MoviePass competitor Sinemia in Canada

[rage2]

It’s not MoviePass unlimited but it’s still a massive discount over normal pricing. Works in all Calgary theaters. They soft launched last month but now offering pretty solid packages.

$5 a month gets you 1 movie a month
$7 brings that up to 2
$10 allows 3D and imax
$15 bumps that up to 3 tickets a month

https://www.sinemia.com

Billed annually. Signed up for the $7 deal, watch 6 movies in 3 months to break even.

Edit - They have gone bankrupt in US, service doesn't work in Canada. Do Not Sign up.

[killramos]

Is this going to be one of those things that passes don’t work for first 2 weeks if a release?

Pay extra for AVX etc?

I like the idea though, love going to movies.

[rage2]

Is this going to be one of those things that passes don’t work for first 2 weeks if a release?

Pay extra for AVX etc?

I like the idea though, love going to movies.
No blackout dates. AVX needs to be on the $10 or $15 plan.

Edit - From the website:

With Sinemia Classic your tickets can be used for 2D movies and with Sinemia Elite, your tickets can be used for a 2D or 3D movie and one of your tickets can be used for either of the following technologies of your choice once every 30 days : IMAX 2D, IMAX 3D, XD, Dolby Atmos, ScreenX, Dbox, or 4DX

AVX would fall under Dolby Atmos.

[killramos]

Cool, will look into it.

Does it let you book in advance?

[rage2]

Cool, will look into it.

Does it let you book in advance?
Yes, up to 30 days apparently. I’ll have more real world experience once my card arrives.

[killramos]

Cool. Keep us informed.

[sl888]

GF signed us up a week ago. We got the Sinemia for Two Elite. We can see 2 movies in 30 days on 2 separate days. Any format in any theater in Canada.

[Buster]

The RFD thread on these guys is less than complimentary.

[sneek]

Been using them for months. It is a bit of a hit or miss for me. I think it works about 60% of the time. Customer service is horrible. I have the plan with one IMAX/Dbox per 30 days. For the price I can't complain but know that it doesnt work all the time. You have to do a weird check in with the app once you are at the theater. I find the full blown app doesn't work as well at the "lite" version (it is a setting in the app)

- - - Updated - - -


Cool, will look into it.

Does it let you book in advance?

It does technically let you book one in advance but you can't exceed how many tickets you have available to you. Aka you can't watch 2 movies a month and then reserve one for next month. Also there is a weird turkish mastercard thing that comes up sometimes...

[Mitsu3000gt]

Do they get a percentage of the theater concession sales? That's where all the money is made.

[sabad66]

oh how we miss movies... haven't been to one since our baby was born in October :P

Would definitely have signed up for this otherwise!

[Xtrema]

Been using them for months. It is a bit of a hit or miss for me. I think it works about 60% of the time. Customer service is horrible. I have the plan with one IMAX/Dbox per 30 days. For the price I can't complain but know that it doesnt work all the time. You have to do a weird check in with the app once you are at the theater. I find the full blown app doesn't work as well at the "lite" version (it is a setting in the app)

- - - Updated - - -



It does technically let you book one in advance but you can't exceed how many tickets you have available to you. Aka you can't watch 2 movies a month and then reserve one for next month. Also there is a weird turkish mastercard thing that comes up sometimes...

RFD has a full thread on shitty experience like yours which had me shy away from it.

Get it while the getting is good. Moviepass already seem to have trouble keeping lights on. And who knows what Sinemia is doing with our data given Turkish government is more of a foe of late.

Monthly subscription is already proven to work when theater chains adopts it. Just not these 3rd party companies buying tickets with cold hard cash. And I'm really into Landmark's Atom system now that I could care less how much it cost. I don't want to wait or jump thru hoops for tickets.

[Disoblige]

I would absolutely love a monthly subscription model for movies. It would make sense for those who already go to movies and may encourage those who only see a movie once in a blue moon to join in if it ends up being cheaper anyways. And for those who don't have a subscription, maybe a $30 flat fee :rofl:

I will pass on Cinemia just to save a few bucks.

