what? The value is worth it. (This was probably done because once I accidentally partially paid another person's ticket because the clerk rang them up together). Other people are freaking out over this. Can't see a movie more than once? That was the rule when I first signed up for Moviepass (See the 1st post) and was paying $34.95/month. And there are ways around that if it bothers you so much.

Sometimes the app doesn't work and you have to pay out of pocket (this hasn't happened to me yet, but to one of my friends) and get reimbursed later, because their customer service is so slow. Again, I say, so what?

Since the price change, Moviepass has paid more than $400 of movie tickets for only $80 of subscription fees. It would've been a good deal even at the $34.95 I was initially paying. It would still be a good deal if they limited it to 4 movies a month like they did briefly.

So yeah, I'm amused at people getting so worked up over everything as if they're entitled to see unlimited movies for $10/month for the rest of their lives. Enjoy it while it lasts and be "happy" when you don't have to deal with all those Moviepass restrictions anymore and get to pay $15 a ticket again.

Fidatelo · 05-08-2018, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I'm somewhat amused at some of the hysteria surrounding the Moviepass changes and the statement in that article about uncertainty if users could get their money's worth. If you got the card today, saw a movie today, you could get your money's worth out of it.

I assumed that was in relation to people that purchase(d) one of the annual plans.

larrymcg421 · 05-09-2018, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I assumed that was in relation to people that purchase(d) one of the annual plans.

Yeah I get that and I hope my response didn't come across as a criticism of you for posting the article.

I still think this was something that was fairly obvious for anyone to see coming, which is why signing up for the annual plan was always a risky proposition (I stuck with the monthly for that reason). Since they stopped offering the annual plans at the end of March, I think most people on the annual plan will still be able to see more than the $70 worth of movies before Moviepass crumbles.

My bigger irritation is with all the hysterical complaints about the changes Moviepass is making, almost all of which were fairly easy to see coming, and none of which even make it close to a bad deal.

molson · 05-09-2018, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I'm somewhat amused at some of the hysteria surrounding the Moviepass changes

I'm a regular on the moviepass subreddit and the mentality that people have there is amazing. So much bitching about how they're being "screwed" by a TOC change or having to take the extra step of a ticket stub.

It was 100% obvious from day one that this was a crazy idea and that there would be tweaks, hoops to jump through, cut corners, etc. You're either willing to take the ride or you're not.

edit: And people bragging about how they abuse the system is pretty infuriating. It was a dumb business plan to begin with, but I think moviepass also overestimated it's customer base. They thought people would treat this like a open bar at happy hour at a fancy hotel - enjoying a drink here and there but not stuffing their face as much as possible and then trying to take freebies home in their backpacks, or sneaking friends in to get free drinks too.

Butter · 05-09-2018, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by molson

I'm a regular on the moviepass subreddit and the mentality that people have there is amazing. So much bitching about how they're being "screwed" by a TOC change or having to take the extra step of a ticket stub.

It was 100% obvious from day one that this was a crazy idea and that there would be tweaks, hoops to jump through, cut corners, etc. You're either willing to take the ride or you're not.

I'm with you. Even at $20 a month, I'm all in. Maybe even $40 a month if it includes 3D and premium seating. I have seen 24 movies since early December, so about 4-5 a month. Probably a few I wouldn't have seen otherwise. I already try to go to matinees, because I hate crowds.

But people should definitely just enjoy the ride. $10 was and is clearly a crazy unsustainable price point. I just wonder how long they will go before they acknowledge it and fully change the model.

Even a 50% retention rate at a more reasonable price has to be a win, right? That's still a million subscribers.

sooner333 · 06-16-2018, 01:02 PM

I just got my card today. I’m trying to figure out if “premium theatre” means paying the extra $3 for a recliner for a 2D movie (which is maybe half the screens or more) at one of the local theaters. It’s a Regal, but the pricing is unique because it was a smaller chain until recently that gave all types of price points for recliner/grand theatre/balcony/etc. and Regal hasn’t changed it yet. The times show up in the app, but some people on reddit seem to think any up charge is premium. I don’t want to be black listed right after I got this.

larrymcg421 · 06-16-2018, 01:19 PM

I use it for 2d recliner seats all the time, but not at theaters that have different prices. (Either they have the same price for all 2D or they are all recliner seats). I think you're probably good as long as the charge would be less than what Moviepass usually holds. If it uses the full hold amount and you still have a balance, that's when your account can potentially get flagged.

sooner333 · 06-16-2018, 03:08 PM

Is there any way to tell what the hold amount is?

TCY Junkie · 06-16-2018, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

I use it for 2d recliner seats all the time, but not at theaters that have different prices. (Either they have the same price for all 2D or they are all recliner seats). I think you're probably good as long as the charge would be less than what Moviepass usually holds. If it uses the full hold amount and you still have a balance, that's when your account can potentially get flagged.

