The price increase is already written down. It is on Peacock’s own help page and on Verizon’s own support page, and it lands on your bill in the next three weeks whether or not you ever get a notice.
If you already pay for Peacock, the new prices hit your next billing date on or after September 17. If you get Disney+ and Hulu through your Verizon plan, the perk price goes up the same day - and because it is billed with your phone line, there may be no email at all. The increase just shows up.
I have done this dance before, with my own bills and with my kids’. The streaming bill is the one bill in the house nobody reads, because it is ten small charges that each look too small to matter. That is exactly how the money walks out quietly. Last year I found three subscriptions on my own card that I had completely forgotten - a cloud storage plan for a phone I traded in, a music app I opened once, and a magazine bundle I signed up for to read one article. None of them sent a goodbye note. They just billed.
So here is what changed, what it costs, and the 20-minute keep-or-cut that settles it before the bill does.
What Changed
Peacock
Peacock raised every plan on August 18 for new subscribers. If you subscribed before that date, the new price lands on your next billing date on or after September 17. The numbers, straight from Peacock’s help page:
- Select (with ads): $7.99 to $8.99 a month
- Premium (with ads): $10.99 to $12.99 a month
- Premium Plus (no ads): $16.99 to $19.99 a month
The annual plans went up too - Select to $89.99, Premium to $129.99, Premium Plus to $199.99. One bright spot: if you pay annually, you keep the old rate until your renewal date, not on September 17. Your renewal is the only day that matters for you.
The Disney Bundle Through Verizon
Verizon posted the notice on its own support page, and it is worth reading twice: the Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ perk rates change September 17, and they change for people who already have the perk - not just new sign-ups.
- With Ads perk: $10 to $12 a month
- Premium Upgrade (ad-free): $20 to $23 a month
- For Movie Lovers on Simplicity: $23 to $25 a month
- Legacy bundle (no perk): $24.99 to $27.99 a month
- The $15 legacy perk: unchanged. If you are on that one, nothing moves.
The $2 rise on the $10 tier is 20 percent. That is $24 more a year for the same three services.
Disney+ Itself
Here is the part that surprised me when I checked: Disney+ direct is not going up on September 17. Its prices went up last fall - the ad-supported plan is $11.99 a month and Premium is $18.99 today. I mention it because Verizon’s page still advertises the perk as a “$21.99 value,” and that number assumes the old comparison. Before you assume the perk is still the bargain it used to be, check it against what Disney charges directly right now. The bargain may still be there. The point is to look instead of assume.
What It Adds Up To
Add the pieces and the picture gets honest. A household with Peacock Premium and the $10 Verizon perk pays $4 more a month after September 17 - $48 more a year. A household with Peacock Premium Plus and the ad-free Verizon perk pays $6 more a month - $72 more a year. That is the quiet math of this round: no single increase is big enough to make you call anyone, and together they are a real line on the budget. None of it is a fortune, and all of it is a choice.
The Trap That Makes This Round Different
Three things make the September 17 round sneakier than the usual price bump.
The date is the same for everyone. Peacock and Verizon land on the same day, so the increases show up in the same billing window. If you glance at one bill and not the other, you have already missed half the story.
Carrier perks do not send renewal notices. When you get Disney+ through Verizon, the charge rides on your phone bill. A streaming service emails you before a price change; your phone company does not. The increase simply turns up on your September or October bill. And in places, Verizon’s own page still advertises the $10 price - the marketing copy lags the change. Do not wait for a notice you are not going to get.
The paying-twice trap is real. Verizon’s FAQ warns about it at length: if you already pay Hulu directly and you add the perk, the perk does not automatically replace your Hulu subscription. You can end up paying both - and the FAQ says plainly that no refunds are given for subscription fees already paid. If Hulu is billed to your card and your Disney comes through Verizon, this is the month to check.
The 20-Minute Keep-or-Cut
Twenty minutes, a piece of paper, and one honest rule: a service you have not opened in 30 days is not worth more just because it costs more.
Step one: the one-month-of-honesty list. Write down every streaming charge from your last bank or credit card statement - name and amount. Then write, next to each one, the last time you actually opened it. Not the last time you meant to. The last time you did. This is the same exercise we ran in the subscription purge earlier this year, and it is where most people find their answer before they even reach the questions. While you are at it, check your Apple ID and Google Play subscription pages too - some charges hide under the app store’s name instead of the service’s.
Step two: the three questions. For each service on the list, ask:
- Did I open this in the last 30 days?
- Would I notice tomorrow if it disappeared?
- Is this the only place the thing I watch lives?
Two no’s and a maybe is a cancel. One yes and two no’s is still worth a hard look. The one show is the reason to keep a service - just make sure it is the one show you are actually watching now, and not the one you watched last winter. If the answer to the third question is yes, you are done - write “keeper” next to it and move on. The list gets shorter fast when you give yourself permission to keep what you actually use.
Step three: the paying-twice check. If your Disney comes through Verizon, log into My Verizon and look at the perk. Then check your card statements for a separate Hulu or Disney+ charge. Paying twice is the most expensive mistake in this whole round - two charges, no refunds, and one of them is about to go up.
Step four: decide before September 17, and cancel where it is easy. You can keep or cancel either way; the only wasted move is deciding after the new price lands. Cancel Peacock through the app or its website, and cancel the perk through My Verizon - the support page says the perk is not welded to your plan. And here is the safe part: canceling is reversible. Every service in this article will happily take you back the day you miss it. That safety net is what makes this a twenty-minute decision instead of a two-week one.
Step five: check the September bill. If you are a perk customer, the increase just shows up - no email, no line item labeled “price change.” When the September statement arrives, read it before you pay it. You are not looking for a surprise. You are confirming the decision you already made. If you spot a charge you did not expect, that is not a mistake to live with - it is a decision to make today, and the service will still be there tomorrow if you want it back.
What to Do Now
Pick one thing today:
- Write the list - every streaming charge and the last time you opened it. Ten minutes.
- If you have Disney through Verizon, check your card for a separate Hulu or Disney+ charge. Five minutes, and it might be the most valuable five minutes of your month.
- Decide on the services you did not open this month, and cancel before September 17.
- If you pay for Peacock annually, find your renewal date - you keep the old price until then, and the calendar is your friend.
The price of everything goes up. The question is whether you are still getting your money’s worth - and September 17 is the perfect day to decide.
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