Airtel HD cost reduction help needed.

[Imrahn]

Been using Airtel HD for over a year and currently noticed my monthly rates have gone up way too much. Am I doing something wrong like activating the wrong package or something? coz Videocon D2H I have at my other home gives almost(?) the same channels at around 500 a month.

Regards
Imrahn

 

[technobhatt]

Ohh man, you are paying way too much to Airtel !!

What you're doing is...adding lots of minor packages which high costs by subscribing them individually.

All you have to do is...subscribe their MAGNUM HD pack worth around Rs. 600 and your monthly charges will be reduced a lot and still you'll get all the channels except following channels:
SuperHitz, Star Gold Hitz, HBO Hits, HBO Defined and all the Pay Per View movie channels...
Rest assured, Magnum HD will provide you all the channels and this package has a limited cause, that will allow newly added channels' subscription without any extra charge and any extra increase in package price.

 

[Imrahn]

Thanx a lot, Technobhatt bhai.....is the one below, the pack u mentioned?The cost is for 6 months payment.

Regards
Imrahn

 

[technobhatt]

Thanx a lot, Technobhatt bhai.....is the one below, the pack u mentioned?The cost is for 6 months payment.

Regards
Imrahn

You're most welcome Imrahn!
Yeah, that's the package by name. But it should be actually 'MAGNUM HD' instead of just MAGNUM. In MAGNUM, you wouldn't get any HD channel, hence it is little cheaper. Hence be careful. Subscribe to MAGNUM HD only. But before doing so, make sure you unsubscribe all your current top-ups online or by calling to customer care.
After doing that, again login to your account and check if any top-up is still showing up or not.
Don't subscribe to new package before removing all the top-ups.
After all the top-ups are disappeared, then you should proceed with changing the package. Please see the screenshot below.

One more suggestion, instead of subscribing 6 month or yearly package, go for monthly package. You never know when you gonna change your package or may be sometime you may think you wanna change the DTH provider itself.
Just don't look for saving some bucks, look for some peace of mind as well. I'm just saying it by looking at various users experiences only

 

[Imrahn]

^^ Thanx bro, got it. But, in my case, only the South Ultra Standard 17 HD May-13 is showing up when I select 'Monthly Package'. Only upon selecting Long Term and that too, 6 months that the Magnum 6M 17 HD pack is available.

Btw, that pack is Magnum HD(if you check the full name) with all 17 HD channels packed and have the largest number of channels, 255.

Thanx and regards
Imrahn


EDIT: Now, am more confused. The Magnum HD 6m ADV package for INR 3318/- is giving 277 channels compared to the previously mentioned one for 4450/- having 257 channels, both providing all 17 HD channels.

 

[technobhatt]

^^ Thanx bro, got it. But, in my case, only the South Ultra Standard 17 HD May-13 is showing up when I select 'Monthly Package'. Only upon selecting Long Term and that too, 6 months that the Magnum 6M 17 HD pack is available.

Btw, that pack is Magnum HD(if you check the full name) with all 17 HD channels packed and have the largest number of channels, 255.

EDIT: Now, am more confused. The Magnum HD 6m ADV package for INR 3318/- is giving 277 channels compared to the previously mentioned one for 4450/- having 257 channels, both providing all 17 HD channels.

I also checked Magnum HD pack named as 'Magnum 6 Month 17 HD ADV Offer July-13 Month' which shows 255 channels and priced as 4450/-. If you check the list, it also has all the 17 HD channels just like the package named as 'Magnum HD' only which is priced at 3318/-.
Don't worry, first try to unsubscribe all the top-ups, wait for 1 or 2 hours and then again check what option comes under monthly package.
You can also try to call Customer Care and get to know about Magnum HD packs. But I'm certain Airtel's CC executives don't know much though.
If the price difference is a technical bug, then feel free to take advantage of it by subscribing the cheaper package which is no different.

 

[Imrahn]

I also checked Magnum HD pack named as 'Magnum 6 Month 17 HD ADV Offer July-13 Month' which shows 255 channels and priced as 4450/-. If you check the list, it also has all the 17 HD channels just like the package named as 'Magnum HD' only which is priced at 3318/-.
Don't worry, first try to unsubscribe all the top-ups, wait for 1 or 2 hours and then again check what option comes under monthly package.
You can also try to call Customer Care and get to know about Magnum HD packs. But I'm certain Airtel's CC executives don't know much though.
If the price difference is a technical bug, then feel free to take advantage of it by subscribing the cheaper package which is no different.

