Martin Lewis's top hacks to beat the newest Netflix price hike

That's because from next month, the cost of the streaming site's standard and premium accounts is set to rise by up to £24 a year for existing subscribers, which if you're feeling the pinch, is quite a substantial amount.

Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert has come up with the goods once again though, by putting together 18 hacks to ensure you get the most from your subscription while also cutting the cost:

Can you beat the price hike? Save up to £96/yr

There are three different levels of Netflix subscription – the more you pay, the more screens you can watch on simultaneously, the higher the quality you can watch in and the more devices you can download to.

So depending on the plan you're on, there may be an easy way for you to slash the cost.

Many Netflix users – the "vast majority", according to The Guardian in 2018 – are on its £9.99/mth standard package (£8.99 before the new price hike), while others pay £13.99/mth (previously £11.99) for premium.

If you subscribe to standard or premium, it's now more important than ever to check if you really need to be on those plans.

If you don't need all the bells and whistles – for example, if you only watch on one screen at a time or aren't fussed about HD or ultra HD – then switching to the £5.99/mth basic package (the price of which is staying the same) could save you up to £96/yr.

To do this, log in to Netflix, go to 'Account' and then under 'Plan Details' hit 'Change plan'. Select the plan you want to switch to, press the 'Continue' button and then 'Confirm change'. You'll be switched to the new plan right away, but won't get money back – you'll pay less the next time you're billed, so do it as close to your next billing date as possible.

Watch (limited) Netflix for free

You can now watch a few TV programmes and films for free on Netflix – you don't even need to create a Netflix account to do it.

Go to netflix.com/watch-free and you can stream some Netflix Originals – ie, shows and movies made exclusively for Netflix – without paying a penny.

At the time of writing, the free films – which you can watch in full – include Bird Box (starring Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich), Murder Mystery (with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler) and The Two Popes (Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce).

The free series available, of which you can only watch the first episode of the first series, include Stranger Things, Our Planet and Grace and Frankie.

These tasters allow you to decide if it's worth signing up to see more.

Unfortunately you can't get Netflix for free on iOS devices such as Apple iPhones and iPads as iOS browsers are not supported, but you can access it on Android phones and tablets or via laptop or desktop computer.

The Netflix split trick – watch on your own device for as little as £3.50/mth

This is a trick to cut the cost if others in your household have their own Netflix subscription – or are thinking about signing up.

The Netflix standard plan, which costs £9.99/mth, allows you to watch on two screens at the same time (and entirely independently, so you don't have to be watching the same thing).

This means you could get one subscription, split the cost with your other half, a family member or housemate and pay just £5/mth each – a saving of at least £59/yr each – with the added bonus of being able to watch in HD.

Even better, if you live with three others who use Netflix, you can split the premium plan, which costs £13.99/mth and allows you to watch on four screens at once – so you'll pay £3.50/mth each for Netflix, and you can watch in ultra HD too. 

What's more, you don't have to worry about messing up one another's watchlists or where you've got up to with a particular show or film, as you can create separate profiles, allowing each person sharing the plan to tailor Netflix to their tastes.

Don't pay for more than one subscription in a household

OK, so this is basically the same point as the one above, but it's worth ramming it home.

As Netflix lets you share your plan with anyone in your home, and its standard and premium plans allow multiple people to watch different content on different devices at the same time, it's almost NEVER worth paying for more than one subscription in the same household.

You're usually better off getting a pricier plan and splitting the cost.

The main exceptions to this would be if you're not comfortable splitting the bill with someone, or where more than four people in one home want to watch at the same time on different screens, in which case even the premium plan won't cut it.

Otherwise you'll likely save by sharing a subscription, and get HD or ultra HD thrown in as a bonus.

Beware – sharing with someone who lives elsewhere is technically forbidden

It's fine to share your plan with the people you live with, but Netflix's terms of use say that "the Netflix service and any content viewed through the service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household".

In 2016 Netflix said it wasn't "obsessed" with enforcing the no-sharing-outside-the-household rule, but it is technically against its rules.

Only watch Netflix? You don’t need a TV licence

If you don't watch any 'live' television (ie, programmes being broadcast on a TV channel) and you don't watch anything on BBC iPlayer (live or catch-up), then you don't need a TV licence.

So if you only watch Netflix or similar services such as Amazon Prime Video, or catch-up via ITV Hub, All 4, My5 etc, you can save yourself up to £157.50 a year by ditching your TV licence. 

