Netflix price hikes - just too much?

[Pemba]

I really think so this time. The standard package is going up by £2 to £12.99 a month. The fancy bells and whistles package will increase by a £1 and the basic package with ads is also increasing by a pound. As well as that, it will cost £1 a month more to add an extra member who doesn't live with you (after their crackdown on password sharing a little while ago).

The last price increase was only October 2023, I believe.

We pay for my elderly parents to be extra members so it will mean our monthly bill goes from £15.98, which was already pushing it, to £18.98 a month. It's becoming extortionate. We've had Netflix continously since about 2012/13, when it was very affordable. I just think that they are really pushing it now, and it's time for an extended break from Netflix.

People on the Premier package will be paying a fortune. For a TV streaming service, one amongst many. It's so much more expensive than Amazon Prime, Now, Disney, Apple etc. I don't know how they can justify it really.

What does anyone else think?

I like this idea. Each runs dry and I tend to watch one for a while till there’s nothing worth watching then go look if anything is watch worthy on the other and repeat. Netflix and Amazon for us.

I might as well pay for one at a time in rotation and with other providers in the rotation to have broader options and it would save me money.

Do it from different emails each time and you’d be able to get introductory offers each time too potentially.

Thanks for the great idea.

Two basic packages would still be cheaper/same price.

As above: rotate. I'll be ditching my NowTV subscription once the new season of White Lotus airs. I haven't had Netflix for a couple of years, so I'll restart that for a few months, then probably move onto something else.

The White Lotus has always been shown weekly so you’ll need a Now subscription for at least two months @GCAcademic

Just to report back, told my parents about the problem with Netflix, and they quite happily elected to pay for their own at £4.99 /£5.99 a month. I have seen them watching a comedy called Boomers, which they must have missed on the BBC a few years ago. Also films like 'Mrs Harris Goes to Paris' and 'Bank of Dave'.

I think they enjoy it from time to time as an alternative to Dad's constant Sky Sports. Next week I have promised to help them try and haggle the price down with Sky. They spend an absolute fortune on that.

Meanwhile DH and I have saved £13 a month, fantastic! Thanks to everyone who suggested it. I must admit that it does make me smile that Netflix's efforts to squeeze more money from us have actually resulted in them getting a lot less, even taking into account the new subscription from mum and dad!

Oh bugger, I assumed it would appear in bingeable form. I watched the last two seasons a while after both had aired.

Yeah, you'll have to wait until the middle of April to watch it all in one go and even then Now will lock you in for a six month minimum period.

Yeah you hardly even notice the adverts. They're only every now and then and they're usually just 30 seconds or a minute.

"Also films like 'Mrs Harris Goes to Paris' and 'Bank of Dave'."

DH and I really enjoyed both of those

I’ve had Now for a while and was hoping to cancel this month after bingeing The White Lotus, but it sounds like I’ll have to keep it until April. Season 3 had better be good!

I have the one with adverts and was surprised at how few they were, virtually a 20 second one every hour or so, hardly noticeable.

I buy a voucher and use it for a few months a couple of times a year when I know there’s something I want to watch - rest of the time there’s enough to Freeview anyway.

I also get Prime for a month once or twice a year but don’t think there’s that much on it now I’ve ever watched - only get it when I’m stocking up on Amazon for the free delivery.

As pp said I swap so have Netflix for a bit then Disney then Now etc. None of them are good enough to justify keeping for months on it.

It makes the £95 a year for Amazon Prime membership look very reasonable indeed. And with that you get all the benefits of next day delivery and other perks.

I don't think prime is worth it, Amazon is often more expensive than elsewhere & not everything can ship next day. Think the tv offer is pretty ropey too tbh.

Paradise is on Disney plus which i'm enjoying & Shogun was very good.

I have really enjoyed Amandaland & AIBU recently & they are on BBC.

I haven't noticed many adverts on Netflix tbh.

I had a profile set up on my ex's account (he paid for the top package) but then they clamped down on having to be at the same address and I got it for a month or so and found nothing to watch (only really had it for Ozark, The Sandman and Heartstopper).

Have Prime because of Amazon (which I shop on quite a bit).

I must be the odd one out, but I don't understand why anyone pays a subscription unless they are avid sports fans. I just pay my TV licence and think there's more than enough to watch on Freeview. Loads of films on the main channels plus Great Movies and Talking Pictures, great stuff on Sky Arts (which is on Freeview) and plenty of other things. I never run out of things to watch.

I have the £4.99 package through Ski. It has adverts, but so few that I forget that until I’m occasionally surprised by one. When they do pop up, it’s usually just one, very occasionally two.

It depends how much Netflix you watch if it's value or not. We don't wach much tv as life is just too hectic.

Most streaming shows are rubbish anyway, or you wait 1-2 two years for another 8 episodes, then it gets cancelled.

We only have prime & one other of DM's that hasn't clamped down on sharing, plus Freeview. We're not fussy & find enough to watch.

I think for me it's because I'm not just looking for something to watch, it's that there are particular things I want to watch. So I had to get Apple for Severance, and as I said above, a lot of my favourites are on Netflix, so I like that I can just go and watch them whenever I feel like it.

I'm really into TV and films.

The one I resent paying for is the BBC licence and the massive overreach they have in being allowed to demand payment.
We get Disney with Tesco Clubcard vouchers and have Sky so get Netflix and Paramount through them, Paramount is my current favourite especially since they now have the Smithsonian channel's content. Also have Prime for the delivery mainly. Occasionally have Apple and will need to do something about the next series of Slow Horses. I have Apple Music, which I use daily.