So we all know MoviePass is dead as a doornail by now. Other programs have (or will) pop up, like AMC’s A-List and Alamo’s upcoming season pass (get on the waitlist now if you’re interested).
I used the ever-loving crap out of MoviePass, so losing it stung hard. But I’ve had Sinemia for a couple of weeks now and I gotta say – I like it even better than MoviePass.
Right now, they have a fall promotion to see a movie:
- Every day for $30 a month
- 3 times a month for $10 a month
- 1 time a month for $5 a month
Considering the average movie ticket is $10+, that’s a great deal. But with MoviePass in the can, it begs the question: how long will this one last?
I opted for the plan to see 3 movies a month
So far, so good, though. I like that you can buy tickets in advance. And there are a couple more ways to get an even better deal out of the membership.
My Sinemia Review
- Key Link: Join Sinemia or check current prices
First, let’s look at the elephant in this room. Yes, the prices above are real but – HUGE CAVEAT ALERT – you have to pay annually to get them.
So $7 a month is really $84 for the year. You have to be willing to sink $84 into the enterprise to secure the rate. Which is still a good deal.
Or!
You can pay monthly with an initiation fee when it’s sometimes offered. Click the link above to explore their current pricing. I was able to choose a pay-per-month plan.
Monthly options + initiation fees
I personally went this route to have the option to cancel any time. For the $10 a month plan, you’ll pay $20 straight away. Which means your first month is actually $30, then $10 a month afterward.
I will definitely see 3 movies a month for $10
And after you sign up, you can’t use the service right away. You have to wait ~2 weeks for them to “activate” your cardless payment option. Or, you can pay $10 more to activate it instantly.
I was actually packing for a move, and then went to FinCon for a week, so I was happy to wait. But I was a little bummed there was one more “gotcha” before I could start watching movies. I mention it here to set expectations. When your card is active, that’s when your membership month begins.
Keep in mind, you’ll also pay a $1.80 “processing charge” each time you use the cardless payment method, in addition to any fees charges by the ticketing website.
Or you can pay a one-time charge of $25 to order a physical payment card. In exchange, you can simply show up at the theater and pay for your ticket in-person. While $25 sounds like a lot, if you plan to use the service for a while, you’ll save ~$2 + extra ticketing fees every time you see a movie.
How Sinemia Works
It’s all in the app. To buy a ticket, load the app and click the “Planning” tab, then “Advance Ticket” – even if you are seeing a movie that same day.
Tap “Planning” then “Advance Ticket” to start the process
It’ll ask you which theater you’re going to, and the date and time. This is awesome because you can buy a ticket in advance – something you could never do with MoviePass.
I bought a ticket for “A Star Is Born” 2 days from now. So I don’t have to worry about it selling out day of. This puts Sinemia far above the competition. 🔝💯
Plus, you can see a movie at any theater. You are not locked into one chain, like with AMC A-List. This is important because a movie you want to see might only be in 1 theater across town. The big chains sometimes don’t carry indie flicks. And others have special screenings.
And I’ll always value flexibility above all else.
You have to buy your ticket from:
- Atom Tickets
- Fandango
- “Other website”
Theoretically, you can buy your ticket from anywhere. But you WILL have to pay service fees, if there are any PLUS a $1.80 processing fee on every ticket. Sinemia charges your card on file for the amount. But more on that in a moment.
Sinemia leaves you on your own with the convenience fees for booking
After you input your screening, you’ll confirm any fees, which go to the card you have on file with Sinemia.
Finally, Sinemia displays a debit card number you’ll use to complete your purchase on whatever website you’re using to purchase the ticket.
You’ll get a unique card every time
You can save this number in your online loyalty programs and ticketing sites because it’s unique to you and never changes.
I type the number off my phone while paying on my laptop
Then follow the prompts to finish buying – that’s it!
I love buying tickets in advance with no physical card required
When you get to the show, you need to check in via your app. Sinemia wants to know you actually attended. And this is location-based, so you can’t fake it.
If you don’t show up enough times, you’ll lose your membership – they don’t want to cover your tickets if you don’t use them. Fair enough.
Or, you can pay $25 to order a physical card and just show up when you want to see a movie – easy peezy.
But it’s me, so here’s your stack
Did you really think I’d let you get away without showing you a couple cool tricks? 😎
Here are 3 ways to save money with your Sinemia membership.
