Cinesa offers from today its "flat rate"with a but: for now it will not be in all the rooms of the chain

In a presentation that the cinema chain has given this morning, Cinesa has presented all the characteristics of its new “flat rate” service, the Cinesa Unlimited Card which allows access, from today, to an unlimited number of sessions in all the cinemas of the chain. At least, that’s how it will be in a few weeks, because for now the promotion is restricted to a handful of very specific rooms.

As we already knew, there will be several rates available (which also fall within the Youth Cultural Bonus of the Ministry of Culture), which will be the following:

• Unlimited Standard: 15.90 euros per month. Access to all CINESA rooms (not LUXE), including VIP seats.
• Unlimited LUXE: 18.90 euros per month. Access to both LUXE and standard rooms.
• Unlimited Standard annual subscription: 149 euros per year (promotional price; the usual one will be 190.80 euros)
• Unlimited LUXE annual subscription: 189 euros per year (promotional price; the usual one will be 226.80 euros)

Among the limitations for other promotions, the bonus cannot be used with future Film Festivals, which is also organized by Cinesa. The other big limitation is the number of rooms. At the moment, the promotion is included in the Diagonal, Diagonal Mar, Parc Vallés, Barnasud and La Farga (Barcelona) cinemas on the one hand, and Las Rozas, Manoteras, Nassica, La Moraleja and Oasiz (Madrid), on the other. Ramón Biarnés, general director of Cinesa in southern and northern Europe, affirms that due to the technical complexity of the system it has not been possible to launch it in all theatres, but that in a couple of weeks it should be active nationwide.

The Ghost of Movie Pass

It is inevitable to wonder what prospects Cinesa has with this promotion. The ghost of Movie Pass, a comparable initiative in the United States, but which ended up having to close due to its financial unsustainability. “They launched it generically and without consulting anyone. This is a different launch, we are an exhibiting company, it was not that case. They are different subscription models,” says Biarnés.

Cinesa has the precedent of other countries where the system has worked in the chain’s cinemas, such as Germany. Biarnés also clarifies that “not all viewers go to this model, it is a complement”, and that it has been possible to implement it thanks to the collaboration of the distributors: “We have had conversations with all the distributors. It is a product new to our country, that is why we have given them facts and figures. It has not been with our backs to them”, again with the case of Movie Pass as an example of mismanagement of a similar bonus.