My girlfriend got upgraded recliner, not sure if she had to pay 2 dollars for extra charge or not. But definitely paid for regular entry. Since I remember could be it was extra..... didn't have issue. I read somewhere theater charge full amount on one card and rest on other if two people and this got people kicked. Make sure you pay one at a time.

Edward64 · 07-03-2018, 08:58 AM

Don't really understand the business model but enjoy it while you can.

MoviePass is running out of money and needs to raise $1.2 billion

Quote:

The owners of MoviePass need another $1.2 billion.
Helios and Matheson (HMNY), parent company of the popular movie subscription service, told regulators Monday that it wants to sell that much in stock and debt securities.

MoviePass exploded in popularity because of its low price. For just $10 a month, about the cost of a single movie ticket in most places, MoviePass subscribers can see one movie a day.

But the company loses money when its customers use a pass, because it must pay theaters for the tickets.

Previous SEC filings revealed that the company was burning through an average of $21.7 million every month operating MoviePass. In May it blew through $40 million.

Last month, Helios and Matheson said in another SEC document that it had only $18.5 million in cash on hand, plus $30.3 million in accounts receivable. It expected its June cash deficit would reach $45 million.

albionmoonlight · 07-03-2018, 09:50 AM

At least other failed startups TRIED to come up with a business model that passed the laugh test.

From what I can tell, MP.com never even bothered to do that.

PilotMan · 07-03-2018, 09:57 AM

It was always a race to scale. They needed to hit a magic number by a certain date and they've failed to reach that multiple times now. They felt that if they could be the Netflix/Amazon/Facebook of this industry that they'd own it and become indispensable. They felt like they needed a magic number to hit advertising goals and then could throw their weight around here and there, and it's just never quite worked out for them. It's why the theaters hate them and are fighting back with their own programs.

Butter · 07-03-2018, 10:37 AM

If the end state is that it gets theaters to roll out their own programs, I'm good with it.

QuikSand · 07-03-2018, 10:41 AM

I wonder if all along the whole idea was just to promote the idea, lose cash the whole way, and end up being purchased by Amazon? That seems to be the only way I can make a kernel of smart out of this whole thing. Lose $100m in the pursuit of selling out for $500m, or somesuch.

Regardless, I have really enjoyed watching this saga from a distance. I'm not a candidate to buy something like this, but it's been amusing to speculate about.

molson · 07-03-2018, 11:24 AM

I saw my 50th moviepass movie last night. So that's about $100 for 50 movies, at 5 movies a month.

Moviepass CEO Mitch Lowe did a reddit AMA a few weeks ago. He emphasized that all internet startups burn through money for the first year or longer. It's all about making a splash and then working towards profitability down the road. But there was still no magic solution presented about how this makes sense. He did say that the goal was to obtain more casual users to bring down the average-user cost and to eventually break even on subscriptions, and make money "by selling ads, engaging in brand partnerships and creating our own content." But still no explanation of how the math can work with subscriptions.

I guess they figure that at 5 million subscribers, there would be enough people who weren't using their membership to make it work. And at the stupid low price, more people would be willing to skip a month here and there or even forgot about their subscription. Whereas with AMC A-list, when you're paying $20 for three movies a week, you're more likely to go to three movies most weeks.

Surge pricing is coming soon, it will be interesting to see how prominent that will be. It will apparently be like uber - once a certain number of moviepass tickets have been sold for a showing, they will had a $1 or $2 surcharge to tickets. The goal is to cut back use on the coasts at the expensive theaters and to increase memberships in the rest of America who wouldn't be as impacted by surge pricing. AMC A-list may actually help with that - if you live in LA or New York (as something like 20% of moviepass subscribers do), AMC may be a better value than moviepass with surge pricing, so some of those heavy users may jump ship and save moviepass some money.

I love how the chains are starting to roll out their own programs, but there's a risk on their end too. The next entity to be pissed about the moviepass phenomenon may be the studios. They get a substantial cut of ticket prices, and that isn't impacted when moviepass buys a ticket. But, when AMC sells tickets at a much lower per-movie cost at a monthly rate, is the studio's cut smaller as well? And I wonder how this will change how box office numbers are reported. When someone uses an AMC A-list subscription to go to a movie, how is that tabulated - as a full price ticket, as a prorated portion of a subscription, or is all AMC subscription money pooled and then split according to movie attendance?

Edward64 · 07-13-2018, 06:37 AM

Don't know why but didn't realize they were a public company. Always assumed they were a start-up or something. He's either brilliant or delusional.

MoviePass stock is 19 cents but the boss says everything is fine

Quote:

MoviePass' boss has a few words for his doubters: Don't worry. Everything is fine.

Helios and Matheson, the parent company behind the popular movie subscription service, has seen better days. Its stock has fallen 99% to as low as 17 cents per share from nearly $39 last October. That was just after MoviePass announced it was cutting its price to $10 per month.

