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To Subscribe Or Not To Subscribe, That Is The Question: Paid Streaming Services


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2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think on Netflix you can search a person and it will show you all the stuff they've been in that's in the Netflix catalog. I haven't tried it recently, but I've done it in the past.

Yea you can enter an actor or director in the search bar and it will show you what they have. I just wish you could filter your results. Like show me movies with a certain actor that came out in the last 5 years.

 

6 hours ago, Shrek said:

Try IMBD.com for everything like that, it also tells you where what you're looking for is available to watch. I use their ap a lot if I see someone on the screen & can't remember where I've seen them before, or to settle a dispute with Fiona on some technicality in a movie/show.

Yea you could probably do something like that I wonder if it would work with Netflix Canada. Of course one thing it wouldn't have access to is my Netflix ratings. Like sometimes I just want to watch a dumb action movie I have seen and like. If it could show me all of those then I wouldn't end up just watching Terminator 2 or The Dark Knight.

This is just for the US, as far as I know, but I use JustWatch (app or website) to learn where things I'm interested are available. If you look up a movie or series, it will tell you on which platforms it's currently streaming, which seasons are available where for TV series, and so on. If something's available for rental vs. subscription, it will tell you how much it costs on each service. You can limit which services it shows results for, but you don't have to. 

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9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Hoping there will be another Black Friday deal. 

I'm sure there will, but it will be for new subscribers only -- those of us who signed up for a year at .99/mo aren't going to be eligible to turn around and do that again this year.

I'm sure there are ways to beat their system, with different emails, credit cards, etc.  But Hulu's ads are so goddamned annoying I wouldn't put in the effort.

47 minutes ago, AheadofStraight said:

I've been doing that for 4+ years but I'm finally out of credit cards. Originally they only checked for a different email but the past couple of times the card needed to be different too. 

Yeah. Do you happen to know if I can use a Debit card? I only have 2 credit cards and have used both.

Both of my cards are set to expire in 2025, so they will get a new numbers, which I doubt they are tracking, so I could wait for that to happen. I seem to recall the banks renew them at least a month ahead of the date, probably to allow for people to get around to it. They don't want to lose their customers either.

I've stopped watching some of the shows I've been watching the next day on Hulu anyway. Once I relegate a show to next-day viewing, it's only a matter of time before I put it off indefinitely.
And the 4th season of Only Murders In the Building is over.
And Jimmy Kimmel's monologues are on free YouTube.

(edited)
1 hour ago, AheadofStraight said:

I've been doing that for 4+ years but I'm finally out of credit cards.

I wonder if you can get one of those 'one-time' numbers from your credit card company to use. It wouldn't tie back to your original account number, it might work, especially if you pay for the full year up front.

Edited by Moose135
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(edited)
1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

 

Both of my cards are set to expire in 2025, so they will get a new numbers, which I doubt they are tracking, so I could wait for that to happen. I seem to recall the banks renew them at least a month ahead of the date, probably to allow for people to get around to it. They don't want to lose their customers either.

 

When mine expire, I keep the same numbers just with a new expiration date. 

33 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

I wonder if you can get one of those 'one-time' numbers from your credit card company to use. It wouldn't tie back to your original account number, it might work, especially if you pay for the full year up front.

Good thinking. Also wondering if I can use paypal and set up another account with a different email. Hmmmm.

Edited by AheadofStraight
typo fix
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3 hours ago, AheadofStraight said:

Also wondering if I can use paypal and set up another account with a different email. Hmmmm.

I use PayPal. I switch year to year between two Hulu accounts registered to different emails, and I always use PayPal for the subscription — same PayPal account, never any problem.

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13 minutes ago, opus said:

I’ve thought about stuff like that, but is there any illegalities to it? Are there any potential repercussions?

I can't speak to the legality, but to me the biggest downside would be not having my history (favorites, watched/unwatched status) carry over from one account to the other.  I think before I resorted to different emails/payment methods, I'd let the subscription lapse for a bit until a better deal come up that I qualify for.  I've been doing that with Peacock and Paramount+ for at least 2 or 3 cycles.  So far, as long as I don't have an active subscription, I'm considered "new or returning."  And my history is still out there.

