I Cancelled Netflix and Cut Down to One Video Subscription: How to Spot Double Subscriptions

Good morning, this is まさきん.

During my morning card statement check, I noticed we were paying for two video subscriptions. I cancelled Netflix that same day and narrowed it down to Disney+ alone. Here’s how it went and how I decided which one to keep. I have also added how we switched to watching Disney+ inside our Tesla.

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I noticed it during my morning statement check

Every morning, our household runs a little routine: based on the previous day’s card statement, I come up with one idea to improve our finances. It’s a small system, but it’s become part of my morning.

One morning, an unfamiliar monthly charge showed up on the statement. A Disney+ subscription had started. It was billed via PayPal, and the statement showed ¥1,080 a month.

That’s when it hit me. We were still subscribed to Netflix too.

Our Netflix was the cheaper plan with ads. I paid for it directly by credit card, at ¥890 a month. In other words, we had two video subscriptions running side by side.

Looking only at the amounts, each is around ¥1,000. But we were paying twice for the same purpose: watching videos. That might be a textbook case of duplication.

I cancelled Netflix the same day

I cancelled Netflix the very day I noticed. I decided to keep just Disney+ and went straight through the steps.

If you put it off, the next charge comes around again. So I feel it’s best to act the day you notice.

The savings come to ¥890 a month. Over a year, that’s ¥10,680. Each one is small, but over a year it adds up to a decent amount.

I switched what we watch in the Tesla, too

We sometimes watch videos in the car. Our car is a Tesla, and its screens can play streaming services.

Since I had cancelled Netflix, I wanted the car to match. So we switched to Disney+ in the car as well.

How video works in a Tesla

Teslas have a feature called Theater. It lets you watch streaming services on the screen while parked.

The owner’s manual lists Netflix, YouTube and Hulu as examples. Disney+ was not among those examples.

Logging in through the browser worked

So I opened the Disney+ website in the Tesla browser. After logging in, it simply started working.

It works not only on the front screen but also on the rear seat screens. Being able to watch from every seat is a real help for our family.

Once you log in, it may open right away next time.

Things to know when watching in the car

Here is what I could confirm in the manual.

On the front screen, video pauses once you shift out of park. You cannot watch while driving.

The rear screen is described as continuing to stream while driving. On long drives, that is the most helpful part.

When you are out, phone tethering also looks like an option. In that case, your phone data allowance starts to matter too.

Why double subscriptions are hard to spot

What struck me this time was the difference in billing routes. Disney+ went through PayPal, while Netflix was charged directly to my card.

When routes differ, the names on your statement differ too. Via PayPal, I think it often shows up with PayPal in the name. Charged directly to your card, it shows the service’s own name.

So even though both are “video subscriptions,” they wear different faces on your statement. Unless you line them up, it’s hard to notice they’re payments for the same purpose.

Checking both services’ official prices

For this post, I checked both services’ official prices. First, Netflix.

The one I cancelled was the top one, Standard with ads. According to the official help, ads play a few times per hour. Due to licensing, some titles apparently aren’t available.

Next, Disney+.

The official site says both plans include unlimited access to all titles. The yearly plan is described as effectively 2 months free. However, the yearly option seems to be limited to signing up through the official site or app.

Why my statement differs from the official price

Some of you may have noticed: my statement said ¥1,080, which doesn’t match the official monthly price.

I haven’t looked into the reason for the gap this time. So I won’t guess about it here. I’ll just note that the amount billed can vary depending on your payment method and plan.

If you’re curious, I think checking the subscription details in your account is the surest way.

How to decide which one to keep

Which one to keep depends on the household. Here’s a table of the criteria, based on what I looked at.

The most important one might be the top one: “what your family watches.” Even with a good price and features, it’s pointless if the shows you want aren’t there.

On the other hand, simultaneous streams matter more in a bigger family. If kids and adults watch in different rooms, you’ll want to check the device count too.

Steps for deciding which to keep

When you’re unsure, thinking it through in this order seems to work well.

1. Write down the titles your family actually watched in the past month
2. Check which service has those titles
3. Check how many devices you sometimes watch on at once
4. Talk as a family about whether you need ad-free viewing or downloads
5. Check the yearly plan and billing route for the one you’re keeping
6. Check the next billing date for the one you’re dropping, then cancel

That last one, the “next billing date,” also affects how long you can keep watching after cancelling. I’ll go over that in the next section.

How to cancel Netflix

According to Netflix’s official help, the steps are as follows.

1. Log in to the membership management page
2. Select “Cancel”
3. Press “Finish Cancellation”

Once done, you should receive a confirmation email. However, “Cancel” may not appear on your account in some cases. In that case, the guidance is to cancel through the partner company that bills you.

