AMC A-List & other theater subscriptions (1 Viewer)

[Chris Will]

Well, I went to Shaft tonight and had a blast. It was funnier than most comedies these days. Just a fun, entertaining movie.

 

[benbess]

I'm probably going to cancel my Cinemark membership. $9 a month for one movie when I can sometimes go to a matinee there for a buck less doesn't make much sense....

 

[Patrick Sun]

I laughed while watching "Shaft", though it's a silly film overall.

 

[benbess]

Today's A-list movie was Ma. Liked it more than I thought I would! My rating: "B"

And I got free chocolate covered raisins as my reward.

 

[benbess]

A couple of years ago I thought Annabelle: Creation was a minor classic in the horror/suspense genre. But today's A-list sequel, Annabelle: Home Coming, seemed only so-so to me, although it had some good period details from c.1970. My rating: "C"

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Tomorrow's the day my A-List plan shoots up in price! Might have to take out a new mortgage to pay the extra $2 a month!

 

[Wayne_j]

Leaked details of Regal's subscription plan have emerged. In a confusing move they will have 3 tiers each with "unlimited" in the title. The best tier will be $25 and includes unlimited movies including IMAX and RPX. The middle tier will include unlimited standard 2D screenings and the lowest tier will have unlimited 2D screenings for films that have been in theaters for more than 2 weeks. If you join the bottom two tiers you will be able to upgrade to see something in IMAX or that has been in theaters for less than 2 weeks with a small upcharge.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Oh that would be beautiful. There’s a Regal a few minutes from my house. Sold.

 

[Jake Lipson]

We don't have a Regal here, but if we did and these details were accurate, I'd do that.

The tier for movies that are two weeks old or older seems very unlikely to be attractive to most people who would care enough about going to the movies frequently to make use of a subscription service, but the rest of this looks good.

Except for the one AMC which I don't like, all of my local theaters are Cinemark. I'm waiting for the Cinemark version -- which currently offers one ticket a month as a recurring charge for more money than a single matinee ticket bought individually -- to make any sense at all.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm probably going to cancel my Cinemark membership. $9 a month for one movie when I can sometimes go to a matinee there for a buck less doesn't make much sense....

Thank you! That's what I've been saying. Usually a couple times a year I'll go to a night show for something big like the opening of Endgame, and $9 would be cheaper than that. But I do those so infrequently that it's not worth it to me to have a recurring monthly charge of $9 when 99% of the time I'm seeing matinees that are cheaper than that. I'd be all over a Cinemark program that was modeled along the lines of A-List or the rumored Regal deal, but the version they have now doesn't work for me.

 

[benbess]

So Fandango is "stackable" (or whatever you might call it) on top of A-list? Sorry to be slow, but how does that work? I'm guessing I set up a Fandango Account and download the app and then link it to A-list somehow? And then the points also need to be linked to Disney Movie Rewards? Sounds complicated. But maybe worth it? The A-list app is so easy for me to use now. How much more complicated does this make it? For instance, I can easily cancel an A-list reservation with one tap.....

 

[steve jaros]

A-List report for month 11 .... May 29 - June 28, 2019

Movies seen via A-List this month ............... 14 (17) *

Cost if I bought tickets at box office ............ $113

A-List cost .......................................................... $21

Savings for month 11 ......................................... $92

Cumulative savings for 11 months .............................. $937 **

Of the 14 movies three were 3D, two were IMAX 2D, one was Dolby Cinema, and one was IMAX 3D. Before A-list, films in those formats were a rarity to me because of cost.


* I use Fandango to book my A-List tickets, and as a result, I saw three additional movies for free with the three $5 rewards I earned. I went to early-bid showings where the ticket price was $5. In effect, these were three bonus A-List movies.

** Since 7/29/18, I have seen 140 movies that would have cost $1168 for the $231 I have paid to A-List.

 

[steve jaros]

So Fandango is "stackable" (or whatever you might call it) on top of A-list? Sorry to be slow, but how does that work? I'm guessing I set up a Fandango Account and download the app and then link it to A-list somehow? And then the points also need to be linked to Disney Movie Rewards? Sounds complicated. But maybe worth it? The A-list app is so easy for me to use now. How much more complicated does this make it? For instance, I can easily cancel an A-list reservation with one tap.....

I have used A-List since last July, and like you had trepidations about Fandango. But others here convinced me to use it, and BOY AM I GLAD I DID. I have used Fandango to book my A-List tickets for two months, and it has been a DREAM. Because you get Fandango Rewards points for those movies, I have been able to see FIVE free movies in the past two months on top of the three movies a week from A-List (Fandango Rewards gives you a $5 reward for every 4 movies you see, and I go to early-bird showings that cost $5, so every four A-List movies I see means, in effect, one free bonus movie via the rewards). As a result, I now only use the Fandango app to book A-List movies, not the AMC app. The Fandango Rewards stack up so fast I can barely keep up using them (granted, I do see all three A-List movies I can every week, if you go to fewer movies obviously the rewards will stack up slower).

