Magazine Subscription Costs?

[ExFlyBoy5]

I was curious how much people are paying for magazine subscriptions these days. The only physical magazine I get is "Air Classics" (old airplanes) and have had it for years. Well, it's time to renew and they have sent me a GREAT OFFER!! 12 issues: $48.95 or 24 issues: $69.95. I am somewhat dumbfounded at the cost. I went online to see if there was a special of sorts and couldn't find one. I did find that I can subscribe to "Flying" for about $13 a year, which is in line with what I am used to.

I like the magazine, but that seems awfully pricey to me. Thoughts?

 

[Aerides]

If it's niche, and they have a healthy circulation, they might be able to get away with it. Renewal offers always suck. They are almost always worse than the initial sign up which seems like a bad way to run things, but that's the way the industry works.

I only subscribe to one magazine now, but I go thru Amazon and browse their deals and add another "deal" to tag onto my sub every few months. I get a $70 annual magazine for $20 that way.

I also tried a couple other magazines recently, and found it was really convenient to cancel mid-sub and get refunded the balance.

 

[braumeister]

If you have airline FF points you can often use them for magazine subscriptions. Worth a look, anyway.

 

[REWahoo]

Check out this place to see if they offer a deal on the magazine you want: https://www.discountmags.com/

 

[prudent_one]

It's a sister publication to "Sea Classics" which I used to buy for my father. It was around the same price. My feeling is it's got a pretty small circulation so the price has to be high for it to survive. You can get kindle editions through Amazon for a lot less but that didn't work for my father.

 

[travelover]

I use Amazon for most of my magazine subscriptions, though your magazine might not be listed.

 

[davebarnes]

We get 17 magazines/newspapers.
We pay between zero$ (controlled circulation) and $612 (Sunday New York Times in print).
We like paper.

 

[audreyh1]

I only have electronic subscriptions.

 

[OldShooter]

On this month's Visa I find a $549 charge for three years of The Economist combined paper and digital editions. It's the only "serious" magazine I read.

In the end, it's always about value not price. Does Air Classics provide ~$4 per issue of value to you? The Economist costs me well under $1/hour for the time I spend with it. That's good value for me.

 

[COcheesehead]

I only subscribe to one and I get it free through Mags for Miles.
https://magazinerewards.mileageplus.com/20000744/

 

[travelover]

.........The Economist costs me well under $1/hour for the time I spend with it. ........

I'm a slow reader, too. J/K

 

[HI Bill]

I just renewed Sound & Vision - $24.97 for two years.

 

[W2R]

I have not subscribed to any paper magazines for over 55 years.

 

[rk911]

my wife gets Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Day for ~$15 p/y combined. I get True West and MotorHome for ~$20 each. TW is excellent!

 

[Montecfo]

We get 17 magazines/newspapers.
We pay between zero$ (controlled circulation) and $612 (Sunday New York Times in print).
We like paper.

You are my hero. I get two daily newspapers (yes I did say PAPERS) and a few magazines. None as expensive as that. I usually let them lapse and renew with "deals".

 

[LiveBelowMeans]

Buy an iPad and subscribe to Apple news plus. You get over 300 magazines and news papers including the Wall Street journal for $9.99 per month. You can take it anywhere and great when traveling. Flying was one of the many magazines included. Jmho.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

$0, we go to border books once a month and read the ones we want. Cost... OK a cup of coffee. DW got a couple free with here Delta Air Miles before they expired.

 

[euro]

You are my hero. I get two daily newspapers (yes I did say PAPERS) and a few magazines. None as expensive as that. I usually let them lapse and renew with "deals".

Same here - daily WSJ and NYT paper. I think we are the only ones left on our block who still get papers delivered. Newspaper delivery must be a tough line of work these days....

 

[rk911]

Buy an iPad and subscribe to Apple news plus. You get over 300 magazines and news papers including the Wall Street journal for $9.99 per month. You can take it anywhere and great when traveling. Flying was one of the many magazines included. Jmho.

tried reading the local paper on our tablet, tried reading a book on a kindle. didn’t like either. i prefer holding the paper, books and magazines.

 

[wmc1000]

I like paper and get a few mags each month. Usually I will let them lapse if they go over $10 per year.

We subscribe to our local newspaper but only get the Sunday Edition delivered. Mon-Sat I download the pdf version of the local plus the e-edition of USA Today which is included in our sub. It does mean I have to use the desktop computer as it has a large screen which "almost" makes the paper real. as it has close to the regular width of a single page and I only have to scroll down.

 

[COcheesehead]

tried reading the local paper on our tablet, tried reading a book on a kindle. didn’t like either. i prefer holding the paper, books and magazines.

I get our local paper in a digital edition. The app it is served up to me in shows the paper just like the printed edition, ads, inserts and all. I can even enlarge areas to greater detail and I don't get any ink on the fingers.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

The last magazine I subscribed to was MoneySense magazine but they went completely digital with a non-paid subscription website a couple of years back.

Our local library system also has online access to a pretty wide selection of local and international magazines and newspapers and I've been making use of that.

 

[mickeyd]

One of the surprise benefits to living in a CCRC is that they subscribe to WSJ and local paper daily, so I just have to ask for it @ Front Desk. There is a rather large location in our library here where residents have access to dozens of magazines. When one resident finishes with one they place it in correct slot (Texas Monthly, SI, TIME, Archaeology, etc) for the use of anyone who wishes to read it next.

 

[Midpack]

My feeling is it's got a pretty small circulation so the price has to be high for it to survive. You can get kindle editions through Amazon for a lot less but that didn't work for my father.

I only have electronic subscriptions.

Our local library system also has online access to a pretty wide selection of local and international magazines and newspapers and I've been making use of that.

Physical magazines are going away just like newspapers, it’s just a matter of time / generations. So as hardcopy circulation declines, prices will increase until there are not enough subscribers to keep them afloat - they then go online or out of business. Amazon and Apple offer tons of mags for a low price, or you can get hundreds of magazines free from your local library through services like RB Digital and others. I read mags on RB Digital regularly, I’m notified whenever a new issue of my favorites is available. Getting them online is much better for the environment and much easier too. We stopped taking physical mags at least 10 years ago.

 

[audreyh1]

Buy an iPad and subscribe to Apple news plus. You get over 300 magazines and news papers including the Wall Street journal for $9.99 per month. You can take it anywhere and great when traveling. Flying was one of the many magazines included. Jmho.

We ended up doing that mainly for DH. Nice set of magazines. I don’t use it much though.