[sneek]

RFD has a full thread on shitty experience like yours which had me shy away from it.

Get it while the getting is good. Moviepass already seem to have trouble keeping lights on. And who knows what Sinemia is doing with our data given Turkish government is more of a foe of late.


I only did the month to month as I don't think it will/can last. It is worthwhile if your time is worth nothing... I will keep it through the summer as there are likely enough IMAX movies that I want to see.

It is a massive PITA if you run into issues with your tickets though. I emailed customer service 3 weeks ago with tons of information and pictures and haven't heard back.

[BigDL]

And I'm really into Landmark's Atom system now that I could care less how much it cost. I don't want to wait or jump thru hoops for tickets.
Atom has been working really good for me too. Its nice that you can just cancel your tickets and get your money back if plans change, like if dinner is taking too long and you can't make it in time.

[Xtrema]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/moviepass-owners-shares-plunge-more-than-30-percent-for-a-second-straight-day.html

Movie pass has cash to last 2 more months. Value dropped 40% today.

Man, this sure smell like the .com bubble of late 90s.

[Manhattan]

The hassle of signing up (I hate having accounts, passwords, and cards for everything) and the constant hassle of trying to figure out if I'm getting my money's worth is not worth it to me. I'm pretty selective about the movies that I watch and something like this will probably encourage me to waste time watching bad movies that I don't even care for just to squeeze value out of it. Cheap Tuesdays works just fine for me.

[rage2]

Gotta say this works very well. You can book tickets online. Enabled the cardless version and didn’t even have to wait for their card to arrive. Do everything online days in advance so there’s never any issues.

[rage2]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/09/moviepass-owners-shares-plunge-more-than-30-percent-for-a-second-straight-day.html

Movie pass has cash to last 2 more months. Value dropped 40% today.

Man, this sure smell like the .com bubble of late 90s.
You were close. 2.5 months, ran out of cash last night.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/27/moviepass-crashes-after-running-out-money/849040002/

Sinemia still going strong I think. I’ve broke even already. 9 months of gravy at this point if they don’t run out of cash.

Zero problems buying and using tickets with Sinemia. 100% success rate.

[sexualbanana]

You were close. 2.5 months, ran out of cash last night.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/27/moviepass-crashes-after-running-out-money/849040002/

Sinemia still going strong I think. I’ve broke even already. 9 months of gravy at this point if they don’t run out of cash.

Zero problems buying and using tickets with Sinemia. 100% success rate.

Does the day counter reset the moment you go to a movie and counts to 30 days? Or does it go by calendar month?

[rage2]

Does the day counter reset the moment you go to a movie and counts to 30 days? Or does it go by calendar month?
Your first use determines the day of month it resets.

[speedog]

How do these companies figure their business model will make money? Are they relying upon people buying memberships and then just not using their membership like so many people do with gym memberships?

It just seems so unsustainable- how are they selling this to investors?

[ExtraSlow]

I assume they get the tickets from Cineplex etc at a substantial discount as well.

[rage2]

They buy tickets at full price.

The model is supposed to make money in 2 ways. First, user data on movie preferences. Second, they expect a majority of ticket sales to eventually come from their service, and at that point they’ll have leverage over theater chains and studios for cuts in concessions and ticket sales or they pull support for their theaters.

MoviePass accomplished 1 of 2 before running out of cash. Sinemia is more expensive than MoviePass so maybe they’ll last longer to attempt to hit those milestones.

[shakalaka]

I watch a lot of movies so this seems like it could be worth while but it's usually the wife and I go, so I think I would have to get the family plan that allows 2 movies for 2 as the individual one I am guessing is just for the one person watching 2 movies in a month? Does it work for VIP tickets as well? Kinda intrigued by it, maybe worth looking into.

[rage2]

I watch a lot of movies so this seems like it could be worth while but it's usually the wife and I go, so I think I would have to get the family plan that allows 2 movies for 2 as the individual one I am guessing is just for the one person watching 2 movies in a month? Does it work for VIP tickets as well? Kinda intrigued by it, maybe worth looking into.
I did the 2 movies for 2 plan.

