MoviePass users are complaining that they're getting charged surge pricing even when the theater is nearly empty

Columbia Pictures

"Hotel Transylvania 3"

• MoviePass introduced peak pricing earlier this month, in which users pay an additional fee for in-demand showtimes for popular movies.
• Some subscribers are already fed up with it.
• Users are complaining that peak pricing even occurs in the middle of the day when showtimes are not in high demand, or when a theater is not busy.
• MoviePass says that peak pricing depends on a movie and showtime's popularity, but many users are frustrated that they have to pay an additional fee for movies that have been in theaters for weeks.

When MoviePass, the popular movie-theater subscription service, introduced surge ("peak") pricing earlier this month, it was bound to be met with confusion and some resentment. As Business Insider first reported in June, peak pricing occurs during high-demand showtimes for popular movies. During these showings, MoviePass users are charged an additional fee to see the movie - and no one likes to pay extra.

But beyond the fact that peak pricing exists, some MoviePass subscribers are now complaining that the feature is too broad. Several subscribers spoke to Business Insider about surge pricing occurring in the middle of the day on a weekday, and these people didn't live in highly populated areas.

If you look on Twitter, even more are complaining about peak pricing:

On its Frequently Asked Questions page, MoviePass says, "After taking into consideration demand for a title, date, or time of day is higher, subscribers may be asked to pay a small additional fee depending on the level of demand. You can avoid this peak surcharge by choosing an alternative date or film."

But one MoviePass user told Business Insider he didn't believe that policy was accurate if "every single showing 12 hours before the theater is even open is already peak." This particular user, who lives in Connecticut, said he saw Reddit users complaining at around 1 a.m. on a weekday, and confirmed it for himself by checking the app for his location.

It's possible this could just be a glitch on the app, but it's not an isolated incident. Many users have been frustrated about having to pay an additional fee, between $2 and $6, for showings that are not in high demand.

One Reddit user in that thread said, "My local theater is surging for a 12:50 showing for $5.25. What the sh--. It's the middle of the workday in Kentucky ... it's not that hopping at the Cinemark I assure you."

One MoviePass subscriber in upstate New York, who spoke to Business Insider, said the theaters in his area offer reserved seating, so he was able to see if a theater was packed (or not) before purchasing a ticket with MoviePass. A red bolt on the MoviePass app indicates peak pricing, and a gray bolt indicates that a movie is almost at peak pricing. In the example below, you can see that most movie showtimes on a Thursday early afternoon were already at peak pricing for this subscriber:

Screenshot

As the second screenshot provided to Business Insider below shows, however, the movie the subscriber was interested in - "Ant-Man and the Wasp" - was not "in demand" at that time.

Screenshot

Some complaints may stem from a lack of understanding of how peak pricing works.

But with the way that MoviePass has described it, it's fair that users would be frustrated when a movie like "Ant-Man and the Wasp," which has been in theaters for three weeks, is at peak pricing in the middle of a weekday.

MoviePass did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

If you have a MoviePass peak pricing story, email the author at tclark@businessinsider.com