There's a trick for students to use their parents' TV licence to watch live telly and use BBC iPlayer while at university.

For full details visit Money Saving Expert

Check if you really need Netflix – alternatives may be cheaper

While it's the biggest, Netflix is far from the only streaming service out there. So don't assume it's the best option for you – alternatives may be cheaper, or you may want to mix and match what you're signed up to, making the most of the various free trials on offer.

If there are specific shows or films you want to watch, check which services have them, then weigh up what the best – and cheapest – option is for you. 

Also check if adding to your TV package could be cheaper

If you already have a TV subscription, you may find adding to your package works out cheaper than paying for Netflix separately.

As there are so many TV packages out there, offering different content at various prices, you'll need to check with your provider what the options are.

But in some cases this may win – for example, you can now get basic Sky TV with Netflix for £25/mth, so if you're paying for them individually, you may be able to save by upgrading your package (be sure to haggle with Sky if you do).

Watch Netflix on your mobile? Change the settings so you don't rack up a huge data bill

If you watch Netflix while out and about using mobile data, it can be easy to burn through your monthly data allowance in hours – and even exceed it, leading to a nasty surprise when you get your bill.

You can prevent this by changing the settings to limit how much data it uses.

To do this on the Netflix website... go to Account > Playback settings. The default setting is 'auto', which delivers the maximum quality possible via your internet speed, but you can limit it to 0.3GB/hour (or crank it up to 7GB/hour for ultra HD).

To do this on the Netflix app... click the hamburger menu (the three lines in the bottom right-hand corner), then go to App Settings > Mobile Data Usage. The default setting is 'automatic', which balances usage with quality, allowing you to watch about four hours per GB.
Switching to 'Save Data' will increase this to about six hours per GB, while 'Wi-Fi Only' will ensure you can only stream when connected to a network – so you won't use any mobile data at all. ('Maximum Data' streams at the highest quality possible and uses 1GB roughly every 20 minutes.)

Download TV and films in advance to avoid burning through mobile data

The easiest way to minimise the amount of mobile data Netflix uses when you're out and about is simply to download programmes and films on to your phone, tablet etc in advance, while connected to Wi-Fi. 

To do this, open the Netflix app, find the title you want and tap the download icon (a downwards-pointing arrow) on the description page – with series you'll need to download each episode individually.

Your show should then appear in the downloads section of your app. You can store up to 100 downloads on any device at a time.

You've a limited amount of time to watch downloads (depending on the particular licence of that content) – you'll be shown the amount of time left if it's less than seven days, and some will expire 48 hours after you start watching them.

Most, but not all, titles on Netflix are available for download as again this depends on the licence agreement Netflix has for a particular series or movie. This can include Netflix Originals as some are made in partnership with other studios.

How much you can download will also depend on how much storage space you've got on your device – you should allow about 280MB per hour of standard-definition content and around 440MB per hour of HD content. 

Set up a children's account so they only see suitable shows

When you subscribe to Netflix your account will have an automatically generated 'children' profile through which only series and films suitable for kids can be watched.

This profile contains titles suitable for younger and older children (this can be restricted according to preference). At the time of writing it includes DreamWorks Animation movies such as Shrek and Madagascar, classic kids' films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Jumanji, and series such as Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig.

There is also some educational science and nature television, such as Planet Earth, The Universe and Walking With Dinosaurs. (And if you really want to use Netflix as an educational tool, try setting up a profile that only shows programmes and films in a foreign language to help them learn it.)

Discounted gift cards can sometimes cut the cost of a subscription (but redeem them straightaway)

Netflix gift cards are available online and in store from lots of retailers, but there are also websites that offer discounts on them.

So the idea is to buy the gift cards at a discounted rate, then use them straightaway to minimise any risk.

Remember, if there's a problem with a gift card you may need to go back to the retailer you bought it from, rather than Netflix, so always check sites' reviews and T&Cs.

The balance of your Netflix gift card will be added to your account when you redeem it, and your payments will be taken from it until the balance has been used up.

If you cancel your subscription while there is still gift card balance on your account, your subscription will continue until it's been used up. 

Check how long a series or film will stay on Netflix

The beauty of Netflix from a MoneySaving point of view is that you can dip in and out of subscribing as often as you like, as there's no minimum contract term.

That means if you know what's on when, you can ensure you're only paying for Netflix while it has the stuff you want to watch. 

To help plan, you can check when something is due to be taken off Netflix within the next 30 days by using New On Netflix UK's regularly updated Last chance list or by opening up the info on any series or movie and going to 'Details' –  if it's due to be taken off soon, it'll say something like 'Availability Until 31/03/2021'.

