SiriusXM Radio Annual Subscription Costs

We’ve had satellite radio for years and the cost has been going up. We have an annual subscription and with the royalty fee plus tax we were paying ~$264. Today I called to cancel the subscription for a few months and to see if I could get a better price. They said how much they wanted our business so they offered a special rate of $175/year. I said no then they went to $136/year. I asked if they would hold that price at renewal time and they said no. I then asked about any promotions that they are currently running and they dropped it down $82/year for one year. They won’t hold the price but they did say I should call back before the renewal and they would see what they could do. Each time she put me hold and came back with the revised offer. I felt like I was buying a used car. The process took about 30 minutes. If anyone has a renewal coming up, I’d give them a call.

Good info!

joke

Every year at renewal time I have to call them. And its the same dance, I call say I will not pay, and they lower it, they also dont tell you that a second account or third are much cheaper, so make sure you have all your accounts under one name. I have it in my car and boat. and I think its $5 for the second account.

I guess they just hope the account auto-renews and no one notices.

Agree... If you are willing to play the game it's a lot less expensive. Even when I pay by credit card I request they NOT keep it on file. It prevents them from just bumping the $ up to full price after the "promotional" period.
I've taken advantage of a second acct 6 mo promotional $ in the motorhome and suspend it if home before it ends... you get credit for suspended time and can use it towards any subscription, kept as an acct credit or have it refunded.

The worst thing I did, or didnt do. When I got my first car with Sirius in it, they offered me a $350 for a lifetime subscription. I said no. Figured it would get cheaper. Nope.

3 lifetime subscriptions. First one was $125, second was $165 and third was $200 and you know what, I hardly use them anymore. With Pandora and a few others that are free we use them all the time. And the IPOD is fully loaded and no ads.
Its allways a game, Sirius doesn’t work with XM and visa versa. Transfer fee continues to go up, we should upgrade....you get the idea.
Kinda like the Cable TV game we played for so many years, it gets old.

I wonder if they will still be in business after G 5 is widespread?

I've had the XM weather subscription for years in aviation, and for a short time for boating.

Their billing department is really screwed up. Overcharges, undercharges and everything in-between. PITA. Finally gave up.

As for music, there are better options that are simpler.

Crusty Chief said:

3 lifetime subscriptions. First one was $125, second was $165 and third was $200 and you know what, I hardly use them anymore. With Pandora and a few others that are free we use them all the time. And the IPOD is fully loaded and no ads.
Its allways a game, Sirius doesn’t work with XM and visa versa. Transfer fee continues to go up, we should upgrade....you get the idea.
Kinda like the Cable TV game we played for so many years, it gets old.

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Does Pandora work once out of cell phone coverage range?

sunchaser said:

Does Pandora work once out of cell phone coverage range?

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I can answer that .... no. However, I got the WeBoost extender, doing the Loop had perhaps once or twice without cell and internet service. Exception was Canada where I still got coverage, but they limit usage up there.

Now, what's the deal with an IPod.... built in music?

We have used Sirius as far south as Panama and all through the Caribbean on Hobo. Not many alternatives once your out cell range.

Seevee said:

I can answer that .... no. However, I got the WeBoost extender, doing the Loop had perhaps once or twice without cell and internet service. Exception was Canada where I still got coverage, but they limit usage up there.

Now, what's the deal with an IPod.... built in music?

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Just a portable storage devise from Apple, current one is loaded with over 500 hrs of music, mostly from our library at home. Once in awhile we will download music. It can also be used as a movie storage devise if needed.

Larry M said:

We have used Sirius as far south as Panama and all through the Caribbean on Hobo. Not many alternatives once your out cell range.

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Someone asked how we got reception to Panama. We were introduced by another cruiser to a 12dBi Pixel Pro-500 antenna. I mounted it on a piece of 12” square plywood and used some lead weights to hold on the foredeck. It was portable since you had to adjust the elevation and azimuth. Once we got that we were good to go. We couldn’t use it under way since it had to pointed to the north over the US but at anchor unless we were really sailing around it was fantastic. In marinas it worked unless there were buildings in the way. It was good for news and sports and for less than $100. We had friends who tried the Pro-600 but it didn’t work as well.

Here are some links and info:

https://pixelsatradio.com/xm-radio-pro-500-commercial-amplified-antenna/

https://pixelsatradio.com/content/pdfs/PRO-500_Instructions.pdf

Crusty Chief said:

Just a portable storage devise from Apple, current one is loaded with over 500 hrs of music, mostly from our library at home. Once in awhile we will download music. It can also be used as a movie storage devise if needed.

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Kinda like an MCP player, and you still need speakers, amp and power?

Seevee said:

Kinda like an MCP player, and you still need speakers, amp and power?

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Yep, Mostly used with a charge cord and plugged into the stereo, both in the car or the boat. We have used it with the Bluetooth and a portable speaker. With the cord it stays charged up and will continue to play until we unplug it.

Does anyone have experience with SeriusXM up the inside passage all the way to AK? If reception is available, it sounds like a good option to stay in touch with news, as well as having a good music selection at hand.

As far as pricing, yes there are always promotions, and they will keep cutting price to keep you. I seem to recall paying $30 for six months service for a “one time promotion” on a car I purchased, and after I cancelled, they kept sending me offers to renew st the same rate. I am sure that on average, many people just blindly renew it year after year at whatever the current rate is. Remember, the marginal cost to them to add each new subscriber is very near zero, so anything they can get from you falls right to the bottom line, not to mention the benefit they having more subscribers gives them in terms of the stock market’s evaluation if the business.

I would guess, based on using my car a lot between Victoria and Campbell River, that reception will be on and off. The satellites are positioned to get the majority of North American population south of Seattle. So when you have good line of site south you will have good reception, other times not so much. If you are in a fjord or inlet oriented east and west, the reception will not be great or not at all.

Having said all that, I'm having SeriusXM installed in my boat as when I do get it, I like it. My car is on XM most of the time, depending on location it is on all the time or sometimes cutting out to no reception. Just one of the special benefits of living north of all that population.

I have used it for years, works the inside passage to Alaska. Very few spots where you will lose service.

I have it in my car, about $6 per month, and then for no additional charge I can stream it through my marina's wifi on the same account. When we're away from the marina I could still stream it on my cellphone's data signal and it doesn't eat much of the data allowance, but on the water I'd rather disconnect anyway. I usually hate subscription stuff but overall I think it's a pretty good deal.