As for the logistics, yes, download the Fandango app, and link it to A-List. They work seemlessly together, and because they have an official partnership, all the usual Fandango online "convenience" fees and the like are waived. Fandango gets all your A-List information, so you don't have to use the AMC app at all. And when you book an A-List film on Fandango, the net cost is ZERO, just like on the AMC app.

And yes, canceling a booked A-List movie on Fandango is just as easy as on the AMC app. No hassles at all, no delays, no cancellation fees, etc. and when you cancel, the app immediately "knows" that you now have an open A-List slot again, and you can use it immediately to book another movie or time.

Trust me, you want to do this, as your Fandango rewards add up much faster than AMC rewards - and btw, you still earn AMC rewards too, so yes, they do "stack".

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I'm now a "local" A-Lister, as yesterday began my 2nd year in the program.

Used my first of 3 yearly "out of area" A-List reservations today!

 

[steve jaros]

I'm now a "local" A-Lister, as yesterday began my 2nd year in the program.

Used my first of 3 yearly "out of area" A-List reservations today!

Are you saying that once the first year is up, and you continue at the original $20 monthly level, you still get to see 3 movies per year in states where the price has been raised to $22 or $24?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Are you saying that once the first year is up, and you continue at the original $20 monthly level, you still get to see 3 movies per year in states where the price has been raised to $22 or $24?

Yup, pretty sure that's the case.

I'm now a $22/month boy, but I'm pretty sure that's not why they let me go to 3 $24/month movies a year - pretty sure the same perk comes with the $20/month plans as well...

 

[steve jaros]

Yup, pretty sure that's the case.

I'm now a $22/month boy, but I'm pretty sure that's not why they let me go to 3 $24/month movies a year - pretty sure the same perk comes with the $20/month plans as well...

FYI, i just checked the AMC website, and you can change your "pretty sure" to "definitely sure", as it says so there.

This is very interesting news to me, because I signed up on July 29, 2018, so my first year terms expire four weeks from now. The issue of the new tiers is important, because while I am in a $20 state, I have family in Maryland and Virginia, which are $22 states. I was just up in Virginia last week and saw three AMC movies there via A-List, and I visited Maryland over last Christmas and saw six movies via A-List during that time too. Throw in three movies that I saw on a trip to Chicago (also a $22 state), and I saw twelve A-List movies this past 12 months in states that will for me soon be outside my $20 zone.

Since these trips up north usually come in bunches, the smart thing for me will probably be to generally keep the $20 plan, use those three free upgrades you mentioned, and then when those are used up just upgrade to $22 for a month like Christmas when I know I am going up for a while, and then drop back down to the $20 plan the next month. But that also seems like a hassle, and $2 a month is such a small sum, that I might just sign up for the $22 plan and not worry about it - until of course I have to visit a $24 state, LOL.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

FYI, i just checked the AMC website, and you can change your "pretty sure" to "definitely sure", as it says so there.

This is very interesting news to me, because I signed up on July 29, 2018, so my first year terms expire four weeks from now. The issue of the new tiers is important, because while I am in a $20 state, I have family in Maryland and Virginia, which are $22 states. I was just up in Virginia last week and saw three AMC movies there via A-List, and I visited Maryland over last Christmas and saw six movies via A-List during that time too. Throw in three movies that I saw on a trip to Chicago (also a $22 state), and I saw twelve A-List movies this past 12 months in states that will for me soon be outside my $20 zone.

Since these trips up north usually come in bunches, the smart thing for me will probably be to generally keep the $20 plan, use those three free upgrades you mentioned, and then when those are used up just upgrade to $22 for a month like Christmas when I know I am going up for a while, and then drop back down to the $20 plan the next month. But that also seems like a hassle, and $2 a month is such a small sum, that I might just sign up for the $22 plan and not worry about it - until of course I have to visit a $24 state, LOL.

I looked and it's easy to change from one program to the other - there's little hassle involved.

Yes, an extra $2/month is minor, but why pay it if you don't have to?

The system appears to make changing programs very easy. I didn't do it for this trip because I figured there was no point - might as well use the 3 "freebies" before I give AMC my extra $2!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Oh that would be beautiful.

@Josh Steinberg, it looks like you're getting your wish.

Deadline is confirming the Regal unlimited plan to launch at the end of the month, with new details.

https://deadline.com/2019/07/regal-...et-subscription-program-cineworld-1202640441/

Since AMC has A-List and Regal has this, I wonder how long Cinemark will hang onto its $8.99/month for one ticket model before being forced to make a change to keep up. I'd be all over something similar to this from Cinemark, but I don't like our AMC here and don't have a Regal anywhere near here.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

If this part turns out to be true:

Also, there’s buzz that Regal Unlimited subscribers will have to purchase an entire year in advance for the unlimited ticket program, hence the tier prices respectively would be $288, $252 and $216.

That would kill my interest in the service.

It still would wind up being a great deal for people who go frequently to the movies no matter what, but paying for a year in advance would make it feel like an "obligation" rather than a "hobby". And as soon as it starts feeling like an obligation, it's not fun anymore.