Earlier this week, over on Fioney, I finally got around to doing a review of Walmart+. In that review, I noted that Walmart+ was currently underway and that a “surprise deal” was set to be revealed later. Well, as promised, that deal was unveiled on Thursday — and it’s one that actually applied to me!
For a very limited time, Walmart+ members can get six months of Paramount+ with SHOWTIME for free. Normally, this streaming plan would cost $11.99 per month, amounting to a savings of $71.94 for this deal. However, since Walmart+ already includes Parmount+ Essential and allows members to upgrade to this plan for $6.49 a month, the actual savings are more like $38.94.
So, aside from the obvious, what are the differences between Paramount+ Essential and Paramount+ with SHOWTIME? Well, first, the latter is mostly ad-free but does still have ads on “a few shows.” Second, the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan allows you to stream your local CBS affiliate. Lastly, yes, this tier includes SHOWTIME content that isn’t available to regular Paramount+ subscribers.
The catch here is that, once your six months is up, you’ll be auto-renewed into the higher plan. This will cost $6.49 a month (or $64.99 a year), and will apparently be billed with your Walmart+ membership. On the sign-up page, it also notes that there are no refunds, so Walmart advises members to cancel before their trial is up if they don’t want to pay this fee. On that note, however, the FAQ states “You’ll be able to opt out of auto-renewal at another time. Please check back later for details.” That’s slightly concerning, but hopefully things will be ironed out when I go to cancel in about five months.
Since I already make use of the Paramount+ Essential plan that comes with my Walmart+ membership (which itself is courtesy of my America Express Platinum card), I figured I’d opt into this offer — mostly just so that I could watch The Daily Show without ads for a few months. With just a click of a button, my offer was live and my Paramount+ account updated instantly.
Ultimately, while I wouldn’t say I need Paramount+ with SHOWTIME, this six-month upgrade is a pretty nice perk from Walmart+ Week. Now I just hope that the next season of Frasier happens to be released during this period. Anyway, if you’re a Walmart+ customer and want to take advantage of this deal, be sure to claim it before it expires on June 23rd.