Yea, bro...will do as u told. Am currently disabling the top up packages one by one and once all are gone, will do a side-by-side comparison of channels in the 2 Magnum packages and choose the one that suits.

Will update which one I will be going with.

Your help is much appreciated.....
Imrahn

 

[nowwhat?]

I also checked Magnum HD pack named as 'Magnum 6 Month 17 HD ADV Offer July-13 Month' which shows 255 channels and priced as 4450/-. If you check the list, it also has all the 17 HD channels just like the package named as 'Magnum HD' only which is priced at 3318/-.
Don't worry, first try to unsubscribe all the top-ups, wait for 1 or 2 hours and then again check what option comes under monthly package.
You can also try to call Customer Care and get to know about Magnum HD packs. But I'm certain Airtel's CC executives don't know much though.
If the price difference is a technical bug, then feel free to take advantage of it by subscribing the cheaper package which is no different.

Yea, bro...will do as u told. Am currently disabling the top up packages one by one and once all are gone, will do a side-by-side comparison of channels in the 2 Magnum packages and choose the one that suits.

Will update which one I will be going with.

Your help is much appreciated.....
Imrahn

It's that time of the year and my 1 year long duration pack with Airtel is now over. Over the past few months, I have been cursing myself why I didn't go for Videocon DTH. On comparison of both providers, Videocon is cheaper by a whopping 3,000 for their highest long duration (1 year) package.

Imrahn: Could you please let me know your experience? Did you get all 17 HD channels with the Magnum HD monthly pack? If what you did works, I would like to make the change suggested by technobhatt today.

technobhatt: I see that you are online, Could you please reply how many HD channels are available in Magnum HD?

PS: technobhatt: I read the posts once again and now I am even more confused. Could you please suggest what I should do? I am looking for all HD and English SD channels (in Magnum I think) for the cheapest possible price. I am OK with switching to monthly or 6 months. I am planning to go through all the above posts slowly once again.

Right now I am on South Mega 12HD.

 

[leekaifu]

it will do a side-by-side comparison of channels in the 2 Magnum packages and choose the one that suits.

 

[technobhatt]

It's that time of the year and my 1 year long duration pack with Airtel is now over. Over the past few months, I have been cursing myself why I didn't go for Videocon DTH. On comparison of both providers, Videocon is cheaper by a whopping 3,000 for their highest long duration (1 year) package.

Imrahn: Could you please let me know your experience? Did you get all 17 HD channels with the Magnum HD monthly pack? If what you did works, I would like to make the change suggested by technobhatt today.

technobhatt: I see that you are online, Could you please reply how many HD channels are available in Magnum HD?

PS: technobhatt: I read the posts once again and now I am even more confused. Could you please suggest what I should do? I am looking for all HD and English SD channels (in Magnum I think) for the cheapest possible price. I am OK with switching to monthly or 6 months. I am planning to go through all the above posts slowly once again.

Right now I am on South Mega 12HD.

There are 17 HD channels in Magnum HD pack and in this pack, you get all the channels available in Airtel including SD and HD except Pay Per View Channels (StarGoldHitz/SuperHitz), HBO Hits and HBO Defined.

 

[nowwhat?]

There are 17 HD channels in Magnum HD pack and in this pack, you get all the channels available in Airtel including SD and HD except Pay Per View Channels (StarGoldHitz/SuperHitz), HBO Hits and HBO Defined.

technobhatt: Can't thank you enough. I have been a disgruntled Airtel customer for almost 1 year, but now I am happy! I surfed through all the channels and I was shocked with how much I was missing. Previously, I would call Airtel for single channels such as FX and they would ask me to take an expensive "chota" pack just to get one channel when I already received all the others.

Took the pack you suggested yesterday itself. Switched to monthly as well. I simply don't understand Airtel's pricing where long duration packs cost more than a monthly pack. Just like Airtel's postpaid mobile plans cost many times than a prepaid plan.

With the new package, I intend to continue on Airtel until such time as the money I paid for the HD DVR STB has depreciated enough so that I can switch to Videocon or whatever is popular at that time.

Thanks once again!

 

[technobhatt]

technobhatt: Can't thank you enough. I have been a disgruntled Airtel customer for almost 1 year, but now I am happy! I surfed through all the channels and I was shocked with how much I was missing. Previously, I would call Airtel for single channels such as FX and they would ask me to take an expensive "chota" pack just to get one channel when I already received all the others.

Took the pack you suggested yesterday itself. Switched to monthly as well. I simply don't understand Airtel's pricing where long duration packs cost more than a monthly pack. Just like Airtel's postpaid mobile plans cost many times than a prepaid plan.

