How To Lower Your DirecTV Bill
Steps to Lower Your DirecTV Bill
- Gather Your Recent Bills – Collect your last three months of DirecTV bills to understand your charges and spot trends.
- Review for Unused Services – Check if you’re paying for channels, add-ons, or services you no longer use.
- Identify Key Areas to Cut Costs – Determine the biggest charges on your bill and decide where you’d like to save.
- Call DirecTV Loyalty Department – Dial (800) 531-5000 and speak with a representative.
- Negotiate While Keeping the Same Service – Ask if there are any available promotions or discounts that allow you to keep your current plan at a lower cost.
- Downgrade If Necessary – If no discounts are available, consider reducing your package to a more affordable option.
- Request One-Time Credits and Fee Waivers – Ask for any past late fees or other one-time charges to be removed.
By following these steps, you can significantly lower your DirecTV bill while keeping the services that matter most to you.
DirecTV and AT&T Discounts
AT&T purchased DirecTV in 2015 for $66 billion, but the investment quickly turned sour. As broadband streaming grew, satellite TV declined, leading to DirecTV’s downfall. Eventually, AT&T offloaded a large stake in DirecTV to a private equity firm for just $16 billion—a staggering $50 billion loss in less than a decade.
DirecTV’s troubles extend beyond financial losses. They’ve even faced lawsuits for refusing to close accounts when requested. Because of this, DirecTV is desperate to retain customers, making them more likely to offer large and recurring credits if you negotiate.
The Best DirecTV Discounts Are Gone, But Savings Still Exist
In 2018-2019, it was much easier to get deep discounts on DirecTV bills. Many customers received huge promotional discounts that disregarded their starting bill amount. Back then, AT&T bundled DirecTV with their wireless service, offering exclusive discounts and free HBO subscriptions.
Unfortunately, those generous promotions have mostly disappeared. HBO is no longer part of AT&T’s bundle, and it has been rebranded as Max.
Save on Premium Channels with DirecTV
One of the easiest ways to lower your DirecTV bill is by reviewing your premium and regular cable lineup.
Streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ have reduced the need for traditional premium cable channels like HBO, Showtime, and Starz. In the past, these channels were only available through a cable provider. Now, they can be purchased directly as standalone subscriptions—often at a lower cost.
Many DirecTV customers unknowingly pay for premium channels they no longer use because they were added as part of a free trial and auto-renewed at full price.
- Cancel Unused Premium Channels – If you’re not watching HBO, Showtime, or Starz, remove them from your package.
- Negotiate for Free Months – If you still want access, try calling DirecTV and threatening to cancel. Often, they will offer $15 off per month or a few months free to keep you subscribed.
- Repeat Every 6 Months – These promotions usually last for up to six months, but you can always call back and try again.
By leveraging DirecTV’s desperation to keep subscribers, you can reduce your bill significantly and maximize your savings.
Lower Your DirecTV Bill by Reviewing Your Channel Lineup
Beyond premium cable channels, it’s important to analyze your overall channel lineup. If you have 500 channels but only watch 10, you’re likely overpaying for unnecessary content.
Downsizing your package could save you up to $50 per month, though typical savings range between $10 and $30. The best part? These savings are permanent, and you usually won’t lose much content that you actually watch.
Get DirecTV Loyalty Discounts
You don’t necessarily have to eliminate premium channels or reduce your channel lineup to save money. DirecTV frequently offers loyalty discounts to keep existing customers from canceling.
How DirecTV Loyalty Discounts Work
- DirecTV has special retention offers that they provide when customers call to cancel their service.
- These offers change every two weeks on Thursdays and vary by account.
- Some customers have received discounts as high as $200 per month, though the average loyalty discount is around $40 per month.
How to Ask for a DirecTV Loyalty Discount
DirecTV is one of the most generous service providers when it comes to loyalty discounts. In comparison, Verizon only grants loyalty discounts 20% of the time, whereas DirecTV offers them about 60% of the time.
To maximize your chances of getting a discount:
- Ask a customer support representative if there are any available discounts on your account.
- If they don’t offer you a loyalty discount, ask again—sometimes a second request does the trick.
- If that doesn’t work, request to be transferred to a supervisor or the loyalty department.
Considering DirecTV Alternatives?
Not sure if switching providers will actually save you money? Check out our guides on reducing your Fios bill or cutting your U-Verse bill to explore your best options.
How to Extend DirecTV Promotions
You might already have a promotion on your DirecTV bill without realizing it. Instead of letting it expire, you can request an extension to keep saving money.
- Reps often note active promotions on your account and will tell you when they expire. In many cases, they’ll automatically offer to extend them for a few more months.
- If they don’t offer an extension, ask for it yourself—even if your promotion isn’t set to expire yet.
- Don’t just settle for their first offer. Push for a longer extension—for example, getting 24 months instead of just 12 months of savings.
DirecTV One-Time Credits
Even if you can’t lower your recurring bill, there are still ways to get one-time credits to reduce your next bill.
- If you’ve been charged late fees or other service charges, ask to have them waived.
- Many customers have also been able to get movie purchases refunded, especially if they were accidental.
- Simply ask: “Is there any way you can help lower my next bill?” Many reps will offer a $50 courtesy credit just for asking.
Maximize Savings Across AT&T Services
Since DirecTV accounts are often linked with AT&T wireless and internet, you might be able to negotiate additional savings on those services as well.
Want to lower your AT&T internet bill too? Check out our guide to maximize your savings across all AT&T services.
Other Ways to Save
Sometimes, the best way to lower your DirecTV bill is to cancel the service altogether.
While DirecTV hasn’t raised prices as aggressively as providers like Spectrum or Comcast, they still increase rates by about $20 per year.
If your bill is too high, consider switching to online TV services like:
- YouTube TV
- Sling TV (our top pick for affordability)
- FuboTV
Most of these streaming alternatives still offer live TV, but at a lower cost—especially Sling TV, which has plans starting around $40 per month.
With NFL Sunday Ticket moving to YouTube, there’s even less reason to stick with DirecTV. Cut the cord and save!
Lower Your DirecTV Bill with Negotiatemybill
We hope this article helped you find the best ways to reduce your DirecTV bill and maximize your savings.
If you’d rather let the experts handle the negotiation, Negotiatemybill is here to help.
Click the link below to register and start saving today!
Looking for even more ways to cut costs? Check out 56 additional tips on cheap ways to live from Smarts.co.