Moviepass to AMC A-List

Within the past month or so, I’ve been using AMC Theaters’ A-List program, after making the decision to drop from Moviepass. If you’re not familiar with the scenario, allow me to explain: within the decade, I had become more active in seeing movies, because I knew that I wanted my life to be somewhere in the entertainment industry; my first step in going to the movies and studying what works and what doesn’t. I had heard about Moviepass for sometime now, but had only decided to give it a shot last fall, and with the falling out that’s been occurring, I wanted to share my five cents on how my experience has been with both. My time with Moviepass started last year, when I first signed up, but had to wait a month before seeing anything, due to the card not arriving yet. By October, my first film usage of the card was with Happy Death Day and My Little Pony: The Movie; covering the cost of two films alone was paying for itself already, but covering for more felt like a blessing in disguise that I didn’t know about. When AMC was making announcements about being against the business, it made me feel like I was about to get caught by security that didn’t want to deal with them at any cost; luckily that wasn’t the case, and after having to only pay for six tickets since owning it, felt pretty refreshing. While it restricted from premium screenings like 3D and IMAX, it didn’t matter since all I really cared about was seeing the movie at any cost. My only complaints were mostly centered around the e-ticketing system, and how time sensitive it is. I’m not a fan of doing e-ticketing, and the fact that it made it only usable exclusively on your phone, made it a lot more frustrating than it needed to be. It only worked if you were within a hundred miles of the theater of your choice AND it had to be within a half-hour to showtime; this is done as a way of keeping balance on tickets held on reserve, but t got even more problematic when they added the rule of showing your ticket stub and sending it in, to keep track of who is actually using it. It’s frustrating because it means my phone’s data and location have to be on at all times, thus running the battery down; what if I forget to charge it and I try to take a picture of my ticket, or if I’m on a phone call and need to use a tablet? It also got confusing when they included Fathom Event screenings that aren’t actually covered by Moviepass; why would they even include those, if they aren’t supposed to be included like the rest? Despite these troubles, I still stuck with it as a reliable go-to for movie going; even when Cinemark introduced their Movie Club program, it was only a one movie a month kind of deal, but tickets rolled over to use if untouched. That seemed to be the kind of deal that Moviepass was aiming to please when it made the announcement of its $10 a month plan; however, it restricts itself to one theater chain. However, by the time Avengers: Infinity War came onto the scene, we started to see limitations begin to increase, with the one movie restriction deal; this process was to keep people from repeated screenings, and get people more versatile with their selections. This sadly didn’t work, and when they announced surge pricing to begin in July, that’s when I knew this spelled doom for the company; by the time I reached the final day of the month, I cancelled my plan. Last I heard, it went to three movies per month and was even blocking people out of movies until they got cash from a loan, so thank goodness I left when I did. Around this time, AMC Theaters launched their service, the A-List program. The big difference first spotted was how it was double the price of Moviepass and is restricted to AMC, what comes with it? As a new variation on their Stubs Membership program, including the benefits that has, the A-List grants any user access to any AMC theater, and see up to three movies per week; this includes 2D showings, 3D, Dolby, and even IMAX. My AMC also is known to show more art house films than most, so that’s another plus. They also include major e-ticketing reserves, whenever and wherever, and no additional charges apply like it usually occurs, but they do ask for ID. It’s limiting at three a week, but it helps keep track of what I’ve viewed; plus, now that e-ticketing isn’t limited to the half-hour prior, it isn’t as stressful.

Now the main question remains, what about Moviepass? Well, recently the company's been beging to go broke, and even the customers still on board are becoming aware of the situation; the problem has become so toxic that even the company is uncancelling people's accounts who quit, which is becoming a truly frightening situation. Moviepass has become a truly lost cause, so I can't say it's a likely option for anyone now; hell, with how much it keeps popping up in the news, I doubt they'll make it to the end of the year. In conclusion, if you live near an AMC theater in your town, then this is the program that I would suggest using; plus, it’s by the theater chain itself, not a third party seller. I’ve heard some good things about Sinemia, mostly on how it’s a ticket discounter, so look into that if you have a different set of theater chains. I’ve been pretty satisfied with the A-List program after the first month, and with them including 3D, IMAX and Dolby, that’s covering more than enough for me. Let me know what your thoughts are, and I’ll see you next time!