But I think the original question was about Hulu - not sure if they work the same way because it's included with my phone plan.  (But I feel like I more than pay for it every time the 2-3 minute ads come on.)

That is definitely the biggest downside. I have a list of my Hulu shows and I re-add them when I start over. Definitely a pain but a tradeoff for the price. I get offers on my previous emails and none of them come close to the BF deal. Usually it is a bundle deal, though the most recent one was 2.99 for 6 months (no bundle). 

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I need to get rid of a few of my subscriptions. Hulu and Disney+ costs me $18/month now with subscription plus tax, but I still use Hulu the most so I am probably going to just cancel the Disney+ portion and keep Hulu. I barely use Peacock and Prime Video either. Actually, Prime hasn’t been impressing me on the shopping end lately…a lot of stuff is not two day shipping really anymore and seems to have the “we’ll email you when we have a delivery date” tag. That’s not acceptable for a $130 annual subscription with fast shipping a part of the deal. I’m only holding on to it because I bought stuff on Prime Video and don’t want to lose access to it. 

28 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I need to get rid of a few of my subscriptions. Hulu and Disney+ costs me $18/month now with subscription plus tax, but I still use Hulu the most so I am probably going to just cancel the Disney+ portion and keep Hulu. I barely use Peacock and Prime Video either. Actually, Prime hasn’t been impressing me on the shopping end lately…a lot of stuff is not two day shipping really anymore and seems to have the “we’ll email you when we have a delivery date” tag. That’s not acceptable for a $130 annual subscription with fast shipping a part of the deal. I’m only holding on to it because I bought stuff on Prime Video and don’t want to lose access to it. 

Any digital media you've purchased stays on your Amazon account. You won't lose access to it if you cancel Prime.

I personally don't feel like I get my money's worth from my Prime subscription either. If I did not share the account with a couple other family members I would probably get rid of it too.

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I'm hoping Hulu will still do the .99/month with 1.99/month Disney+ add on again but I don't feel like they will.

BTW, I was wondering when the Prime deals were ending because I want to get Hallmark+ on like the last day of the sale and TVLine is saying that the Hallmark+ deal is good until December 2nd so presumably the same goes for the other channels.

46 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I'm hoping Hulu will still do the .99/month with 1.99/month Disney+ add on again but I don't feel like they will.

I'm just hoping Hulu will do .99/month with ads.
My 1-year offer expired 3 days ago, so I'm paying 9.99 for this month, which should give me a chance to finish binge watching HIP - High Intellectual Potential (Eng Dub) and Interior Chinatown, after which I'll cancel if there's no offer.
The U.S. ABC version of High Potential resumes January 7, and I should be able to either watch live or record it at low res on my ancient DVR.

Only Murders in the Building is now showing season 2 on the CW, so if I miss season 4 on Hulu, it'll be available in a couple of years, and even if I get spoiled, my old brain will likely forget Who-Dunnit by then — assuming I'm still around and watching TV and that there's any TV in the world to watch (sunspots, y'know).

I was looking for deals on Veteran’s Day and discovered that if you are a veteran, you can get half off Paramount+ for the life of your subscription.  I’m not using it now because I have an annual plan and I would need to cancel and start a new subscription, but I’m due for renewal in a couple of months and they will apply it then.  It’s available year-round.

I just cancelled Peacock, but it’s also annual, so I’m stuck with it until June.  

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3 hours ago, meowmommy said:

I was looking for deals on Veteran’s Day and discovered that if you are a veteran, you can get half off Paramount+ for the life of your subscription.  I’m not using it now because I have an annual plan and I would need to cancel and start a new subscription, but I’m due for renewal in a couple of months and they will apply it then.  It’s available year-round.

I just cancelled Peacock, but it’s also annual, so I’m stuck with it until June.  

Do you have to upload your DD-214 or is it the honor versus stolen valor system?

FYI for those who did the .99/mo Black Friday deal for Hulu's ad-supported (boy howdy) plan that's expiring this month (whatever date you signed up), if you want to keep Hulu but not at $9.99/mo (they'd have to pay me $10/mo to deal with those ads, no way in hell would I pay them that) -- when I canceled I was offered six months at $2.99/mo.  (I declined.)

