Sky FreeSat vs Subscription

humfer

Want to get my mother in law Sky for christmas as her aerial is about to go and cannot see the point of spending money to get it fixed as she would have to go digital soon as way
So should I recommend her to go Freesat for the one payment (thinks it £150) or maybe take out a subscription with Sky (3 months at £7.50 and then 9 at £15) but cancel after a year. The latter would work out cheaper if she went through a cashback site or cdwow (where you can get between £40-£50 in incentives). The only thing I worry about when cancelling after the year is what channels she would be left with. When I upgraded to Sky+ a few years back we put our previous digibox upstairs with the old sky viewing card in there but only get BBC1, 2 and ITV1 but not Channel 4 or 5. Any help appreciated

DjSatansfury

With Freesat, the "one off payment" only applies for 12 months doesnt it? So at the end, you'd end up with limited channels either way?

DjSatansfury

Scratch that, just checked and it doesnt mention anything.

randan

She will be left with the free to air channels which if she has a non-active sky viewing card (which she will) then the FTA does include Channel 4 and 5 etc.

As long as she/you remember to cancel the subscription - many people go for that option then 12 months later have got used to the £15 per month and forget to cancel it.

djhworld

Be reminded that freesat doesn't come with E4, E4+1 or More4.

Personally I'd reccomend just getting freeview surely the price of fixing the aerial + a freeview box will far outweigh the cost of paying for a subscription?

laird

Another possible option is to get a Sky system installed then pay for a £20 Free To View card on its own.

I shudder to say it but perhaps ebay might reveal a cheap satellite receiver otherwise local adverts? Installation is not a difficult task or when your having your aerial removed ask the contractor to put the dish up at the same time.

AMO

FreeSat is expensive. Go for the best Sky deal you can (probably with as many channels as possible especially leading up to Xmas) and then downgrade after a month or however many months. I think the best offer is 6 months half price on the full package.

Also use affiliate links or recommend a friend to get the best value. Because these packages are subsidised by Sky as a new customer you get best value.

Now that FreeView boxes have come down in price it's also worth getting one of these instead.

In terms of free channels, it depends on what you want to watch. There are some channels that are free on Sky that are not free on FreeView and vice versa. I believe E4 is free on Sky and some of the National Geographic / Discovery channels (some kind of planetary/nature channels) are free on Freeview. So it depends on what you want to watch. It is really worth spending a few minutes comparing this rather than regretting it once you've got the box.

AMO

Techno

I think we must all be sorting out mother in laws with sky for Christmas!! We want to do the same but wonder if you can get the quidco money and the refer a friend and if so, how??