MoviePass recently announced that it has 3 million subscribers. But the cost has also caused analysts to wonder just how sustainable the company can be.

larrymcg421 · 07-14-2018, 09:47 AM

I really like the new AMC plan. It would be worth the extra $10/month for the ability to buy tickets/reserve seats in advance, but I frequent three indie theaters that would no longer be available to me.

molson · 07-27-2018, 11:30 AM

Looks like the end.

Stock tanked, huge reverse stock split, stock tanked again.

The service shut down last night and they did a SEC filing this morning indicating they needed to borrow $5 million to keep the service running. That wasn't great what for what's left of the stock.

Surge pricing was a last act of desperation. They sold it as if there'd be a $1 or $2 surcharge for huge blockbuster movies on weekend nights, but it ended up being, in some markets, up to $6 for the top 5-6 movies Thursday-Sunday. I had adapted to that - I saw the big movies during the week and the smaller indie movies on the weekend, but, the subscriber base was angry.

No AMCs around me, but movie tickets are fortunately pretty cheap here, and we have some great second-run theaters, so I'm thinking I'll end up paying around $20/month for 3-4 movies. Since this crazy moviepass year really did end up getting me hooked on going to the movies again.

Edward64 · 07-27-2018, 01:14 PM

Definitely not good.

MoviePass couldn't afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

Quote:

Helios and Matheson, the parent company of the popular movie subscription service, said that it had a service outage on Thursday because it couldn't afford to pay for movie tickets. The company borrowed $5 million in cash Friday to pay its merchant and fulfillment processors, according to a regulatory filing.

Helios and Matheson missed a payment to one of its fulfillment processors, and that contractor temporarily refused to process payments for MoviePass.

Some customers complained on social media Thursday that they couldn't use their MoviePass accounts to purchase movie tickets at theaters.

The company hasn't said whether MoviePass has resumed operation. But in a tweet late Thursday, MoviePass said that it recommended that users wait for a resolution or use e-ticketing, which it said had not been affected.

Stock in Helios and Matheson, meanwhile, tanked Friday from nearly $7 at market open to $3.58 by mid-morning.

The company approved a reverse stock split earlier this week to boost the price from 8 cents to $21 in an effort to keep it from falling off the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The price has been in freefall ever since. If valued at its pre-split amount, Friday's price would be equivalent to about 1.5 cents.

Butter · 07-27-2018, 01:22 PM

This has to be the end. Better see a movie this weekend, if it will let me!

QuikSand · 07-27-2018, 01:45 PM

Presumably a little too late with this, but...

This guy's YouTube account has quite a number of interesting, well done 5-minute (or so) vids on lots of topics. He's a smug shit, but does good work.

stevew · 07-28-2018, 12:21 PM

I wanna know the economics of DoorDash when they pay me 12$ to deliver a $3 cup of ice cream.

NobodyHere · 07-28-2018, 04:56 PM

Is the fat lady warming up for moviepass?

MoviePass couldn't afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday

SackAttack · 07-28-2018, 11:56 PM

That's literally the same article from four posts ago.

bhlloy · 07-29-2018, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by molson

Moviepass CEO Mitch Lowe did a reddit AMA a few weeks ago. He emphasized that all internet startups burn through money for the first year or longer. It's all about making a splash and then working towards profitability down the road. But there was still no magic solution presented about how this makes sense. He did say that the goal was to obtain more casual users to bring down the average-user cost and to eventually break even on subscriptions, and make money "by selling ads, engaging in brand partnerships and creating our own content." But still no explanation of how the math can work with subscriptions.

I guess they figure that at 5 million subscribers, there would be enough people who weren't using their membership to make it work. And at the stupid low price, more people would be willing to skip a month here and there or even forgot about their subscription.

The economics just don't work any way you slice it. With 5 million subscribers they'd still need exponentially more people to forget about their memberships and not use it all than people who used it regularly. For every person who saw 4 movies in a month you'd need what - 2 people who didn't use it at all to break even?

I'm curious about Uber Eats and doordash as well FWIW. I've spoken to a few drivers over the last couple of months and they contradicted each other, one said he wouldn't even consider taking those jobs and the other said he actually got paid better doing Eats than he did on regular passenger rides. But either way, I don't see how they can get all those cheap ass McDonalds orders to the end user and turn a profit. I guess it's the same kind of thinking where one person ordering $80 of restaurant food might be making up for all those stoned college kids?

stevew · 07-29-2018, 12:33 AM

Eats sucks, you get paid very little and get stiffed on tip like 2/3 of the time. I basically only do it surges, or boosted. And it's a time sink too. Uber makes money on it because they take about up to 40% of the food cost and charge the rider for transport. You end up waiting 15mins for the food and get a high end of 6$ or so for delivery.