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15 hours ago, Bastet said:

FYI for those who did the .99/mo Black Friday deal for Hulu's ad-supported (boy howdy) plan that's expiring this month (whatever date you signed up), if you want to keep Hulu but not at $9.99/mo (they'd have to pay me $10/mo to deal with those ads, no way in hell would I pay them that) -- when I canceled I was offered six months at $2.99/mo.  (I declined.)

 

8 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I got the same Hulu $2.99 offer when I cancelled last month, and they offered it again via email a couple of weeks after that.

I didn't get that offer. Rude lol.

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12 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

 

I didn't get that offer. Rude lol.

I can PM you the promo code I got for that offer if Hulu doesn't offer a Black Friday Deal.

I am pretty sure Hulu will come through with some kind of Black Friday deal, though. They've done one for the past six years and all their competitors are offering something.

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16 hours ago, Raja said:

Do you have to upload your DD-214 or is it the honor versus stolen valor system?

You have to be verified. If you’re already on Sheer.id you don’t have to upload again. I can’t remember if I had to upload or not the first time, but I might have given them my VA card.

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I almost never use Peacock or Hulu, so I let both of them lapse this month. But now I feel like I should get them. I'm trying to be rational, though. 

I want to see Poker Face, if they ever release another season. Not sure what else, though. I think I did watch something on one of them recently, but now I can't remember what it was or which service it was on.

 

 

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3 hours ago, possibilities said:

I want to see Poker Face, if they ever release another season. Not sure what else, though.

I'm currently watching The Day of the Jackal on Peacock and enjoying it more than I thought I would.  It's still ongoing but if you have Peacock, it's worth a watch.

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I don't really know how all this works, but on my Roku home screen on my TV, in the "streaming store" they have Black Friday deals for various channels.  They were called things like "Max on Roku" ($2.99/mo for 6 months) or "Paramount+ on Roku" ($2.99/mo for 2 months).  I don't know if the "on Roku" is significant or not. 

There are probably 10 or 15 of them; no Hulu.

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I couldn't cancel Disney or Hulu today because my profile never showed up. It would flash in the upper right corner then vanish and all I could get was the sales page for Disney. Three different browsers, multiple codes because it wouldn't recognize my password. So fucking sketchy. I also tried the QR code on my phone and it wouldn't even send the code to my email. I'll try again tomorrow.

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19 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I don't really know how all this works, but on my Roku home screen on my TV, in the "streaming store" they have Black Friday deals for various channels.  They were called things like "Max on Roku" ($2.99/mo for 6 months) or "Paramount+ on Roku" ($2.99/mo for 2 months).  I don't know if the "on Roku" is significant or not. 

There are probably 10 or 15 of them; no Hulu.

I have 2 Roku TVs. 
I used this link on my laptop in the browser I never use to log into Hulu, but you could also just be sure to log out of Hulu on your everyday browser too:

12 hours ago, atomic said:

Hulu's $.99/month Black Friday Deal is back! Can also do Hulu with Disney+ for $2.99/month.

https://www.hulu.com/GMA

Actually, you could logout of Hulu and do it on your Roku too, but I don't recommend that. There's too much typing, IMO. 

Before you do it:

  • Make note of what shows you have in "My Stuff" if you don't want to have to start all over. 
  • Make sure you have a credit or debit card handy that you have never used for any Hulu accounts.
  • Make sure you have an email to use that you have never used on any other Hulu accounts.

After I was done setting up the new account, I logged out of Hulu on one of my TVs and then logged in with the new account (to make sure it was working).

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Make sure you have an email to use that you have never used on any other Hulu accounts. 

This annoys me. In years past, they only required that you not be an active subscriber for the previous 12 months, so I could switch off between two email addresses. Sure enough, I was just told that my "other" email is ineligible for the discount.

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(edited)
13 hours ago, ABay said:

I couldn't cancel Disney or Hulu today because my profile never showed up. It would flash in the upper right corner then vanish and all I could get was the sales page for Disney. Three different browsers, multiple codes because it wouldn't recognize my password. So fucking sketchy. I also tried the QR code on my phone and it wouldn't even send the code to my email. I'll try again tomorrow.

