Author: Eric Ravenscraft / Source: reviewgeek.com
AMC’s A-List theater subscription is twice as expensive and offers fewer movies per month compared to MoviePass. It’s still a better deal for a lot of people.
Whether you’ve been holding off signing up for a theater subscription because you’re not sure if MoviePass is going to run out of money, or if you just wanted a better experience, AMC’s A-List is here to sway you. Simply by virtue of only working at one theater chain, it’s not for everyone.
However, if you live near AMC theaters, it’s worth taking a closer look.AMC Is More Expensive On Paper, But It Might Be Cheaper In the Long Run
At first glance, it seems like A-List costs twice as much money and only lets you watch three movies per week, compared to MoviePass’s movie a day. It seems like the math is pretty straight forward, right? However, there are some important caveats that bridge that gap worth considering:
- MoviePass will charge Peak Pricing fees during busy times. Starting in July, MoviePass will start adding an extra fee to busy movies. This means if you go on opening weekend, there’s a good chance you could get hit with a fee of $2 or more to get your ticket.
- IMAX and 3D showings are included with AMC A-List, cost extra with MoviePass. In the near future, MoviePass is going to give viewers the option to upgrade to IMAX or 3D showings for a fee that could range from $2 to $6, depending on your area or availability. A-List, on the other hand, includes all upgraded showings by default. For most movie showings, 2D is probably fine, but if you want to catch the next Avenger’s movie in IMAX on opening weekend, these two fees could feasibly end up costing you an extra $8 or more.
- AMC gives you rewards for spending money, including your A-List subscription. If you ever spend money on concessions or if you buy tickets for your friends and family, A-List might end up costing less in the end. You get 10% back in AMC rewards for every dollar you spend. That means your $20/month subscription really comes out to about $18/month. Or, as it might be in your area, about the cost of a single IMAX showing.
- MoviePass can’t buy advance tickets. If you watch enough movies to warrant subscribing to a movie theater, you probably also enjoy seeing movies on opening weekends. MoviePass makes that hard. You can’t order tickets until the day you’re going to watch (which the company now enforces by requiring photos of your ticket stub). This is especially a problem for the increasing number of theaters with reserved seating. If you want to guarantee a good seat, you might have to shell out extra cash to order ahead.
- MoviePass only lets you watch each movie once. If you’re into repeat viewings, be prepared to shell out extra cash for them. While the company initially allowed you to watch any movie as often as you want, they reneged on that part of the deal. Now, you can only watch each movie once. For some that may be fine, but if you want to watch a movie more than once, it’s going to cost you more.
- A-List, obviously, doesn’t work anywhere but AMC theaters. You may be able to order tickets ahead with AMC’s A-List, but you can’t use it at any theater outside of AMC. If you don’t have AMC theaters near you, this whole plan is right out the door. Even if you do, you’ll have to be prepared to shell out cold hard cash if you get invited to any theater that’s not owned by AMC.
Whew. That’s a lot. But as you can see, this makes the comparison a lot more situational. If, like me, you’re the kind of person who reserves seats for every new Marvel and Star Wars movie that comes out, almost exclusively visits AMC theaters, and wouldn’t mind the occasional IMAX showing, then A-List will save you more money over the long run.
On the other hand, if you don’t live near AMC theaters, don’t care about IMAX or 3D showings, never reserve seats ahead of time, or would rather avoid opening weekends, then MoviePass still might be a better deal for you. Neither plan is objectively better or cheaper for everyone. You’ll have to take stock of how many movies you want to see, where and when you want to see them, and even how likely you are to buy concessions.
You might also note that we left out how many movies you’re allowed to see per month. There’s a good reason for that. While A-List is technically more restrictive than MoviePass, you can still see up to three movies a week, or twelve movies a month. Meanwhile, MoviePass’s own CEO says the average user of their service goes from seeing 4-5 movies a year to 10 per year. Even if…
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