DoorDash is pretty good pay, I can make 25$+/hour doing that during dinner cause it's something like 12-15$ a delivery after incentive pay. Maybe more. I have zero idea how they make money as a company

stevew · 07-29-2018, 01:19 AM

Dola-

I believe eats is the only division of uber that makes a profit

RainMaker · 07-30-2018, 07:27 PM

pic.twitter.com/xUevXXw9ck
— Nick Wiger (@nickwiger) July 30, 2018

JonInMiddleGA · 07-30-2018, 07:57 PM

MoviePass CEO announces in all-hands meeting that tickets to big upcoming movies will not be available on the app
https://www.businessinsider.com/movi...-on-app-2018-7

The Onion
(@TheOnion)
Cash-Strapped MoviePass Limiting New Users To One Movie Filmed In CEO’s Backyard Per Month

molson · 07-30-2018, 08:35 PM

Nobody has been able to buy a moviepass ticket at a non-partner theater (that's about 98% of theaters) for a few days now. It looks like everybody's blocked today, movies aren't even displayed up in the app, and the company twitter and facebook accounts have gone silent. The stock is back under a dollar just one week after the 250-1 reverse split.

A NY Post tech reporter says that moviepass will have an announcement of some type tomorrow. They're either not coming back, or they're re-emerging as a indy-moviepass that would only work with smaller movies and maybe the e-ticket partners. That STILL wouldn't be sustainable, because people who pay $10 are either going to find a way to buy more than that with moviepass, or cancel. But this is moviepass, they've been obsessed with illogical business plans since really day one even before the price reduction.

Edit: just a I finish typing that everything loaded back onto moviepass at some people on reddit claim they were able to check in and have money loaded (which you can check on that link I posted a while back). If it's really working, there will probably be a "run on the banks" the next few days, mitigated some by the mass cancellations the last few days.

RainMaker · 07-30-2018, 09:52 PM

I still think the only way a MoviePass can work is if it's done by the major studios teaming up.

molson · 07-31-2018, 11:38 AM

Well, they're going to keep at it I guess. From the press release this morning:

-Any movie over 1000 screens will not be supported by MoviePass in the first 2 weeks. (unless they're able to make some promotional deal with a studio for a particular movie). Peak pricing didn't turn out like they promised, so I would assume those thresholds aren't set in stone and that it will always be a surprise what movies are blocked.
-Price is going up to $15 a month.
-Continued rollout and refinement of the Peak Pricing program - which bets the question, if most movies are blocked the first two weeks, and then there's another category after that which is available but only via peak pricing - what exactly will be left in the third category (movies with no extra fee?)

And then the more vague shit they always talk about but that never amounts to anything

-Partnerships with 3rd party media inventory to increase scale and reach of marketing efforts driven by data
-Creating strategic marketing partnerships and promotions with studios, content owners, and brands

On my app right now, I have the top 4-5 box office movies blocked at the moment (and a random indy movie or two), and everything else available with no peak pricing.

larrymcg421 · 07-31-2018, 12:36 PM

Is the first 2 weeks rule going to apply to the e-ticket theaters also? I have plenty of them near me, including a great indie theater.

molson · 07-31-2018, 12:49 PM

They didn't say. Driving people to these e-ticket theaters and picking up new ones to partner with is key to their survival though so I'd assume restrictions would be lesser or non-existent there.

JonInMiddleGA · 07-31-2018, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Is the first 2 weeks rule going to apply to the e-ticket theaters also? I have plenty of them near me, including a great indie theater.

Okay, I'll bite: wth is an "e-ticket theater"?

I would have guessed that it was simply one where you had the option to buy your ticket in advance & have it scanable from your phone (like,say, concert tickets these days) but from the context here I'm thinking that it means something else.

File under #InquiringMinds if you will

molson · 07-31-2018, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Okay, I'll bite: wth is an "e-ticket theater"?

I would have guessed that it was simply one where you had the option to buy your ticket in advance & have it scanable from your phone (like,say, concert tickets these days) but from the context here I'm thinking that it means something else.

File under #InquiringMinds if you will

The main thing is that e-ticket theaters have specific deals with moviepass. They give moviepass discounts on every ticket sold, and possibly a cut of concessions revenue. That was one of moviepass's goals from the beginning, to drive traffic to theaters and get a kickback that offsets its costs in buying the tickets. Unfortunately for them, they've only been able to make such deals with about 80 theaters nationwide, and no big chains.

So, at those e-ticket theaters, you can buy tickets online, and you're also not subject to surge pricing. And I expect that fewer (or no) movies will blacked out. Moviepass wants to drive traffic to those theaters to encourage others to sign up and give them discounts.

JonInMiddleGA · 07-31-2018, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by molson

The main thing is that e-ticket theaters have specific deals with moviepass.

Ah, there we go. Thx.

molson · 08-01-2018, 11:42 AM

Yesterday, everything on the app looked normal most of the day, but then, at around 5:00 PM, everything dropped off almost nationwide - nothing available. It seems like there's a set amount of money they're willing to burn through every day, and once that's it, it's over for everyone for the day. The original moviepass had a similar restriction on a showing-by-showing basis, but this appears to be much broader. There were people who checked the app at home, then drove to theater, only to find that all the listings were gone.

