My wife and I don’t go to many movies in the theaters these days because the cost of doing so has just gotten pretty ridiculous. I recently saw a movie theater in Baltimore, the Landmark Theater in Harbor East, charge $10.50 for a ticket. Those are New York City movie prices in Baltimore! While the Landmark Theater is certainly very nice on the inside, ten dollars for a movie is pretty ridiculous.
Our local theater in Columbia, MD is a Regal Cinemas with reasonably comfortable seats and matinee/student discount ticket prices of around $7. You can buy movie vouchers from Costco for $6.50 a showing if you have a Costco membership. I recently joined the Regal Crown Club for kicks and found that the benefits were pretty solid.
First, the reward schedule is a bit unique but essentially you get a free ticket for every 120 points. A point is earned each time you spend a dollar. If a movie at regular price is $9, each point is worth about a nickel. Each movie ticket purchase is about 35 cents (so you save more with Costco tickets).
However, you get a free small popcorn every Tuesday and you get free stuff at 40 point increments. At 40 points you get a small popcorn, at 80 you get a small soft drink. So at 120 you get a ticket, at 160 you get a popcorn, at 200 you get a drink, at 240 you get another ticket. Joining the club gets you slightly more “stuff” than buying the tickets alone.
Couple that with a Citi mtvU card that gives you 5% cashback at the movie theater and you’re talking even more savings!