I was having issues like this with Hulu yesterday too so hopefully it was just a glitch.

8 hours ago, caitmcg said:

This annoys me. In years past, they only required that you not be an active subscriber for the previous 12 months, so I could switch off between two email addresses. Sure enough, I was just told that my "other" email is ineligible for the discount.

Ugh, same. Guess I'll have to think of another email to use lol.

ETA:

Quote

Savings compared to current regular monthly price. Offer for Disney Bundle Duo Basic plan only (includes Hulu (With Ads) and Disney+ (With Ads)): $2.99/month for 12 months, then auto-renews at $10.99/month or then-current regular monthly price. Ends 11:59 PM PST on 12/2/24. U.S. residents, 18+ only. Offer valid for new and eligible returning Hulu and Disney+ subscribers (who have not been Hulu or Disney+ subscribers in the past 1 month); Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney Bundle subscribers are not eligible. Cancel anytime, effective at the end of your billing period. No refunds or credits for partial months.

Sounds like you should be able to use an old account. I'll try it later and let everyone know if it works.

Edited by peachmangosteen
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This morning the wonderful Manuela at Disney+ got my account straightened out. The problem was, and this will sound familiar, that I signed up for the 2.99 deal last year with a different email account than the one on my Roku, and also that I'd signed up through Hulu rather than Disney...although it's all one so I don't knw why that mattered. Anyway...I now see my profile when I login on my PC and can cancel when I want. I'll probably wait until after Christmas because I want to see Dr. Who on Xmas day.

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11 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Sounds like you should be able to use an old account. I'll try it later and let everyone know if it works.

As I've posted before, I had always used Paypal to pay for my Black Friday deal and never had to deal with the issue with repeating a credit card, but I think that's no longer possible, and it recognized I'd been using it for my recent subscription. So I believe I can use my other account, but I need to pay with a credit card rather than Paypal.

I have inadvertently discovered how to get the Hulu deal every year without having to set up new email addresses and payment methods, and without losing any of "my stuff."

I signed up for the 99-cent Hulu during last year's Black Friday offer.  I got fed up with their ads and canceled it before the year was up--my last payment was on 9-23-24, and my subscription stayed active until 10-22-24 (the day before the next billing date).  I'm guessing very few people cancel a month early out of pique, when all they're saving is $1.07. 

But sometimes a principled stand wins, because today I got an email from Hulu to an email address I use only for Hulu, offering me this year's 99-cent Black Friday deal.  The fine print in the email says:  "New and eligible returning subscribers (who have not been Hulu subscribers in the past 1 month) only."

Aah, so I haven't been a subscriber since 10-22-24, which is more than 30 days ago.

I clicked on a link in the email to accept the offer, and it took me to a log-in screen that accepted the email address and password I established when I signed up last year.  Then it went to the payment page and the credit I card I used for last year's offer was already filled in.  It accepted the payment, and I immediately got a welcome email, and on the website, anyway, "my stuff" is still there in all its glory.

So just cancel a month before the year-long offer ends.  Or possibly two months, depending on when Thanksgiving (and the Black Friday offer period) falls.  My welcome email says my discount expires on 11-27-25, and Thanksgiving is on 11-27 that year.  If I cancel in early October such that my subscription expires on 10-27-25, I wonder if that will be good enough to satisfy the "not a subscriber for 30 days" requirement.  The 27th will be in the middle of the offer period--will it be sufficient to wait until 11-29-25 to sign up next year?  I don't know. 

So if I decide I might want more Hulu next year, I'll cancel two months early, to be sure I'm definitely outside the 30 days come Black Friday 2025.  I'm no Hulu scholar, but my impression is that nothing will appear and then disappear during that 60 days.  And if it does, oh well. 

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6 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I have inadvertently discovered how to …

🤩 😮 🤯 Wow!
🙃😵‍💫👏
I am going to include a link to this👆post in my Google calendar with a note-to-self

Spoiler

to “Cancel Hulu now. Re-up when offer arrives for Black Friday.” 


Thank you!

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