My next billing date is coming up so I think that's it for me. I'm willing to deal with most of the restrictions and jump through all kinds of hoops, but if I can't know if the service will actually work until I get to the theater (unless I drive by the theater in the morning to get tickets for later that day) - that's just no fun.

I'll still follow along though, this has been a fascinating business (and customer base) to follow.

larrymcg421 · 08-01-2018, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by molson

Yesterday, everything on the app looked normal most of the day, but then, at around 5:00 PM, everything dropped off almost nationwide - nothing available. It seems like there's a set amount of money they're willing to burn through every day, and once that's it, it's over for everyone for the day. The original moviepass had a similar restriction on a showing-by-showing basis, but this appears to be much broader. There were people who checked the app at home, then drove to theater, only to find that all the listings were gone.

My next billing date is coming up so I think that's it for me. I'm willing to deal with most of the restrictions and jump through all kinds of hoops, but if I can't know if the service will actually work until I get to the theater (unless I drive by the theater in the morning to get tickets for later that day) - that's just no fun.

I'll still follow along though, this has been a fascinating business (and customer base) to follow.

What are your thoughts on the AMC plan? The only thing that kept me from it is there aren't any good AMC arthouse theaters in the area. There's a Regal one and a Landmark one (e-tickets!!!). But there's a really good AMC theater that is really hard to use Moviepass with because it sells out so quickly. The AMC plan's ability to buy tickets in advance might be worth it.

molson · 08-01-2018, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

What are your thoughts on the AMC plan? The only thing that kept me from it is there aren't any good AMC arthouse theaters in the area. There's a Regal one and a Landmark one (e-tickets!!!). But there's a really good AMC theater that is really hard to use Moviepass with because it sells out so quickly. The AMC plan's ability to buy tickets in advance might be worth it.

The AMC plan sounds awesome to me and the people who have swapped over from moviepass seem to really love it. Advanced ticketing, IMAX, no restrictions, 3 movies a week. I'd sign up in a second if I had any AMCs near me - but I don't.

I do wonder how sustainable the AMC plan is too. Obviously they're not burning money like moviepass, but I've read they still have to give the studios their take of the equivalent of a full price ticket for every ticket they sell. And for new movies, that's like 80% of each ticket that goes back to the studio. (More for Disney movies, less for movies later in their run). So if you see 10 movies in a month for $20 total, AMC still has to fork about over 80% of the $100 worth of movies you saw to the studio, assuming you saw mostly major releases in the start of their run. But unlike moviepass, they can make a lot of that back on concessions, and they can add restrictions down the line if need be - and I doubt many people are seeing 10 movies a month. And of course, that's an AMC problem, as a customer, I'd be all in.

bhlloy · 08-01-2018, 12:23 PM

In addition to the concessions they are probably also banking on a certain percentage of non-members coming with members to see these movies at full price, some of whom likely would have gone to competitors otherwise.

stevew · 08-01-2018, 01:20 PM

Can anyone see if the theatre in 16148 is movie pass e-ticket compatible. Dunno if this is easy to find

molson · 08-01-2018, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevew

Can anyone see if the theatre in 16148 is movie pass e-ticket compatible. Dunno if this is easy to find

Moviepass doesn't make it easy to find, but reddit to the rescue (looks like nothing in 16148).

faq/e-ticketing - MoviePassClub

04-26-2018, 11:50 AM	#54
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	Yup, you check in on the app when you're physically at the theater, and then you buy the ticket with your card, which functions as a regular debit card. So you have to have your phone and a functional app with you at the theater. There are a small number of supported e-ticketing theaters. For those, you can check in on the app and buy your ticket elsewhere before you get to the theater. Last edited by molson : 04-26-2018 at 11:52 AM.

04-26-2018, 11:57 AM	#55
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	The moviepass CEO gave a non-committal answer last night about whether the unlimited plan is ever coming back for new users. So since it hasn't been specifically mentioned here, and since moviepass doesn't make any of this clear at all, for all of you still riding the gravy train of unlimited movies, avoid split transactions at all costs. Moviepass has been banning users for this. Basically, when you check into a movie, moviepass puts money to cover the cost of the ticket on your card, plus a little extra. Your account will get red flagged if ALL of the money they put on your card is spent. There's a few ways that can happen. If you're seeing a movie with another moviepass subscriber, and you hand the cashier both moviepass cards, they sometimes ring up the total amount for the two tickets, charge one card it's max amount, and then the other card the leftover balance. So it's important to never let a cashier process two moviepass cards at a time. Buy one ticket, complete the transaction, then buy the second ticket. Also, sometimes a theater increases its prices and moviepass hasn't accounted for it yet. If a kiosk or cashier ever says, "you don't have enough on this card, you have to pay an extra 45 cents (or whatever)", cancel the transaction immediately, and either pay out of pocket for the whole ticket, or skip the movie. From moviepass' perspective, if you spend all of the money they put on the card, you're breaking some rule like buying concessions with the card, or buying a premium movie ticket. You can actually look up your moviepass account history from the last few months here - what money is put on your card, what is spent, etc. This site is legit, and is used by the moviepass subreddit to help sort out reasons that users get banned, etc. Find Card For Quick Balance Last edited by molson : 04-26-2018 at 11:59 AM.