Pros: buy tickets in 1 transaction. Ensures you’re sitting together when doing reserved seating.
Cons: Can’t watch movies separately. You have to go 2 ppl to same movie each time. Can’t break up movie or showtime. If you only use 1, you forfeit the other.

[Xtrema]

It just seems so unsustainable- how are they selling this to investors?

Blackmail by holding watchers hostage so they can negotiate a commission/advertising with studio and movie chain owners.

AMC already countered with their own offering:
https://www.amctheatres.com/amcstubs/alist

So if other theaters offer their own that rival Moviepass/Sinema, they won't stand a chance.

In the end, they are not sustainable but enough disruption that changes the way we do things.

[Xtrema]

Movie Pass now charges more, offers less.

https://gizmodo.com/moviepass-is-jacking-up-its-prices-as-it-tries-to-survi-1827997303

[rx7boi]

I signed up for Sinemia today. Went with the classic 2 movies for 2 people per month, opted out of the 4d/Imax package since I hate those anyway.

To be honest, I don't even know if I'll go to 2 movies per month :rofl: I was contemplating just doing 1 movie per month for 2 people and if there's another film I want to see I can just pay out of pocket.

[rage2]

Movie Pass now charges more, offers less.

https://gizmodo.com/moviepass-is-jacking-up-its-prices-as-it-tries-to-survi-1827997303
They offered too much for too little. At one point, they were selling $7/month (paid annually) for unlimited movies. Users were able to break even after 1 week and everyone went to movies just for the hell of it, watching and rewatching movies, registering app on an old phone with a cheap pay as you go plan so they can split the plans with others. It's insanity.

The whole Peak Pricing model is hilarious too, as the app wants to charge more than the cost of a movie ticket in some cases during peak pricing. They're peak pricing a shit ton of films as well, even if they're empty. Guess it's just MoviePass usage peak to reduce the cost burden.

MoviePass is done.

[killramos]

So considering the risks, if you weren’t already in would you still sign up for Sinema?

[rage2]

So considering the risks, if you weren’t already in would you still sign up for Sinema?
I think so, yea. $8/month for 2 movies a month, that's $96 up front. At $13.50 per ticket, 7 movies over 3 months + 1 day breaks even. My cc allows me to do chargebacks within 4 months haha.

If I were to do it again (well, next year's renewal) I think I would've gone with the Elite plan just for the IMAX tickets. $10/month, $120 up front. Next year.

[killramos]

I think the imax and 3D tickets would be worth it just for the increased showtime flexibility.

[rx7boi]

So considering the risks, if you weren’t already in would you still sign up for Sinema?

That's what I was thinking when I signed up yesterday. Fingers crossed haha.

Do you think I'll be able to share 2 tickets with a friend if I can't use them that month? Is it locked to a specific city only?

I'm still waiting on my activation so I can't order anything yet.

[sl888]

No Seton or East Hills yet.

[rage2]

That's what I was thinking when I signed up yesterday. Fingers crossed haha.

Do you think I'll be able to share 2 tickets with a friend if I can't use them that month? Is it locked to a specific city only?

I'm still waiting on my activation so I can't order anything yet.
You have to check in on the app at the theater to prove you’re there. You can only change devices 3 times.

[rx7boi]

You have to check in on the app at the theater to prove you’re there. You can only change devices 3 times.

Ah good to know. Thanks alot.

So much for spreading the wealth haha.

[kertejud2]

Ql3PGqUdcwg

[rx7boi]

Had a bit of an issue with Sinemia, partly due to my fault. I bought the wrong annual plan so I emailed them to switch it. They couldn't do the switch and told me to buy a new plan and they would refund me the first one since it hadn't been activated yet. They said the refund would take 1-2 weeks but that was on August 13.

I normally like to give vendors benefit of the doubt but with all the poor reddit reviews I thought I'd check in with RBC as a heads up and they started a dispute claim for me today.

I emailed Sinemia to get an update on the refund which they said has been processed but RBC said nothing was pending from their end when I called them earlier.

On the bright side, after I had sent the email, Sinemia activated my account even though it wasn't activated an hour ago when I checked #coincidence?

