If you’re thinking of ways to spend time with (or avoid) your family during Thanksgiving or Christmas, you can currently sign up for a year of HBO Max with ads for $2.99 a month ($8 off). The ongoing Black Friday promo is available to both new and returning subscribers, runs until December 1st, and saves you about $96 over the course of 12 months. The deal is particularly welcome right now, given that HBO Max received yet another price hike just over a month ago.
A subscription to HBO Max Basic lets you stream TV shows and movies in HD on up to two screens at once. To stream in 4K, you’ll need to step up to a Premium subscription, which isn’t on sale and costs $22.99 per month. The HBO Max library includes a number of acclaimed series, such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, The Pitt, and It: Welcome to Derry. Its current movie catalog spans a wealth of newer films, too, including Superman, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Weapons, and A Minecraft Movie.
One limitation of an ad-supported HBO Max plan is that you can’t download movies or TV shows for offline viewing — that feature is only available for Standard and Premium subscribers. If you were planning on taking advantage of HBO’s deal to load up your phone or tablet with movies to get you through holiday travel, you’re out of luck. Still, we don’t expect an HBO Max subscription to go on sale again for a bit, and the ad-supported plan is a good, cheap way to catch up with shows and movies you may have missed.