05-08-2018, 08:05 PM	#57
Fidatelo Pro Starter Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Winnipeg, MB	Today’s SEC filing suggests MoviePass’ time is running out __________________ "Breakfast? Breakfast schmekfast, look at the score for God's sake. It's only the second period and I'm winning 12-2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, the Whale, they only beat Vancouver maybe once or twice in a lifetime."

05-08-2018, 08:42 PM	#58
larrymcg421 Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Georgia	I'm somewhat amused at some of the hysteria surrounding the Moviepass changes and the statement in that article about uncertainty if users could get their money's worth. If you got the card today, saw a movie today, you could get your money's worth out of it. I actually now have to take a picture of my ticket and submit it on the app. So what? The value is worth it. (This was probably done because once I accidentally partially paid another person's ticket because the clerk rang them up together). Other people are freaking out over this. Can't see a movie more than once? That was the rule when I first signed up for Moviepass (See the 1st post) and was paying $34.95/month. And there are ways around that if it bothers you so much. Sometimes the app doesn't work and you have to pay out of pocket (this hasn't happened to me yet, but to one of my friends) and get reimbursed later, because their customer service is so slow. Again, I say, so what? Since the price change, Moviepass has paid more than $400 of movie tickets for only $80 of subscription fees. It would've been a good deal even at the $34.95 I was initially paying. It would still be a good deal if they limited it to 4 movies a month like they did briefly. So yeah, I'm amused at people getting so worked up over everything as if they're entitled to see unlimited movies for $10/month for the rest of their lives. Enjoy it while it lasts and be "happy" when you don't have to deal with all those Moviepass restrictions anymore and get to pay $15 a ticket again. __________________ Top 10 Songs of the Year 1955-Present (1976 Added) Franchise Portfolio Draft Winner Fictional Character Draft Winner Television Family Draft Winner Build Your Own Hollywood Studio Draft Winner

06-16-2018, 01:19 PM	#64
larrymcg421 Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Georgia	I use it for 2d recliner seats all the time, but not at theaters that have different prices. (Either they have the same price for all 2D or they are all recliner seats). I think you're probably good as long as the charge would be less than what Moviepass usually holds. If it uses the full hold amount and you still have a balance, that's when your account can potentially get flagged. __________________ Top 10 Songs of the Year 1955-Present (1976 Added) Franchise Portfolio Draft Winner Fictional Character Draft Winner Television Family Draft Winner Build Your Own Hollywood Studio Draft Winner

04-26-2018, 04:15 PM	#56
CrimsonFox Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2009	jeez!

06-16-2018, 01:02 PM	#63
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	I just got my card today. I’m trying to figure out if “premium theatre” means paying the extra $3 for a recliner for a 2D movie (which is maybe half the screens or more) at one of the local theaters. It’s a Regal, but the pricing is unique because it was a smaller chain until recently that gave all types of price points for recliner/grand theatre/balcony/etc. and Regal hasn’t changed it yet. The times show up in the app, but some people on reddit seem to think any up charge is premium. I don’t want to be black listed right after I got this.

06-16-2018, 03:08 PM	#65
sooner333 College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Norman, OK	Is there any way to tell what the hold amount is?

07-03-2018, 09:50 AM	#68
albionmoonlight Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: North Carolina	At least other failed startups TRIED to come up with a business model that passed the laugh test. From what I can tell, MP.com never even bothered to do that.

07-03-2018, 09:57 AM	#69
PilotMan Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Seven miles up	It was always a race to scale. They needed to hit a magic number by a certain date and they've failed to reach that multiple times now. They felt that if they could be the Netflix/Amazon/Facebook of this industry that they'd own it and become indispensable. They felt like they needed a magic number to hit advertising goals and then could throw their weight around here and there, and it's just never quite worked out for them. It's why the theaters hate them and are fighting back with their own programs. __________________ He's just like if Snow White was competitive, horny, and capable of beating the shit out of anyone that called her Pops. Like Steam? Join the FOFC Steam group here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/FOFConSteam

07-03-2018, 10:37 AM	#70
Butter Coordinator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Dayton, OH	If the end state is that it gets theaters to roll out their own programs, I'm good with it. __________________ My listening habits

07-03-2018, 10:41 AM	#71
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	I wonder if all along the whole idea was just to promote the idea, lose cash the whole way, and end up being purchased by Amazon? That seems to be the only way I can make a kernel of smart out of this whole thing. Lose $100m in the pursuit of selling out for $500m, or somesuch. Regardless, I have really enjoyed watching this saga from a distance. I'm not a candidate to buy something like this, but it's been amusing to speculate about.

