MoviePass Might Make You Photograph Your Ticket Stub Now, Will Only Let You See A Movie Once

MoviePass keeps making us jump through hoops so we can go to movie theaters on the cheap. But the question is: how many hoops are we willing to jump through?

MoviePass could make users upload pictures of their ticket stub after they make their purchase, or risk termination of their account. MoviePass ticket photos are currently being rolled out with a few users to "test" user behavior, but may soon be a user-wide feature. And that's not all. MoviePass are now making it so users can only see a movie once.

The latest innovation from MoviePass is actually an old feature of the ticket-buying service. Before MoviePass disrupted the movie theater industry by dropping its prices to the ridiculously low $10 a month, it featured a regular 'ole $50 a month plan that at one point required users to take photos of their ticket stubs in order to purchase their next ticket. It was an unpopular feature of the app which was abandoned shortly before MoviePass made its meteoric rise.

But after a few users recently noticed that they were required to take the extra step of photographing their tickets, it looks like MoviePass is making this feature official. Unless the beta tests cause another uproar, of course.

The company calls it a "safeguard" that will help MoviePass "better track user behavior and ensure that subscribers are abiding by our Terms of Use." But hidden in its email announcement of the rollout, MoviePass notes that "failure to cooperate with the below safeguards could result in irreversible termination of your subscription." Yes, if you forget to upload your photo after your movie, your account will be canceled and you will be ineligible to sign up for a new MoviePass account. That certainly sounds like a good way to win over new customers.

Here is the new and improved process, per MoviePass:

  • Continue to check-in to a movie the same way through the MoviePass app
  • After you check-in you'll be asked to take a photo of your ticket stub
  • The first time, you will also be asked to enable camera access in order to do so
  • Once the photo verification is processed (this will only take seconds), you'll be able to purchase your next ticket the following day
  • You will have to repeat these steps above each time you use your MoviePass card
  • It's another clunky step to the already lengthy process to buy a movie ticket through MoviePass, but I get the feeling that users will get used to it after some initial balking. After all, MoviePass successfully got its users to go around big AMC theaters after the company temporarily dropped several high-traffic theaters from its app. This is certainly beats paying more per month.

    But are the frequent changes to MoviePass cause for concern? The company did just suggest that it may decrease the amount of movies that users can see per month, though that isn't set in stone yet. Could MoviePass be slowly weaning us off the great, cheap deal that first made them popular? It's too soon to say, but for now, the ticket-buying service will probably keep its ever-growing customer base.

    One and Done

    If the prospect of taking a photo of your ticket doesn't get on your nerves, this might: you can now only use MoviePass to see a movie once. Previously, MoviePass allowed subscribers to use their MoviePass to see the same movie over and over again, as this old tweet confirms.

    That's all changed now. MoviePass has updated their Terms of Service with the following message:

    We recently updated our Terms of Service to reflect that MoviePass subscribers are only permitted to see a select movie in theaters once with your MoviePass. We hope this will encourage you to see new movies and enjoy something different!

    This will likely upset users who were hoping to use their MoviePass to see Avengers: Infinity War over and over again. There's always a chance MoviePass will change their policy back so subscribers can see the same movie multiple times, but for now, anyone hoping to use MoviePass for numerous viewings of one movie are out of luck.