HBO for $12

HBO is the best content provider out there, although Netflix is gaining on it with original content like House of Cards, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Orange is the New Black.  HBO has the best original content; past series like The Wire, The Sopranos, Band of Brothers, and new series like Game of Thrones, Veep, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and True Detective.  Until today you had to have a cable subscription (read: sell your soul to the evil empire) in order to get HBO.  But today that changed.

Chromecast + travel router
Chromecast + travel router

I like to travel with my iPad, to watch shows and films on the airplane, and my Chromecast + travel wifi router to watch at the hotel.  The iPad is pretty straight forward to use but the Chromecast works with the hotel internet only about 30% of the time.  If you have suggestions on ways to make it work better by navigating  the hotel “paywall” let me know.

Currently I subscribe to HBO for $20 a month through my cable provider (Wave broadband, I refuse to give my money to those other guys).  When on the road I use the HBO GO app for my iPad or stream it to my Chromecast.  It’s a good travel companion when flying solo.

Photo: HBO/Apple
Photo: HBO/Apple

Today Apple announced that beginning in April you will be able to subscribe to HBO Now through your Apple device (iPad, iPhone, Apple TV).  The big question is will you pay the $15 a month fee directly to HBO through having to enter a credit card, or will it be charged directly to iTunes.  My hope, and best guess, is that you will be charged the fee through your iTunes account.  Not only does it make it easier to subscribe (who doesn’t have an iTunes account) but it also makes it so that Apple can immediately skim their take off the top of the fee.

This is where you can score some discounts and/or miles.  It is pretty easy to find 15-20% discounts on iTunes gift cards at Target, OfficeMax, or online.  If you use a airline shopping portal (like Alaska’s Mileage Plan Shopping), you can score additional miles for these purchases.  Load those iTunes gift cards in to your iTunes account and best case scenario you get a month of HBO NOW for $12 with some bonus miles.

It has yet to be seen if HBO NOW will be paid for through iTunes or through having to manually enter a credit card.  I’m hoping for the former so that additional discounts can be found.

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