MS365

Alnwickist

Went through the palaver of registering for this forum just to come and say THANK YOU! Saved me £25.

FYI, if cancel autorenewal and switch to Classic, they don't take payment immediately, just schedule it when due for renewal (in my case, May). xA

frostiecuk

EddyM said:

Doshwaster said:

I subscribe to M365 but always get a new subscription every year rather than let it auto-renew as there are always offers on if you shop around.

I can understand the tech companies wanting to make their money back on all of their AI investment but a such a big increase for Copilot does seem excessive. If it had been a pound or two a month I might have gone along with it but at that level I won't bother.

This is what we always do too, except we buy several years at a time when it's on offer (usually best price is on Amazon for Black Friday and Prime Day), as you can add further years onto your existing subscription at any time rather than waiting until it's due for renewal (what you're buying is basically a code that you apply to the subscription in your Microsoft Account). Last time we topped it up was with a 15-month subscription (of Microsoft 365 Family) for £42.99 in July 2024, and it currently expires in September 2027. And it looks like we're still getting the AI stuff added as well, without paying any extra.

I thought this was going to be the "trick" mentioned in the headline, but it's not mentioned in the article at all. Maybe it's not a particularly good option right now (currently £69.99 for 15 months on Amazon), but surely it would still be worth mentioning and explaining how it works in the bit with other options at the end?

Actually looking at the table with the prices again, even that is still £10 cheaper than the "old price" per year, but it's actually got 3 extra months too, so people could buy several of it now to save money on what they would have already been paying for the next few years even if there hadn't been any changes *and* still get the new AI stuff too! (unless I'm missing something?)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Protection-Subscriptions-Antivirus-Activation/dp/B08V5M5N29

(That current best-value option also comes with McAfee for some reason but ignore that, you don't have to install it!)

As mentioned, currently £69.99 for family and £57.99 for single licence. Its a shame it hasnt been mentioned in the article, but one thing is worth mentioning is you can bulk buy at a cheap price and stack them on top of each other. So you could buy 2 now at £140 and be good for 30 months - £4.67 per month for a family (or £1.17 per person based on family of 4). Also with 1Tb of storage, you could turn off other storage (iCloud etc) and make even more savings.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Protection-Subscriptions-Antivirus-Activation/dp/B08V5M5N29/

rufford155

Does any body know if I switch to Classic do I still get Outlook ?

For me, that's more difficult to replicate than Excel, etc.

tracey137

Apologies if someone has already asked this but I bought my subscription through Apple - I don't think there's a way for me to cancel now and opt for Classic is there?
TIA

poyntzj

Is this not against "Unsolicited Goods" ?

I have not asked for Co-pilot, indeed, actively do NOT want it, but MS are forcing it upon us with an increase in charge

poyntzj

Also, buy the license from <whatever shop>.  Some have good deals right now, 15 months with a free AV (though do not install the AV unless you want trouble - it is just cheaper).  If none around, wait, one shop will have some soon.

Go into your MS account and add the license.  You can add upto 5 years/licenses in one go.  I do this on the family pack, so I need to get 3 more at the current prices.

frostiecuk

poyntzj said:

Is this not against "Unsolicited Goods" ?

I have not asked for Co-pilot, indeed, actively do NOT want it, but MS are forcing it upon us with an increase in charge

I never asked for additives to be added to my diesel many years ago, however that was forced on me and prices increased. They the right to change the offering - if you dont like it use one of the many free alternatives. Also thanks for clarifying you can stack up to 5 years

poyntzj

frostiecuk said:

poyntzj said:

Is this not against "Unsolicited Goods" ?

I have not asked for Co-pilot, indeed, actively do NOT want it, but MS are forcing it upon us with an increase in charge

I never asked for additives to be added to my diesel many years ago, however that was forced on me and prices increased. They the right to change the offering - if you dont like it use one of the many free alternatives. Also thanks for clarifying you can stack up to 5 years

Guess so with Diesel, but there are environmental benefits as well as benefits to the vehicles themselves, and the BIO aspect is legislation.  And who really knows how the price of that is set - a whole different discussion for that,

this is just a company grabbing more money with no tangiable benefit for most, and indeed, if you are a student, it could be catastrophic if it is detected CoPilot is used in your essays / course work etc.

dawnriser

Thank you MSE for the warning and advice about keeping the same MS 365 subscription. I have just cancelled my MS 365 Family sub, due to renew in September at over £100 and subscribed instead to the Classic version. Only human intelligence needed to save money on an unwanted AI feature. 

proud_nanny

Just to say thank you MSE for the heads up and how to not pay the extra charge. I have just done as suggested and gone onto Classic. My payment in March will be at the old price of £5.99. I have no need for AI