07-03-2018, 11:24 AM	#72
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	I saw my 50th moviepass movie last night. So that's about $100 for 50 movies, at 5 movies a month. Moviepass CEO Mitch Lowe did a reddit AMA a few weeks ago. He emphasized that all internet startups burn through money for the first year or longer. It's all about making a splash and then working towards profitability down the road. But there was still no magic solution presented about how this makes sense. He did say that the goal was to obtain more casual users to bring down the average-user cost and to eventually break even on subscriptions, and make money "by selling ads, engaging in brand partnerships and creating our own content." But still no explanation of how the math can work with subscriptions. I guess they figure that at 5 million subscribers, there would be enough people who weren't using their membership to make it work. And at the stupid low price, more people would be willing to skip a month here and there or even forgot about their subscription. Whereas with AMC A-list, when you're paying $20 for three movies a week, you're more likely to go to three movies most weeks. Surge pricing is coming soon, it will be interesting to see how prominent that will be. It will apparently be like uber - once a certain number of moviepass tickets have been sold for a showing, they will had a $1 or $2 surcharge to tickets. The goal is to cut back use on the coasts at the expensive theaters and to increase memberships in the rest of America who wouldn't be as impacted by surge pricing. AMC A-list may actually help with that - if you live in LA or New York (as something like 20% of moviepass subscribers do), AMC may be a better value than moviepass with surge pricing, so some of those heavy users may jump ship and save moviepass some money. I love how the chains are starting to roll out their own programs, but there's a risk on their end too. The next entity to be pissed about the moviepass phenomenon may be the studios. They get a substantial cut of ticket prices, and that isn't impacted when moviepass buys a ticket. But, when AMC sells tickets at a much lower per-movie cost at a monthly rate, is the studio's cut smaller as well? And I wonder how this will change how box office numbers are reported. When someone uses an AMC A-list subscription to go to a movie, how is that tabulated - as a full price ticket, as a prorated portion of a subscription, or is all AMC subscription money pooled and then split according to movie attendance? Last edited by molson : 07-03-2018 at 11:57 AM.

07-14-2018, 09:47 AM	#74
larrymcg421 Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Georgia	I really like the new AMC plan. It would be worth the extra $10/month for the ability to buy tickets/reserve seats in advance, but I frequent three indie theaters that would no longer be available to me. __________________ Top 10 Songs of the Year 1955-Present (1976 Added) Franchise Portfolio Draft Winner Fictional Character Draft Winner Television Family Draft Winner Build Your Own Hollywood Studio Draft Winner

07-27-2018, 11:30 AM	#75
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	Looks like the end. Stock tanked, huge reverse stock split, stock tanked again. The service shut down last night and they did a SEC filing this morning indicating they needed to borrow $5 million to keep the service running. That wasn't great what for what's left of the stock. Surge pricing was a last act of desperation. They sold it as if there'd be a $1 or $2 surcharge for huge blockbuster movies on weekend nights, but it ended up being, in some markets, up to $6 for the top 5-6 movies Thursday-Sunday. I had adapted to that - I saw the big movies during the week and the smaller indie movies on the weekend, but, the subscriber base was angry. No AMCs around me, but movie tickets are fortunately pretty cheap here, and we have some great second-run theaters, so I'm thinking I'll end up paying around $20/month for 3-4 movies. Since this crazy moviepass year really did end up getting me hooked on going to the movies again. Last edited by molson : 07-27-2018 at 11:32 AM.

07-27-2018, 01:22 PM	#77
Butter Coordinator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Dayton, OH	This has to be the end. Better see a movie this weekend, if it will let me! __________________ My listening habits

07-27-2018, 01:45 PM	#78
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Presumably a little too late with this, but... This guy's YouTube account has quite a number of interesting, well done 5-minute (or so) vids on lots of topics. He's a smug shit, but does good work.

07-28-2018, 12:21 PM	#79
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	I wanna know the economics of DoorDash when they pay me 12$ to deliver a $3 cup of ice cream.

07-28-2018, 04:56 PM	#80
NobodyHere Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2013	Is the fat lady warming up for moviepass? MoviePass couldn't afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday __________________ "I am God's prophet, and I need an attorney"

07-28-2018, 11:56 PM	#81
SackAttack Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Green Bay, WI	That's literally the same article from four posts ago.

