Making @MoviePass Work For You

So. Moviepass is another in a long, long long of companies that way over-promised, and woefully underdelivered. Ostensibly a NetFlix for the theatergoer, promising one movie/day for $9.95/mo, the service fast hemorrhaged cash. To the point where the service was frequently unavailable. In addition to which, the company imposed blackouts on the most popular titles, imposed surge pricing, floated the idea of a pricier service, etc.

All of the above transpired without prior communication to its customers. In other words, no moviez for yuo!!!!

Of course none of these restrictions affected MoviePass's eTicketing partners; all shows were available. Conveniently giving the company an out if anyone were to level an accusation of a material change in the terms of service. Thing is, eTicket theaters are about as readily available as meat in a vegan deli.

The latest changes to come down the pike from CEO Mitch Lowe are as follows:

No longer will subscribers be able to see one movie/day; now it's three/month, with a possible discount on additional tickets.

The blackouts continue to be in effect, e.g., it appears that from the slate of titles in theaters now, customers have a field of two to choose from on any given day.

From virtually unlimited to this--in less than year. In addition to which, where one previously could view a title more than once, this has been disallowed. No repeat screenings, yuo!!!!

Monthly subscribers will see the transition to the new 3 movies/month plan towards the end of August, 2018. Pre-paid customers will maintain previous terms of service until renewal date.

All of which brings me to the following proposal. This will require some advance planning, but is quite doable. To get the most out of MoviePass going forwards, I submit that customers could:

1) Proceed to theater supported by service.

2) Check-in to an available screening.

3) Purchase ticket using MoviePass card.

4) Take picture of ticket of required by app (supposed to be going away).

5) Exchange ticket at box for the movie one really wants to see, or wait until after showtime to exchange ticket for re-admit pass.

Following the above, one could potentially bypass the arbitrary restrictions enforced by MoviePass, thereby approximating the service's original promise.*

*The foregoing is provided for informational purposes only; following the steps could result in revokation of one's MoviePass subscription. The author does not condone fraud of any kind, no matter how wonky a service provider has become. And remember: is it's not personal, it's business.