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Moviepass’ Dynamic Pricing is Now Live – Have you Been Affected?

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Moviepass’ Peak Pricing is Now Live – Details Inside

I shared with a few weeks ago that Moviepass would be charging more for premium movies in high demand time slots.  Basically, they are looking for ways to rake in more money with Moviepass’ Peak Pricing program since these movies cost them the same.  They are changing the terms of their offer once again.

Late last week they sent out an email to current subscribers letting them know what they should look out for.

REALTED: Moviepass is shutting down customer’s accounts for abuse.

Details of Moviepass’ “Peak Pricing”

It sounds like this is rolling out to specific areas and it will be happening slowly. I would guess that large areas with high movie ticket prices, NYC and LA etc., will be the first to see the changes.

If a movie is deemed to be in high demand you will see a little red lightning bolt above the time when peak pricing is in effect.  When you select that movie and time you will be given the peak pricing cost ($2-5 most likely).  Once you hit continue you will be taken to a screen to submit you are okay with the extra charge.  When you submit your credit card on file will be charged the extra fee.

If a movie is nearing peak pricing you will see a grey thunderbolt above the time.  When you highlight one of these it will tell you what peak pricing will be if it reaches that level. Moviepass warns you to act quickly if you want to see that movie at that time.

Conclusion

This is nothing more than a money grab and it is completely against the spirit of the program.  Just increase the monthly charge instead of playing these games.

These peak pricing movies don’t cost Moviepass any extra (in the examples they sent). Theaters don’t have surge pricing.  The 7PM show and 9PM show likely have the same ticket price so why charge more for one?  What is the benefit into proactively forcing someone into the later show?  I just don’t get it.

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Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann is a father, husband and miles/points fanatic. He left the corporate world after starting a family in order to be a stay at home dad. Mark is constantly looking at ways to save money and stay within budget while also taking awesome vacations with his family. When he isn't caring for his family or taking a weekend trip, Mark is working towards his goal of visiting every Major League Baseball ballpark.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

18 COMMENTS

  1. Well in Bristol Tn, the charge is $6.00. My monthly fee is $9.95, so add the $6 to it, then I’m paying $4 more to see a movie than i would if I didn’t have movie pass. Time to drop it like a bad habit.

  2. I find it hard to believe that all movies tonight are carrying the surcharge of 3.43. If movie pass continues this moneygrab I will be moving to AMC. 20$ per month for 12 movies plus the ability to buy ahead and watch 3d and IMAX and re repeat movies if I choose to is a better fit for me.

  3. Peak pricing for a Sunday matinee with a total of 12 patrons. The “slight upcharge” was $4.20, the regular matinee price was only $6.00. This is clearly a ripoff by MoviePass. I’ll cancel and pay $6.00 per movie instead of $9.95 per month plus $4.20 per movie

    • Went to see the Jurassic movie – 10 people in the theater for the show (I know someone that works there).
      We did not attend as the Peak Price surcharge was $3.01. This is for a movie that’s been out for 4 weeks and only 10 in the theater for the showing.

      This weekend, every movie was surcharged. Additionally, only 5 shows were on the app and there were 28 different movies being shown. While Jurassic was still being shown at the theater, you couldn’t pick it because it wasn’t one of the 5 shown in the app.

      Our memberships were cancelled today. This money grab by MoviePass has become inconvenient for us and no longer holds the value it once did.

      • They are getting desperate and I don’t seem them making it to the end of August at this point. Did you call in to cancel?

  4. they seem to have hit all shows on sunday when i thought of using it. the whole theater was empty in some cases and it showed surge. they did make amc come up with a $20 plan which seems to me the best at this time (includes 3d and so on). time to say bye bye to moviepass.

    • AMC’s plan looks pretty awesome as long as you can go to a few movies a week or use the premium show tickets.

  5. I’m not entirely sure. I didn’t look until 2pm. However, every showing I saw for the rest of the day had the charged. Today none of them show the charge.

    • Saturday is a big movie day but I am surprised they will hit all shows instead of just the prime time hours. Sounds worse than I thought it would be now.

  6. […] Update 07/12/18: Surge Pricing is now in effect for some users. Keep in mind that not everybody is affected and annual plan holders will not have surge pricing applied to them. If MoviePass is able to demonstrate that they can can send members to off peak time slots then they will have better footing to negotiate (lower ticket prices, percentage of concession sales etc). Hat tip to MtM. […]

  7. If Moviepass shows the power of steering customers into later shows where more seats are empty, they will be able to negotiate a cut from the ticket sales for the later shows.

    • That is possible – but you would think with their buying power they would have worked out a reduced ticket price by now with the larger theaters.

  8. I havent seen the peak pricing yet. I keep taking advantage of this program until they go bust. Who knows how long they last. The next change will be any way they can see to increase revenue. $9.95 a month to $14.95 a month maybe

    • I am surprised they haven’t had a price hike yet on monthly subscribers. I am in the same boat – ride it till it dies!

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