You can then use this info to tailor your subscription accordingly. For example, if your current series will be gone by the time your subscription rolls into the next month, and there's nothing else you're fussed about, you may want to cancel your subscription. 

There are also lots of places to check what's being added to Netflix each week, including Netflix's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the unofficial New On Netflix UK site, the Radio Times and entertainment site Den of Geek.

Use Netflix codes to find 'lost' movies and shows

Anyone who has used Netflix before will know how easy it is to spend more time looking for something to watch than you do actually watching it.

While Netflix's recommendation categories can help you find new programmes and films that appeal to your tastes based on what you've already watched, in doing that they seemingly miss out hundreds if not thousands of titles.

The good news is there's a secret stash of codes that let you access every category on Netflix so you can track down comedies, documentaries, dramas and more that you might not see by browsing the customised categories.

Just type the name of the category into the search bar on your browser or app, and you'll be shown related ones. Or you can add a code to the URL – for example, http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/XXXX – to be shown a different selection. 

There are more than 3,000 categories but here are some to keep you busy for now:

British programmes: 52117

Comedy films: 6548

Dramas: 5763

Children & family films: 783

Documentaries: 6839

Get Netflix for 'free' with some mobile phone contracts

'Free' Netflix subscriptions with mobile phone contracts, where you pay the monthly bill and Netflix is thrown in for six or 12 months, crop up now and again. So keep an eye out if you're looking to switch mobile contract and subscribe to Netflix at the same time.

As ever with this sort of deal, it's usually only worth it if you were already going to go for the particular contract that includes the Netflix subscription in the first place. For example, a previous O2 deal with 'free' Netflix was only worth it for high data users.

Can't choose what to watch? Add review ratings to Netflix – plus more hacks if using a computer

Netflix says 70 per cent of its users watch on TV, but if you watch it on a good old fashioned desktop or laptop computer you can access a number of hacks that you can't use on other devices.

The first reason for this is because computers have keyboards, and Netflix has a number of keyboard shortcuts that make it quicker and easier to use. The second is because on a computer you can watch via web browser, and there are a number of free, unofficial browser extensions that allow you to do stuff with Netflix that you can't do when watching on other devices.

Bear in mind that the type of web browser you use will affect what add-ons are available. Google Chrome is your best bet – there are a number of Netflix extensions available for it – while there are a few about for Mozilla Firefox.

If you use Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge or Opera, it's worth downloading Chrome to watch Netflix on if you want to use extensions, as unfortunately there are few available for those browsers.

Learn the lingo with a Netflix profile in French, Spanish etc

You can get more out of your Netflix subscription if you or your kids are learning another language, as watching shows and movies in that language can help you. Yet finding them in Netflix can take ages.

To make it quick and easy, set up an extra profile that only shows content in that language. All you have to do is add a new profile when you open Netflix and give it a name. Then go to 'Manage Profiles', select the profile you've just set up and choose from the 22 languages in the 'Language' dropdown.

Et voila, instant access to all the programmes and films (some are dubbed, some filmed in that language) available in your chosen language in one place.

Be first to get new Netflix features, eg, skipping intros

You can get new features first by opting to participate when Netflix tests potential changes, before it decides whether to roll them out to every subscriber.

Most of the time these will be features you'll barely notice, such as minor changes to how Netflix recommends content, but in the past those participating have got game-changing features such as the 'skip intro' button and mobile data usage settings weeks before anyone else.

Opting in takes seconds – go to 'Account' and then 'Test participation', and switch the 'Include me in tests and previews' button to 'on'.    

Find 'hidden' extras, eg, bonus videos and original cuts

Unknown to many there's a wealth of 'hidden' content on Netflix's original series and movies, such as teasers, season recaps and trailers, interviews, announcement videos, bonus videos and original cuts.

To find these, open the Netflix Original of your choice (by hovering the pointer over it on the website or tapping the information symbol on the app), then select 'Trailers & More'.

Before you know it you'll be watching an interview with Orange is the New Black's Taylor Schilling or BoJack Horseman's audition for House of Cards.

Check if you can save on your subscription with cashback

Finally, this tip's in no way Netflix-specific, but it's a MoneySaving standard for recouping some cash.

While at the time of writing you can't sign up to Netflix via the top cashback sites, if you have a cashback credit card, you could get up to 5% back if you use it to pay your bill. As always, make sure you pay IN FULL every month.