1. Click through Facebook
- Link: Facebook movie ticketing
Click through… Facebook? Yes. Go to Facebook’s movie page to buy your ticket. Why?
Facebook partners with Fandango and Atom Tickets to waive service fees!
Because when you click through their site, they’ll automatically remove any convenience charges.
Boom – the fee is gone
This way you pay for the ticket at cost – without any markup.
2. If you have the choice, book through Atom Tickets NOT Fandango
“For a limited time” you get a free movie ticket for every 4 tickets you buy. This has been going on since June 2018, but could end at any time. So get it while you can!
I won’t say no to a free ticket for as long as this goes
If you get the 3 movie per month plan and hit your limit, you can pay for your 4th one – and get a 5th one for free. So it’s essentially a BOGO for that 4th and 5th movie. Or you can just save them up – but the free tickets do expire after 30 days.
To use your free ticket, simply book it through Atom Tickets – the promotion should automatically show up in your account.
This deal combined with Sinemia is sweet! Even if you get the 1 movie per day plan, you can always use your free tickets to bring a friend along every once in a while.
3. Enter your loyalty numbers
Both Atom Tickets and Fandango let you enter your theater loyalty numbers for credit. You get points instantly when you pick up your tickets.
Most notably, you can enter AMC Stubs and Regal Crown Club numbers. All the other programs look like local or regional chains – but it’s worth checking so you can get credited if a theater near you participates.
And just FYI – if you buy your Alamo Drafthouse ticket through Atom Tickets or Fandango, you will NOT get Victory Rewards credit. I tried and no luck. The only way to get credit is to book with Alamo Drafthouse directly. Just in case anyone else out there is a fan. #TheTea
Bottom line
- Key Link: Join Sinemia
After a couple of experiences seeing movies with Sinemia, I really like it. A lot, actually. Even better than MoviePass (RIP).
That’s because you can buy seats in advance. And there’s no physical card to keep track of. Although it’s a minor hassle to enter in a new card method every time, but that’s such a small thing it’s barely worth mentioning.
Or you can order a physical card for $25 to avoid all the processing and ticketing fees forever.
If the pay-per-month option is offered, you have to pay an initiation fee of $20 or $30, depending on which plan you choose. Don’t like it? Then you’ll have to pay the whole year upfront. I chose to pay the fee one time so I could cancel whenever I wanted.
Their promotions have no specific or set end dates. So if you’re interested, I’d join sooner rather than later.
To skirt convenience fees, book movies through Facebook. Buy through Atom Tickets to get every 5th movie free through their service. And be sure to enter theater loyalty program numbers to earn credits toward more free movies.
Using these tricks, you’ll never pay more than the monthly price, and even get a few more free movies along the way. I’m really enjoying Sinemia so far. Hopefully they last longer than MoviePass did – but like all good deals, get them while they’re hot. We all knew MoviePass would end eventually. But maybe Sinemia is propping themselves up buy charging in advance, or with one-time fees.
Do you have Sinemia? Do you like it as much as I do? Feel free to ask any questions if I missed anything!
Announcing Points Hub—points, miles, and travel rewards community. Join for just $9/month or $99/year.
BEST Current Credit Card Deals
The responses below 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.
You can still get the two movies per month plan for $7.99 by using code avengers. I just signed up over the weekend
Oh cool! I’d still rather take that 3rd movie a month for an extra $2, but good to know that’s an option. Thank you for sharing!
I have the unlimited and so far it’s awesome. Being able to reserve a seat in advance and choose any movie I want (of course not 3d) is way better than MoviePass.
Agree with you 100%. This is what I wish MoviePass could’ve been. Here’s hoping they stick around for a while. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Yes I hope they can stick around and hopefully make deals with theaters to help survive. No problem thanks for the great article!
I have been using Sinemia since May. I already got my money’s worth from the annual upfront payment. I chose the 3 tics a month that included premium since I prefer IMAX. Good job sharing the Facebook trick. Also, Fandango has a points system which is very similar to Atom’s deal (ends up being the same buy 4 earn 1 free deal). I never used MoviePass as I can’t remember the last time I didn’t buy a ticket in advance and reserve a seat. Sinemia works great! Good review.
Thank you, Roy! That’s awesome to hear you’ve already recouped the full years’ payment.
I can’t find the Fandango trick any more – I think it might’ve ended recently?
Thanks again for sharing your experience!
Can we use Sinemia for Indian movies?
