Regal Unlimited vs AMC A-List vs Redbox | Which “Unlimited” Plan is Best?

Battle of the Plans

Regal Theaters recently announced their unlimited theater-going plan in order to compete with AMC Stubs A-List and I suppose with Cinemark’s (ridiculous) plan. It’s no surprise Regal is introducing their own plan considering AMC’s plan has done so well.

Having a Netflix like subscription for going to the cinemas largely started (at least here in the States) with the massive craze of MoviePass. I was a member of MoviePass and loved the service (for a short time) but I’ve long since cancelled my subscription to the waning service.

Here’s a quick breakdown for each plan:

• Cinemark: $8.99 (dependent upon where you live) a month for one 2D ticket a month.
• Regal: $18 per month (dependent upon where you live-plus tax) According to their site, “…watch as many movies as you want, as many times as you want, whenever you want, wherever you want.” 2D only, surcharge for premium formats (3D, IMAX, ScreenX etc.).
• AMC: $20 a month (plus tax)–3 movies a week, up to 12 movies a month, in any format at no extra charge.

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There is an AMC theater in my town but it’s roughly 30 minutes away from me which calculates to an hour round trip and there’s no way I’m going to spend three hours of driving and spend that much gas money every week.

The Regal theater is about 10+ minutes away from my house, so I have been holding out for a Regal “A-List” type plan where I could see a few movies every week with fantastic savings. Well, the plan is here! But is it really a great deal or are all the extra “hidden” fees associated with the plan going to burn a hole in my pocket?

Allen and I were discussing this very question earlier and on the surface–after reading through Regal’s lenghty FAQ about the new service–it appeared that AMC had Regal beat for two main reasons:

1. AMC allows you to reserve your tickets with NO online convenience fee. Anyone who’s bought tickets online know that those fees can boost your total order by upwards of $10 depending on the number of tickets purchased. (I should note that AMC offers Stubs Premiere membership for $15 a year which allows you to have those fees waived with every purchase. As of this writing I’ve saved $307.61 over the course of a bit over a year).
2. AMC allows you to see any premium format movie (3D, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, etc.) for no extra charge. Whereas AMC “waives” the fees and surcharges for those two options–Regal will charge you on top of your monthly membership for both.

You can literally see UNLIMITED movies with Regal whereas with AMC it’s capped at 3 movies a week which figures to 12 per month.

I do love my spreadsheets and I wanted to crunch these numbers and truly see who offered the better deal. And I didn’t want to only compare Regal and AMC. I also wanted to see if watching the movie Second Run at home through Redbox would offer an even better deal considering as many people as you want can watch the movie with you at home for the unbelievably low price of $1.75.

To make the comparison fair I ran the numbers for seeing 12 movies a month for all three services since AMC A-List is capped at that number. Just for curiosity’s sake I did add in less than 12 movies for the online convenience fee with the Regal plan which would affect the price difference between the two services. Also, all of the yearly totals for Regal are added from the first tier Regal Unlimited plan (more on that below)–of course, adding the numbers with the Yearly Total of the Regal Unlimited All Access plan will change the outcomes.

*Now, remember some of these numbers aren’t official yet and depending on where you live these prices will vary considering sales tax, surcharges, and bigger cities will require a more expensive base plan. For those wondering where I came up with the High and Low surcharge prices–I just pulled Regal’s numbers for the prices they’ll charge you if you go to a Restricted Theater: “If you have the Unlimited Plan: $1.50 for a Restricted Theatre offered under the Unlimited Plus Plan, and $3.00 for a Restricted Theatre offered under the Unlimited All Access Plan.”

Here’s what I found.

Breakdown of Each Plan

 

 

And the Winner Is…

Well that depends on how you purchase your tickets and whether you see premium format movies.

Technically, you can see far more than 12 movies a month with Regal and their cheapest plan is…well…cheaper which does make it the more cost effective plan–you get more for less money.

If you want to frequently reserve tickets online and or often see premium showings then you’ll save potentially over $80 with AMC thereby making it the much better option.