How long you can watch after cancelling

Netflix says that even if you cancel mid-billing period, you can keep watching until the end of that period. You can apparently check the date your account closes in your billing history.

Disney+ likewise says that if you signed up through the official site or an app store, you can watch until just before the next billing date. For other routes, you seem to need to check the partner company’s site.

So you don’t lose access the moment you cancel. Since nothing looks different on the surface, it can be hard to tell whether it’s actually stopped.

If you want to come back

Netflix says your viewing history and so on are saved for 24 months after your account closes. If you rejoin within that time, your recommendations and ratings apparently come back too.

Even after quitting once, I think you can just come back when something you want to watch comes out. Subscribing only during the months you want to watch could be one way to use it.

Where to cancel Disney+

With Disney+, where you cancel depends on how you signed up. Here’s what I could confirm from official information.

If you signed up on the official site, you cancel on the MyDisney side even if you pay with PayPal. Note that it’s not done from the PayPal screen.

The official FAQ says deleting the app doesn’t cancel your subscription. Google Play’s help has a similar warning.

Common mistakes and pitfalls

Here are the easy places to trip up when sorting out video subscriptions.

• Starting a new subscription but forgetting to cancel the old one
• Not realizing two charges on your statement serve the same purpose because they come through different routes
• Deleting the app and thinking you’ve cancelled
• Recording it as “done” on the day you file the cancellation
• Explaining away the gap between your statement and the official price with guesses

The fourth is a mistake I’ve made before. I wrote about it in detail in the post about subscriptions that kept charging after I wrote “cancelled”. The lesson then was to count it as done only when “the next charge didn’t come.”

So this time too, I’ll check the next statement to confirm the Netflix charge has stopped. I haven’t confirmed it yet, so in this post I’m only going as far as “I filed the cancellation.”

Check before you start

• I listed every video subscription we pay for
• I checked the billing route for each (direct card, PayPal, app store, etc.)
• I am aware the name on my statement may differ from the service name
• I checked which service has the titles my family watches most
• I checked the next billing date for the one I am dropping
• I planned to check my statement on the first billing date after cancelling

FAQ

Q. Should I narrow down to just one video subscription?

I think it depends on the household. If the shows you watch are split between both, two might make sense. A good first step is to check whether you’re paying twice for the same purpose.

Q. Will I lose access to Netflix right after cancelling?

According to the official help, you can keep watching until the end of the billing period. You can apparently check the date your account closes in your billing history.

Q. If I rejoin Netflix, will my viewing history come back?

Your viewing history and so on are said to be saved for 24 months after your account closes. If you rejoin within that period, it apparently comes back.

Q. Can anyone choose the Disney+ yearly plan?

It’s said to be available if you sign up through the official site or app. Through partners like docomo, only monthly plans were listed.

Q. Why does my statement amount differ from the official price?

The amount billed can vary depending on your payment method and plan. In my case, too, I haven’t checked the reason. I think checking the subscription details in your account is the surest way.

Q. Where do I cancel a subscription paid via PayPal?

If you signed up for Disney+ on the official site, you cancel from your MyDisney account. PayPal is just the payment method, so I think the cancellation happens on the service’s side.

Q. Does deleting the app cancel my subscription?

No. The Disney+ official FAQ says so, and Google Play’s help has the same warning.

Q. Can you watch Disney+ inside a Tesla?

In our case, logging in through the Tesla browser worked. It also works on the rear seat screens. Note that video on the front screen pauses while driving.

Official sources I referred to

• Netflixの料金プラン(Netflix ヘルプセンター)
• Netflixのキャンセル方法(Netflix ヘルプセンター)
• 広告つきプランについて(Netflix ヘルプセンター)
• 入会方法・料金プラン(Disney+ 公式ナビ)
• Disney+とは(Disney+ 公式ナビ)
• 解約をご検討の方に(Disney+ 公式)
• アプリを削除すると解約になりますか?(ディズニーDX ヘルプセンター)
• Google Play での定期購入の解約(Google Play ヘルプ)
• Theater, Arcade and Toybox (Tesla Model Y Owner’s Manual, Japanese)

Summary

This was the story of spotting a duplicate video subscription during my statement check. It saves ¥890 a month, or ¥10,680 a year.

It might not be a big amount. But learning how different billing routes make duplicates hard to notice was worth it. I’ve written about how to look for duplicates in my post on finding duplicate subscriptions. For the overall process, how to get started reviewing fixed costs may also help.

It might be worth counting, just once, how many video subscriptions show up on your statement.

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