With Moviepass No.
With the “Other Website” option, do you just put in your preferred site, or is there a list of sites to choose from? My preferred theater is Alamo Drafthouse and since we don’t know when Season Pass is gonna expand, I was hoping I could buy tickets through their site so I can still earn Victory Rewards.
You can use any site, even Alamo’s. Just be sure to add the service fee because that’s all Sinemia cares about when you buy a ticket.
This is very informative . Good job 🙂
The two questions I have :
Besides booking via Facebook to wave booking fee , can you book tickets on amc or regal ? I remember we wont get extra fee to book ticket as a amc stub member , wonder if that works with Sinemia ?
Also can we rewatch the same movie ?
Hey Chia!
Yes and yes!
You can use any site to book – just be sure to report the fees, even if that number is $0. And you can watch any movie again as many times as your plan allows! 🙂
Thank you for reading!
Canceled Moviepass and sign up with your link ,
got the first ticket and going to enjoy the movie tonight.
So far its enjoyable.
One thing that has to be mentioned :
We can not use Amex credit card with the payment.
Awesome, thank you, Chia! I did the same thing – canceled MoviePass and got this. So far, I like it much better!
And thanks for adding that note about Amex!
They start to charge the process fee after you use the service few times later , 1.8 per ticket .. not worth it for unlimited program anymore.
Thinking going back to Moviepass or AMC Alist
https://imgur.com/gallery/smdAFpm
I don’t think they charge that if you book through Atom or Movietickets, is that right? But yeah, an extra $2 every time is way annoying. I’m waiting to see what MoviePass will do.
Sinemia start to charge extra 1.8$ for “processing fee” , not everyone is getting charged immediately , but eventually everyone will.
The fee you are talking about its called ” convenient fee” you get charged for this not from Sinemia but from the booking service provider , which kinda make sense to me.
But I really dont want to pay extra for Sinemia .. with this “processing fee “, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
The monthly subscription + extra processing fee on each ticket , I would still say its a decent deal , not ” good deal ” anymore.
See the Sinemia Reddit , people are complaining now … and they lock all the discussion related to this topic.
There is now $1.80 per ticket processing fee. This is on top of the convenience fee if you use Fandango, Movietickets or Atom. If you go through Facebook, you don’t have convenience fee, but do have to pay $1.80 a ticket. Not happy since this was not disclosed at time of purchase. They have my money, because you have to pay a year in advance. There is a law suit filed. I am waiting to see if I can join it. They don’t reply to support email either.
Sinemia has the worst app I have ever seen and you have to use a 2nd app to purchase your tickets, bouncing info from one app to the other. If you have a problem there is no phone number to call for help. They won’t answer emails either.
Buyer beware – Scam of a company.
Sinemia Premium is not what I expected. I was driving into LA and hoped to see a premium (4dx) movie, but did not buy tickets in advance because I did not know if I would get to the theatre in time due to traffic. When I got to the theatre I tried to buy a ticket. After being required to update the app, then going through all the steps to buy a ticket (reserving seats etc on fandango, then entering the info on sinemia). It finally gave me a message that I could not see another premium movie within 30 days. Apparently Sinemia Premium does not go by the 1 month anniversary of membership for premium movies.
I started my subscription on Oct 5. I saw my first premium movie on Oct 10. So I could not see a second premium movie on Nov 8, because it was not yet 30 days since my last premium movie. So apparently you have to keep track of your monthly cycle for using non-premium movies (mine starting the 5th of every month), and you have to also keep track of the 30 day cycle between premium movies. And if you wait too many days over 30 days between premium movies, you will not be able to see 12 premium movies in a year. And I do say you have to keep track, because the app is no help in keeping track of this info for you.
I had moviepass unlimited previously. It was very easy to use (until they ran out of money). Sinemia app is very cumbersome. My friend and I signed up and see many movies together. It is not easy to switch between sinemia and fandango on the phone to buy tickets. In Sinemia, you have to enter all the info about the movie you want to see, then manually do the same thing in the second app. Then you request the debit card info after inputting the convenience fee. The sinemia app does not allow split screen usage, or screen shots, so you will have to write down the debit card info, then switch to the other app to purchase. Trying to do all this is cumbersome when also dealing with timing out issues while purchasing, trying to reserve two seats next to each other, and hoping you didn’t make a mistake while manually inputting all the info into two separate apps.