07-29-2018, 12:33 AM	#83
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	Eats sucks, you get paid very little and get stiffed on tip like 2/3 of the time. I basically only do it surges, or boosted. And it's a time sink too. Uber makes money on it because they take about up to 40% of the food cost and charge the rider for transport. You end up waiting 15mins for the food and get a high end of 6$ or so for delivery. DoorDash is pretty good pay, I can make 25$+/hour doing that during dinner cause it's something like 12-15$ a delivery after incentive pay. Maybe more. I have zero idea how they make money as a company

07-29-2018, 01:19 AM	#84
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	Dola- I believe eats is the only division of uber that makes a profit

07-30-2018, 07:27 PM	#85
RainMaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	pic.twitter.com/xUevXXw9ck — Nick Wiger (@nickwiger) July 30, 2018

07-30-2018, 07:57 PM	#86
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	MoviePass CEO announces in all-hands meeting that tickets to big upcoming movies will not be available on the app https://www.businessinsider.com/movi...-on-app-2018-7 The Onion (@TheOnion) Cash-Strapped MoviePass Limiting New Users To One Movie Filmed In CEO’s Backyard Per Month __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis Last edited by JonInMiddleGA : 07-30-2018 at 07:58 PM.

07-30-2018, 08:35 PM	#87
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	Nobody has been able to buy a moviepass ticket at a non-partner theater (that's about 98% of theaters) for a few days now. It looks like everybody's blocked today, movies aren't even displayed up in the app, and the company twitter and facebook accounts have gone silent. The stock is back under a dollar just one week after the 250-1 reverse split. A NY Post tech reporter says that moviepass will have an announcement of some type tomorrow. They're either not coming back, or they're re-emerging as a indy-moviepass that would only work with smaller movies and maybe the e-ticket partners. That STILL wouldn't be sustainable, because people who pay $10 are either going to find a way to buy more than that with moviepass, or cancel. But this is moviepass, they've been obsessed with illogical business plans since really day one even before the price reduction. Edit: just a I finish typing that everything loaded back onto moviepass at some people on reddit claim they were able to check in and have money loaded (which you can check on that link I posted a while back). If it's really working, there will probably be a "run on the banks" the next few days, mitigated some by the mass cancellations the last few days. Last edited by molson : 07-30-2018 at 08:50 PM.

07-30-2018, 09:52 PM	#88
RainMaker Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	I still think the only way a MoviePass can work is if it's done by the major studios teaming up.

07-31-2018, 11:38 AM	#89
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	Well, they're going to keep at it I guess. From the press release this morning: -Any movie over 1000 screens will not be supported by MoviePass in the first 2 weeks. (unless they're able to make some promotional deal with a studio for a particular movie). Peak pricing didn't turn out like they promised, so I would assume those thresholds aren't set in stone and that it will always be a surprise what movies are blocked. -Price is going up to $15 a month. -Continued rollout and refinement of the Peak Pricing program - which bets the question, if most movies are blocked the first two weeks, and then there's another category after that which is available but only via peak pricing - what exactly will be left in the third category (movies with no extra fee?) And then the more vague shit they always talk about but that never amounts to anything -Partnerships with 3rd party media inventory to increase scale and reach of marketing efforts driven by data -Creating strategic marketing partnerships and promotions with studios, content owners, and brands On my app right now, I have the top 4-5 box office movies blocked at the moment (and a random indy movie or two), and everything else available with no peak pricing. Last edited by molson : 07-31-2018 at 11:39 AM.

07-31-2018, 12:36 PM	#90
larrymcg421 Head Coach Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Georgia	Is the first 2 weeks rule going to apply to the e-ticket theaters also? I have plenty of them near me, including a great indie theater. __________________ Top 10 Songs of the Year 1955-Present (1976 Added) Franchise Portfolio Draft Winner Fictional Character Draft Winner Television Family Draft Winner Build Your Own Hollywood Studio Draft Winner

07-31-2018, 12:49 PM	#91
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	They didn't say. Driving people to these e-ticket theaters and picking up new ones to partner with is key to their survival though so I'd assume restrictions would be lesser or non-existent there.

08-01-2018, 11:42 AM	#95
molson General Manager Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The Mountains	Yesterday, everything on the app looked normal most of the day, but then, at around 5:00 PM, everything dropped off almost nationwide - nothing available. It seems like there's a set amount of money they're willing to burn through every day, and once that's it, it's over for everyone for the day. The original moviepass had a similar restriction on a showing-by-showing basis, but this appears to be much broader. There were people who checked the app at home, then drove to theater, only to find that all the listings were gone. My next billing date is coming up so I think that's it for me. I'm willing to deal with most of the restrictions and jump through all kinds of hoops, but if I can't know if the service will actually work until I get to the theater (unless I drive by the theater in the morning to get tickets for later that day) - that's just no fun. I'll still follow along though, this has been a fascinating business (and customer base) to follow. Last edited by molson : 08-01-2018 at 11:45 AM.

08-01-2018, 12:23 PM	#98
bhlloy Coordinator Join Date: Nov 2003	In addition to the concessions they are probably also banking on a certain percentage of non-members coming with members to see these movies at full price, some of whom likely would have gone to competitors otherwise.

08-01-2018, 01:20 PM	#99
stevew Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: the yo'	Can anyone see if the theatre in 16148 is movie pass e-ticket compatible. Dunno if this is easy to find

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