DIRECTV’s New All-Included Plans: Are They Better?
Early in 2016, DIRECTV unveiled a totally revamped pricing model, the All-Included plan. Its primary goal was to dramatically increase the transparency around the fees tacked on to your monthly bill. Specifically, HD access, DVR usage and receiver leasing fees. Previously, those combined fees could increase your bill anywhere from $7 to $49/month, depending on your programming plan and total number of TVs. The All-Included plan now wraps ALL of those fees into one base monthly price…and it actually includes access for up to 4 TVs. So, folks with only 1 TV connected won’t see a substantial savings, but if you have 3+ TVs connected, you’re likely to save upwards of $15/mo. Read on for all the details…
New All-Included Prices
First off, let’s cover the new prices for each of the all-included plans (compare DIRECTV’s plans here):
- SELECT all-included: $50/mo
- Entertainment all-included: $55/mo
- Choice all-included: $60/mo
- XTRA all-included: $70/mo
- Ultimate all-included: $75/mo
- Premier all-included: $125/mo
All pricing is during your 12-month promotional period. After a year, monthly, regular prices tend to increase about $40/mo. Again, the major upside here is final cost. Before all-included, you were likely to get an average of $25+ added to your bill. Now, the prices are, without exception, what you’ll end up paying at month’s end.
Overall, is All-Included Cheaper?
For the most part, yes. And, especially, if you hook up 3 or more TV’s to a Genie DVR system. Each all-included plan is priced to include HD, DVR and receiver fees for up to 4 rooms (so, eg, if you choose a Genie, you’ll get the main Genie DVR box and up to 3 Genie minis, all included free). Previously, those were all extra line items on your bill…
HD & DVR – for 1 TV, access to HD programming and the usage of your DVR went for $15/mo
Extra TVs – every extra TV you hooked up to the Genie network would’ve cost you $6.50/TV/month.
So, for example, 3 total TVs with Genie would’ve run you about $35/mo just for HD/DVR access. On top of that, depending on the complexity of your install, you could’ve also been charged for a custom install. Extra fees or taxes were often added as well. With the All-Included plans, the only line item on your bill is the cost of your programming plan. Easy, clean and simple.
So, all told, households with multiple TVs will save about $15/mo with the All-Included setup.
Are the older plans still available?
Nope. When All-Included first launched, both plan setups were simultaneously available for a short time. After folks got up to speed on how All-Included worked, all plans were transferred over to the new model. We expect All-Included to stick around for a while, so those older plans are probably gone for good (and for the best).
Whats been the general reception?
The vast majority of the feedback we’ve received surrounding All-Included has been positive. Nobody likes guessing at what their bill will be from month-to-month and the new plans remove all the confusion and uncertainty of the previous packages. The only downside we’ve heard is the automatic inclusion of 4 rooms. For households with only 1 TV, they didn’t particularly like paying for TVs they’ll never use. Overall, though, full transparency, especially in home services industry, is a relatively rare thing these days. Hats off to DIRECTV for listening to their customers and making their new pricing crystal-clear.
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