Cinema 21 & XXI M-tix Reload

Buying movie ticket for Gandaria XXI IMAX is a battle of life and death. It made you realize the length Jakartans will go to embrace their hedonism. You either start queuing at 10 AM sharp or buy your ticket via M-tix

Thank God, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to own BII saving account to reload your M-tix account. you CAN reload your M-tix from every bank connected to:

• ATM Bersama (practically every bank in Indonesia except BCA)
• Prima (BCA, and many other bank, minus BNI and regional banks)

How ?

Go to your ATM, access the Transfer menu, to other bank account (Rekening Bank Lain). You know how to do it, right? for the bank code number, use 016 (BII), this code applies for transfer from ATM Bersama and Prima. For the account number, use 7821XXXXXXXXXXX, where X is your telephone number user for M-tix. If it’s 085255022033, then the account number is 7821085255022033. You’ll know if the transaction succeed because you will get a notifications by sms and email like five minutes or so.

(Note: Sometimes transfer via ATM won’t work. I usually use internet banking from my bank, BNI since it’s more reliable. The steps are the same, like you’re transferring funds to another bank. If it still doesn’t work, try doing it after business hours.)

Now what ?

Buy the ticket !

Contrary to popular belief too, you CAN choose your own seat. The only let down is you can’t buy your ticket anytime. There’s time limit :

• Monday to Thursday tickets can only be bought on its respective day, from 06.30 – 11.00 AM.
• Friday to Sunday tickets can be bought starting Friday 06.30 AM. Still, past 11.00 AM you cannot buy ticket for that day.
• Advance tickets can be bought up to a week before showing, depending on Cinema 21/XXI’s decision.

All in all, I think Cinema 21/XXI is still superior to it’s closest competitor, Blitz Megaplex. Blitz seat is so uncomfortable and they sell shitty food with a hefty price. They charge us three times the price of Nu Green Tea and dare to call it “Green Tea”. Cinema 21/XXI’s food is just as expensive but at least they put an effort to make their food special.

Note :

* Just to clear any potential confusion, Cinema 21/XXI & Blitz Megaplex I’m talking about are movie theater chains in Indonesia, not the one in Portland or any other places.
* M-tix reload can also be done via 21 (Cilandak Town Square and Setiabudi One) and any XXI cashier, including Gandaria City but be advised, the traffic is pretty crazy.
* When I first applied for M-tix, they are offering me reload feature via SMS but you have to sign a letter of attorney (surat kuasa) for them to charge your credit card (it’s in Senayan City, but when I asked the XXI cashier Plaza Indonesia, they know nothing about it)