[rx7boi]

So it looks like Sinemia started adding processing charges ($1.99 per person) when booking advanced tickets. Lots of unhappy people.

Started happening about a month ago right after I bought my first set of tickets.

[rage2]

So it looks like Sinemia started adding processing charges ($1.99 per person) when booking advanced tickets. Lots of unhappy people.

Started happening about a month ago right after I bought my first set of tickets.
I’ve already broke even so it’s not terrible. But ya, probably not renewing in the future. Not worth the small savings, but still worth it if you’re on a budget.

Holy fuck I’ve watched absolutely everything in theaters with the 2 a month plan, and running out of shit to watch haha.

[rx7boi]

For sure, but now that they're charging these processing fees it's another $4 for my next 9 movies.

It's not a deal breaker for me, because I still get the flexibility of watching movies any day of the week. That said, I probably won't renew because I don't need to watch a movie every month and most times I'm content to wait for the Tuesday/Wednesday combos.

[tcon]

IMO the best movie deal (although it's drifting a bit) is the Landmark movie package @ costco. I think it's up to 29$ now for 2 tickets, 2 medium popcorn, 2 medium pop.

[rage2]

For sure, but now that they're charging these processing fees it's another $4 for my next 9 movies.

It's not a deal breaker for me, because I still get the flexibility of watching movies any day of the week. That said, I probably won't renew because I don't need to watch a movie every month and most times I'm content to wait for the Tuesday/Wednesday combos.
It's almost become a chore at this rate just to get the savings. :nut:

Avengers: Infinity War
Deadpool 2
The Incredibles 2
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Skyscraper
Crazy Rich Asians
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Golden Job
Smallfoot
Night School

My movies so far.

[rx7boi]

Yup haha. We only need to hit $131 worth of movies to break even :rofl:

I've only watched The Predator so far and we're watching Venom tonight so that's $54 in tickets we've used so far.

That said, it's still pretty sketchy to add fees all of a sudden. They went from $0 to $0.99 to $1.99.

[rage2]

I have Bohemian Rhapsody and Grinch scheduled for next month, Creed 2 and Wreck it Ralph 2 afterwards. I'm OK paying $8 for 4 movies since I broke even haha.

[rx7boi]

Oh damn, I feel like I should stop being so picky about movies haha. I'm just like WELL, NO MORE BRO MOVIES OUT, TIME TO HIBERNATE.

Wreck It Ralph 2 looks hilarious, gotta catch that one for sure.

[rage2]

Oh damn, I feel like I should stop being so picky about movies haha. I'm just like WELL, NO MORE BRO MOVIES OUT, TIME TO HIBERNATE.

Wreck It Ralph 2 looks hilarious, gotta catch that one for sure.
Yea, I'm not picky at all anymore just to make my 2 a month. I don't even know how people would take advantage of the 30/month "unlimited" plan haha.

[rx7boi]

Jesus Christ, this company is getting ridiculous.

Account service has been halted and they've implemented an ID verification process where I need to upload government issued ID.

[rage2]

It unlocks immediately when you send it in. I mean sure, it's kinda ridiculous that you have to send ID for an under $100 purchase, but I've had to perform ID validation for dumber shit.

I didn't make the 2 movies last month and they rolled it over. Surprised, didn't think they would do that. Now I gotta watch 3 movies this month.

I probably won't be renewing though, my plan runs out in June.

[rx7boi]

Agreed. Reddit users say it's pretty quick for validation but I'm more concerned about the privacy portion of it. IIRC the only time I ever had to do an ID validation was when my Steam account got hacked haha.
rage2 I'm guessing you figured it was safe enough to do?

My plan ends in August but I've already watched 7 movies so I'm already ahead of the curve and I don't plan to renew either.

[rage2]

Yea, there's only so much they can do with my DL. I mean, I have to use that for verification at bars where they scan the damn thing, at hotels for ID, it's used all over the place. If anything, that's safer to me than giving access to your passport.

[rx7boi]

Ah fair enough. I was hoping they would allow us to black out certain information. Admittedly, I have no idea what they could do with my DL information as I'm pretty ignorant to the world of identify theft, etc.