Regal still has an incredible offering but I believe for most people AMC’s plan is easier to navigate and takes out the “hidden” fees.

AMC beats Regal 4 to 2 and both Regal and AMC beat out Redbox by a substantial margin–especially Regal.

The only way Redbox beats both Regal and AMC is if you plan on watching all or most of those 12 movies with your family–then you would save hundreds more by using Redbox.

There’s a Catch

Another thing to note, as I touched on above, is that AMC makes their pricing and tiers far simpler. The A-List tier is one price for everyone (except in bigger cities possibly) and it can be used at any AMC theater.

Don’t let Regal’s three tiers fool you. You don’t get anything extra by joining Unlimited All Access (except going to all their theaters in the country….gee thanks)–in fact, if you’re not listed in their 200 locations found in their cheapest unlimited plan, then you’ll have to upgrade to a more costly plan. They’ve divided their theaters across the country into three tiered plans–I’m assuming this is because they’re making up for price by population density.

While AMC’s plan is straightforward–Regal’s (at least initially) can be quite complicated to wade through.

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Perks Gallore

Pricing isn’t everything when it comes to these plans–each service (including Redbox) offer nice perks for being a member. It should be noted Redbox membership is free. AMC and Regal do have free memberships (AMC’s has far more to offer than Regal’s which essentially offers nothing). I’ll only be comparing the perks associated with Regal Unlimited, AMC A-List, and Redbox generally.

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• How many movies per month? Winner: Regal
  • AMC: 3 per week so about 12 per month totally 144 movies per year.
  • Regal: Literally UNLIMITED. You can watch multiple movies a day every day of the week with no blackout dates.
  • Redbox: Technically unlimited but there’s no flat fee; it’s pay-per-movie.
• Concession Discounts: Winner: AMC
  • AMC: Free Size Upgrades on Popcorn & Fountain Drinks; Free large popcorn refill.
  • Regal: 10% off food and non-alcoholic drink purchases.
  • Redbox: N/A
• Birthday Gift: Winner: Redbox
  • AMC & Regal: Free large popcorn and large soft drink
  • Redbox: Depending on your Perk level (achieved with points thru rentals) you get 1-2 free 1 night rentals.
• Credits & Points: Winner: AMC
  • AMC: Earning 5,000 points nets you $5 to spend as you choose at an AMC theater.
  • Regal: Every dollar spent earns you Crown Club credits which can be used for a variety of things including merchandise, concessions, and tickets.
    • Depending on how many times you go to theater you’ll  move up in status with the ultimate level being Diamond status which gives you an extra 1,000 credits every time you purchase anything.
  • Redbox: Depending on what you rent (Blu-ray, DVD) and for how many nights figures into how many points you earn and those points are used to rent “free” movies or games.

AMC has been mastering the perk list for a long time now considering they have three tiers that swamp Regal, so as far as perks go, AMC wins.

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Picking Plans

Let’s say you’re an average moviegoer who goes twice a month–once every two weeks. Is Regal Unlimited still worth it? If you go to matinee showings, then no, you’re overpaying; whereas if you go to showings after 6 p.m. then you would be saving around $13.08 per year (depending on where you live)–not a huge saving but nevertheless more money in your wallet.

Unfortunately, neither AMC nor Regal offer a couples plan or family plan, but I’ve come up with a way to see a movie with a family member, friend or that special someone for virtually nothing FOUR times a month.

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AT&T BOGO

Being an AT&T subscriber they give you a BOGO opportunity every Tuesday to basically see whatever movie you want. Hopefully, Regal will allow their plan to be used in conjunction with the Fandango app. If that’s the case then the Regal plan would take care of the ticket purchase and the next ticket would be free. All you would have to pay is the “convenience” fee of $1.50.

With this method you can still go see all the major releases with someone else and it only costs an extra $6 a month–less than the price of one matinee ticket.

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Are you signing up for Regal’s truly Unlimited theater going experience? Or are you an AMC A-List member and you’re sticking with that or even just prefer to watch movies in the comfort and quiet of home through your local Redbox kiosk? I want to know, so tell me in the comments below!