Yahoo Finance Disney+ hikes subscription fees causing Aussies to cancel: ‘I’m out’
Disney+ users face a price hike to $17.99 per month from March.
Disney+ users will be hit with their fourth price hike in the coming weeks, as the streaming service revamps its subscription options.
The streaming service currently offers one subscription option of $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year, which offers up to 4K resolution streaming, high-definition audio and streaming on four devices at once.
From March 5, users who want to retain these perks will need to fork out $17.99 per month or $149.99 per year for the new Disney+ Premium subscription. That’s a price hike of around 29 per cent.
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Disney+ will also introduce a lower tier - Disney+ Standard - at the previous price point, however, users will only be able to get up to 1080p resolution, lower audio quality and the ability to stream on just two devices at once. Ad-free streaming will still be available across both tiers.
This marks the fourth time Disney+ has hiked its prices for Aussies since it launched in Australia in 2019 for $8.99 per month. The price hike means users will now be paying double that amount for the same service.
This change will bring Disney+ in line with other providers, including Netflix, Stan and Binge, who offer customers tiered subscription plans.
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Disney+ said the updated plans would offer consumers “greater choice and value”, but many subscribers were unconvinced and they shared their frustration.
“Well, I guess I’m cancelling it then, only keeping Amazon Prime for now I guess,” one subscriber said.
“Okay, I’m out,” another said.
Other subscribers said they had already cancelled their subscriptions following previous price hikes.
“Cancelled my subscription last year when they hiked the price. One of the biggest companies in the world, If anyone can reduce subscription fees it’s them. But alas,” one said.
“I signed up for $89.99 a few years ago and it has done nothing but increase. It is almost twice as much now,” another said.
Tips to save
With many subscription services hiking their prices, it’s no wonder one in three Aussies have cancelled at least one service in the past six months.
Netflix was the most common one to get the flick (62 per cent), a Finder survey found, followed by Disney+ (29 per cent), Prime Video (24 per cent) and Stan (23 per cent).
On average, Aussies are spending $45 a month on streaming services. That’s more than $540 over the entire year.
Aside from cancelling your subscription, Finder tech and utilities expert Mariam Gabaji said Aussies on premium subscriptions could also save by downgrading to a standard tier, or by sharing their account with others.
Another option is cycling through your streaming subscriptions so you are only signed up (and paying for) one service at a time, based on what you want to watch.
“The goal is to only pay for the streaming services you’re actively watching right now,” Gabaji said.
Don’t forget to shop around for services and see if you can take advantage of any free trials.
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