[rage2]

Ah fair enough. I was hoping they would allow us to black out certain information. Admittedly, I have no idea what they could do with my DL information as I'm pretty ignorant to the world of identify theft, etc.
Yea, never thought about blacking anything out, but that defeats the purpose of the ID. They have your name and address already (for payment) so need to validate that. They asked for DOB, so again to validate. I guess you can black out eyes, hair, height and weight haha.

[rx7boi]

That seems to be what some reddit users have done. Blacked out everything except for Name, DOB, and photo.

Some people got approved using that method and others still got their account cancelled haha.

[rx7boi]

Sent in my stuff yesterday. I redacted everything except for my photo, DOB, address. I should have left the expiry date to show them that it's current but whatever.

I ended up booking Captain Marvel tickets for Friday as well and I know that I won't be able to check in on the app until they verify my ID.

[rage2]

May be seeing the beginning of the end. Can’t book tickets through the app, lots of people experience this at the start of a weekend. First time having this problem for me.

[Xtrema]

US operation was done last week.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/25/movie-subscription-service-sinemia-is-ending-us-operations/

[rx7boi]

It's been about a month since I got tickets through the app.

Might try to use it one last time to get some Detective Pikachu tickets.

Update: tried the app just now, unable to reserve advance tickets since it just tells me that I need to update the app.
rage2 did it work for you since your last post?

[rage2]

Nope. I’ve cancelled the service already. App still works since I paid yearly. I’m ahead of the game, good thing I got in early in the ponzi haha.

[rx7boi]

You mean the app works or the app is still letting you book tickets?

I paid yearly too. My plan was supposed to go from August 2018 to 2019. Watched 8 movies (16 tickets) so we broken even a while back even with the ticket booking fee haha.

Tried again on the app just now. This time I was able to get further than the "update your app" message. Was able to choose my card for the $3.99 payment but couldn't get past that.

[rage2]

The app still works, purchases still broken. I've given up at this point as I'm so far ahead it's not worth my time anymore.

[Star1995]

It’s not MoviePass unlimited but it’s still a massive discount over normal pricing. Works in all Calgary theaters. They soft launched last month but now offering pretty solid packages.

$5 a month gets you 1 movie a month
$7 brings that up to 2
$10 allows 3D and imax
$15 bumps that up to 3 tickets a month

https://www.sinemia.com

Billed annually. Signed up for the $7 deal, watch 6 movies in 3 months to break even.

So $15 gets you three and $14 gets you four?

[rage2]

So $15 gets you three and $14 gets you four?
Read the latest updates. The service went bankrupt in the US, and doesn't work at all anymore in Canada.

[rx7boi]

Cancelled later this morning since there's no more point in trying to get tickets haha.

They filed for Chapter 7 this past week.

When I was going through the cancellation process, they tried to sell a cheaper renewal price and you had to confirm like 3x to get through the cancellation.

Back to the Costco and AMA coupons.

[rage2]

I did OK on my run. 18/24 possible movies haha.

Avengers Infinity War
Deadpool 2
The Incredibles 2
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Skyscraper
Crazy Rich Asians
Mission Impossible Fallout
Golden Job
Smallfoot
Hotel Transylvania 3
Night School
House With A Clock In It's Walls
Venom
Bohemian Rhapsody
Robin Hood
Glass
Happy Death Day 2U
Captain Marvel

[rx7boi]

Damn nice haha.

MI: Fallout
Venom
Hunter Killer
Wreckit Ralph 2
Spiderverse
Bumblebee
Alita
Captain Marvel

IIRC I paid $90 for the core annual plan. The two ticket $4 fee started shortly after my first movie so 90 + (4x7) is still only $118 out of pocket.

Given that we were watching movies on full price days, we would have had to pay $208.

Would have been nice to squeeze Detective Pikachu out of Sinemia before they fucked off but whatever. I'll consider 8/12 movies a win :D

[rage2]

I paid $178.68 total to Sinemia (2 people, 2 movies per month package, 3 movies with the new fee).

Each movie at Landmark for 2 costs $27, total of $486. 63% savings all said and done. Can't complain.