With the new package, I intend to continue on Airtel until such time as the money I paid for the HD DVR STB has depreciated enough so that I can switch to Videocon or whatever is popular at that time.

Thanks once again!

Glad to help!! Hope your DTH experience comes to peace of mind after subscribing Magnum HD.
No matter how much discount they offer on long term plan, I would suggest to continue with monthly rental only.
I have its earlier similar version (All Round Pack) since August 2011 which costs me Rs. 551/month. Just because Airtel had to increase the price a little, they started Magnum HD, but All round pack remained intact, but it's not available to new customers anymore. I know I have been paying much more than I watch TV (that too only for Sports, News & Occasional Hindi movies), but I never had to bother about adding or deleting a particular channel. All the new channels were added automatically as and when they were launched without any price increment.
I know Airtel sucks in its customer service, but now it doesn't bother me anymore as I don't need them at all. I have been sticking to Airtel just because I don't wanna loose this convenience of knowing everything abt Airtel DTH and moreover I have updated 2 TB HDD in STB, that's another reason.
But, I don't advise any new person to take up Airtel; but suggests them to go for Videocon D2H.

 

[mathan]

Technobhatt,

I'm also using Airtel HD and I'm not sure if I am paying the right price. Started off with Rs.550/-South Ultra Package and now I am paying Rs.715/-. I need all HD channels and south package mainly Tamil channels and all English SD channels(including SD movie channels). I never subscribed for the star gold Hitz but don't know how it has been clubbed as a free top up now. Attached the current package page from Airtel. Please advice the best package.

 

[technobhatt]

Technobhatt,

I'm also using Airtel HD and I'm not sure if I am paying the right price. Started off with Rs.550/-South Ultra Package and now I am paying Rs.715/-. I need all HD channels and south package mainly Tamil channels and all English SD channels(including SD movie channels). I never subscribed for the star gold Hitz but don't know how it has been clubbed as a free top up now. Attached the current package page from Airtel. Please advice the best package.

I think same issue with your packaging as the thread starter Imrahn had.

You shall also go for Magnum HD if interested in watching all the HD & SD channels without any other rearrangement. This will certainly reduce the price and you don't have to worry about any extra channel subscription.

I don't know what blunder Airtel is doing now a days!! I checked various Magnum Packages and it seems Airtel has increased the price from 590 to 650, but still I can see old Magnum HD package appearing. If we see the number of channel listed in these packages; higher package have less number of channels

Anyways, but I suggest you do it online to save money.


First of all follow the process mentioned in post no. 4.

And then subscribe to the highlighted package as in below screenshot.
Please note, there is no difference in South Magnum & Non-south Magnum. Both have same number of channels including all HD and SD except PPV channels, HBO Hits & HBO Defined.

Just try it how it goes for you.

 

[shuknopata]

Dear technobhatt bhai, i want to buy new Airtel HD DTH. I want all sports HD+SD channels+Nat Geo HD+ History HD. I live in Bangladesh so it will be impossible for me to top up any new channels. So is the Magnum HD best for me as they automatically add the new channels here? What is the cost of this channel for a new customer? I saw 615 Rs - 740 Rs price range in different forums.

 

[mathan]

I think same issue with your packaging as the thread starter Imrahn had.

You shall also go for Magnum HD if interested in watching all the HD & SD channels without any other rearrangement. This will certainly reduce the price and you don't have to worry about any extra channel subscription.

I don't know what blunder Airtel is doing now a days!! I checked various Magnum Packages and it seems Airtel has increased the price from 590 to 650, but still I can see old Magnum HD package appearing. If we see the number of channel listed in these packages; higher package have less number of channels

Anyways, but I suggest you do it online to save money.


First of all follow the process mentioned in post no. 4.

And then subscribe to the highlighted package as in below screenshot.
Please note, there is no difference in South Magnum & Non-south Magnum. Both have same number of channels including all HD and SD except PPV channels, HBO Hits & HBO Defined.

Just try it how it goes for you.

Thanks Technobhatt. I cancelled all the topups and (was not able to do it online and had to call Airtel to cancel it) wanted to subscribe to the Magnum 17 HD standard pack and as usual Airtel messed up. I was not able to do it online as I tried changing the pack and I received invalid request to my mobile as SMS. I called the Customer care to make the change and this Customer care guy changed the pack to Ultra 17 HD pack instead of Magnum pack. The ultra pack has 203 channels and the Magnum pack has 283 channels. I am not sure if he did it intentionally. When I went online to check the change package link is disabled for my account. I have called and blasted them and they told that they would change the package again in 24 hours. It is always a horror story when it comes to Airtel.