How to cancel your Foxtel subscription

So you’ve had Foxtel in your home for the past few years, but lately you’re always looking at the bill and wondering. Am I spending too much money on this? Do I really need it? After all, Foxtel can get expensive, especially if you’ve been subscribing to multiple channel packs – sports, movies, drama, docos, HD, it all adds up. Maybe, you think, it might be time to cancel Foxtel.

And if you do decide that it’s time for you and your trusty iQ remote to part company, the good news is that it’s not difficult at all to cancel your Foxtel service. But while you’re thinking about your TV viewing, there’s a few options available that will cost you less money than what you’re paying now for Foxtel, and they’re worth considering.

How to cancel Foxtel

If you’ve decided it’s time to cancel, you’ll need to pick up the phone – you can’t cancel your Foxtel service via your online account. But don’t worry – it’s a simple enough process. Simply call the Foxtel customer number and when prompted by the voice menu, say “disconnection”.

You’ll be asked to confirm that’s what you said, then you’ll get transferred over to a very helpful real person who will cancel your service and let you know if there are any charges left over that need to be paid. 

You will receive an email with a confirmation of all the details – and instructions for returning your iQ box. It’s important you do this – otherwise Foxtel will send you a hefty bill for the missing box! There’s no charge to you for having it shipped back.

But why cancel?

One reason you might be in the mood to cancel is the simple fact that you can get the exact same service for cheaper elsewhere – in this case, Foxtel From Telstra. As the name suggests, this is quite literally the same Foxtel service, with the same iQ4 box, but managed and billed by Telstra. And they have some very, very nice deals for new customers available. 

Same Foxtel at a lower cost

As one example, the full “Platinum Plus” bundle direct from Foxtel (which includes every channel the service has to offer) costs a whopping $139 per month. But if you go with Foxtel from Telstra, that exact same bundle costs only $99 per month – a $40/month saving, or nearly $500 saved every year. And it includes a full Netflix subscription too!

And for customers new to Foxtel from Telstra, there’s no charge for installation and no charge for the iQ4 box (if you haven’t used an iQ4 yet, this is the perfect opportunity to get one!) 

If you’re aiming for more specific package types, there’s bargains like the Sports HD bundle for only $50 a month, giving you full access to Australia’s best sporting coverage on top of the base Foxtel channel packs, which is $24 cheaper than you’d get it through regular Foxtel.

Because you’d be getting your Foxtel supplied and billed by Telstra, there’s also the opportunity to bundle entertainment and broadband in some serious value in other areas. One of the benefits of being with Telstra is the ease of bundling together the services you need all on the one account – and the simplicity of only having to deal with one bill. Check out our Foxtel from Telstra review to know more.

Ways to watch after cancelling

If you decide that the time has come to cancel Foxtel completely, though, you’re not going to be starved of options. There are plenty of alternative sources of quality TV around in what is becoming an intensely competitive market, and the winner is going to be your hip pocket.

Same live sports for less

For sports fans, for example, even the generously priced $50 bundle above is arguably beaten by the streaming service Kayo Sports. Costing only $25 per month – with no lock-in contracts and no need to install anything – Kayo delivers all of Foxtel’s sport in full HD, both live and on demand, along with a bunch of great extra features and some sports coverage exclusive to the platform.

To get the most out of it you’ll want a nice fast broadband connection and a device that can do the streaming for you. Telstra Broadband is a great choice, with Telstra plans and bundles that comes with the popular Telstra TV streaming box – and you can just have Kayo added to your bill for no-fuss, no-contract sports goodness. If you’re keener to get into football action, Optus Sport gives you exactly that for only $14.99 per month.

Drama without the drama

And as for Foxtel’s extensive range of other content – from drama and movies to docos and reality TV – there are excellent, incredibly affordable options available from a range of streaming providers. You might not cover exactly what you’re losing by cancelling Foxtel, but you’ll be getting quality content at a fraction of the price. Some choices to consider are BINGE, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, and Britbox. If you want to retain most of the Foxtel content but without the hassles of long contracts, there’s also Foxtel Now. We’ve taken a look at some of the best of those options, and it’s well worth checking out.

Free trials with streaming TV services

The best way to avoid overpaying for your entertainment is to take control of it and make it work to your advantage. Whether that means cancelling Foxtel and moving over to Foxtel from Telstra, or ditching Foxtel altogether and going full on into streaming, the choice – and the ability to save a lot of money – is in your hands. There are several streaming services to choose from in Australia, and most of them still offer free trials. Check them out below.