This deal was spotted by Loop reader David Kaplan. I tried to find the hole in this logic, but seems like a genuine bargain.
DirecTV is running a limited time offer:
– Prepay for 3 months of DirecTV Now (online access to DirecTV)
– Get a free Apple TV 4K
– Cancel any time
The lowest tier of DirecTV Now costs $35 a month. Prepay that for 3 months, that’s $105, and get yourself access to DirecTV Now for 3 months and get an Apple TV 4K.
Read the fine print. Let me know if you see a flaw in this logic.
As always, caveat emptor.
Needless to say I ordered this! And credit to my wife who actually told me about the offer!
Flaw for me. No 4K TV!
I ordered about a month ago when the deal was prepay for four months (still a good deal). I got my Apple 4K TV about three days after signing up. No problem at all.
You don’t need a 4K TV to use the Apple TV 4K. I have mine connected to my 1080p TV.
I did this. And got the AppleTV. And am sticking with DirecTV Now, as I enjoy their service more than the other streaming services.
I am not sure where it said non-ATV 4k but I read the fine print and here you go:
*4K Apple TV (32 GB): Must prepay first three months of service at full price. Online orders will be shipped via FedEx ground to address provided. Allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. Offer limited to 1 per DIRECTV NOW account; 2 per shipping address. Not combinable with select offers. 4K HD not available with DIRECTV NOW.
More info to sweeten this deal.
Some BankofAmerica card holders can get $35 statement credit for Directv Now service.
Cash back site befrugal dot com is giving $22 back for Directv Now(another $10 for first time users) or ebates dot com is giving $16.
So with BoA card and via new befrugal user
105-35-32=38 is the final price for Apple TV.
I also did this a while back. I watched Directv for a few hours during the Olympics, but have seen no reason to since then. I feel a bit bad cancelling, but 40 channels of garbage isn’t worth $5 a month to me, never mind $35. Thanks for the Apple TV though!
That fine print says nothing about a requirement for a 4K TV. The 4K AppleTV works fine on any HDMI-capable TV, even if it doesn’t support 4K.
I ordered this and got it several days later. I added HBO for $5/month, best deal I’ve found for HBO. I will cancel before my three months and the Apple TV is a great deal!
Getting this inspired me to research other ways of cutting the cord. I did find that after several days that I absolutely need a DVR, which DirecTV Now does not offer.
I am now testing TV.YouTube, which has a pretty good cloud based DVR. I was recording and watching NCAA Men’s tournament yesterday, kind of a drag that there is no way to ask it to add 30- 60 minutes to the scheduled time- several games did not have the final minutes “recorded”.
The TV.YouTube.app interface is very inconsistent between Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, and in Chrome on my Mac. I’m confused every time I switch devices, but it is probably better than the DirecTV Now app. It is pretty amazing to be able to watch my DVR while out of the house and around town.
What others have you tried?
I’m pretty sure it’s a targeted promotion, only made available to a subset of BofA accounts. Check if you’re eligible:
https://promotions.bankofamerica.com/deals/
I did thanks. I logged in just a little while ago and it is a featured promo. Thanks for the heads up!
Did you see this BOA deal on the Direct TV site or at BOA?
Oh, and by the way, the iOS app sucks. I was watching something on my iPad, paused it, and it started over. Tried a few times to get back to the spot I paused and lost sound plus it kept starting over. Hopefully it works better on the (now amazingly affordable) Apple TV. The app has dismal ratings, 2.5 stars.
Check the fine print of the BoA deal. My bank offered a similar deal, but it doesn’t count with a free trial. Has to be a paid subscription.
It says nothing about their ability rate creep you while using the service, a tactic DirectTV has been involved with forever.
This isn’t a free trial though, you are paying up front for three months.
Good point. For some reason, I got it twisted in my head and was thinking you paid for the Apple TV at a discounted rate and got a 3 month trial. So, yeah… Do that thing.
Yea, I read the fine print on BOA and as long as you pay for one month, the discount applies. Great deal really, if the DTV app was better I would consider staying with them. But as is, not good. Overall though $70 for the service for 3 months and a “free” AppleTV.
Thanks for the heads up Dave!
Sling… did not like their interface. YouTubeTV… they didn’t have an AppleTV app at the time, and the channel list was limited, although I quite enjoyed their iPad app. Any of them would have worked for me, but DirecTV was my favorite.
I found immediately that the iOS app is not good at all, and that’s putting it nicely. I paused a tv show (not a live show) and when I tried to continue playing it the show started from the beginning again. I never left the app either. Then I restarted the app and the sound was muted. Then it froze, then I got an error message. I am hoping the Apple TV app is better. Has your experience with the app been better?
I’ve only used the iOS app here and there… not a lot so can’t really comment on that. The AppleTV app is somewhat buggy, but it was my favorite of the AppleTV choices. I’ve paused things here and there and the app will sometimes crash or not allow me to continue if I wait too long. I am on the beta for their new app, which is a lot better than the old (current) app, but you can tell they are still working out the bugs on that. The beta offers recording, and the interface includes tv show descriptions and artwork, much like the YouTubeTV iPad app.
Got mine already! Incredible deal! Ditto to Joel, Simon, etc..
There are some decent free apps too if commercials are okay with you. Pluto TV is one, Crackle, and Tubi TV come to mind.