Frugal Hack #1: The “Secret” Dish Network Programming Package

Updated September 3, 2020 by Kyle
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Welcome to the first post in my new Frugal Hacks series. Frugal life tips which take very little time to implement, but could conceivably save you a ton of money every year.

Are you a current Dish Network customer and tired of paying $50 or more for a bunch of channels you don’t watch?

I recently discover a “secret” programming package that gets my family all local channels in HD plus popular channels like TBS, History, TLC, MSNBC, Hallmark, Hub, HGTV, Food Network, Oxygen, CMT, and Boomerang for a whopping 65 cents a day .

We get 60 channels in all, plus one HD-DVR receiver, for a grand total of $26.99 a month. (If you don’t want the DVR service you only pay $19.99/mo.)

The package is called the ‘Welcome Pack’ and most people don’t know that it’s available to ALL Dish Network customers, new and old.

Why it’s called the ‘Welcome Pack’ is a mystery to me.

If you log into your online account you’ll notice that this package is NOT an available option.

Currently, the only way you can get the welcome pack is to call them at 1-800-333-DISH and ask for it. Took me 5 minutes to call and get our programming changed.

Below is a screenshot of what your account will look like once you have the ‘Welcome Pack’.

Your account will actually say ‘Package No Longer Available’  – WRONG! The secret is you just gotta call and ask for it!

The Pro’s

Obviously the price is a biggie. I have never seen a better price (for what you get) with any cable or satellite supplier.

Also, you still get a lot of kids programming like PBS, HUB, Boomerang, and Baby First.

The bottom-line is this package is great for those who want to cut back on expenses but still have the ability to get local channels and local news.

The Con’s

Sports. While you’ll still get all the major network sports programming, you’re not going to get ESPN, or ESPN2 or ESPN News, or ESPN3, how many are there these days? This may be a deal breaker for some of you.

But keep in mind that you can still stream ESPNU from your computer or tablet and your TV is still going to be non-stop sports every Saturday and Sunday.

Like anything in life, there is a trade-off. A break from non-stop sports to save some serious cash may be a good thing.

Keep an eye out for Frugal Hack #2 coming next week!

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Colin

I am thinking of getting dish network mainly to have the horse racing and greyhound racing channels. I’m sure this channel is not included in the welcome package. My question is, can I get the welcome package immediately or do I need to be a subscriber for a while? Thanks

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debbie

today i changed my service to welcome pak. The easiest way for me was using the online chat.
I only waited 6 seconds. it was done in less then a minute. I had been on hold on the phone for over an hour.

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billy

I actually just switched to this package via online chat. I was trying to find out how much the early termination fee would be as I still have 12 months left on my contract. I couldn’t pay it in the 45 days they wanted it so I asked what would be the cheapest pack they had and still maintain the contract and they told me the welcome pack. My bill is going from $100 down to $35. We watch more Netflix and Hulu than we do dish and we are not sports fans so it worked for us. As soon as my contract is up I’m canceling my service as fast as possible.. Never again will I sign up for a TV service. Online services are dirt cheap!!!

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Sue Malloy

I would think this package would be great only if it had Nickeldeon, that’s all it is missing! My kids watched that channel alot!

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sly scribe

Thanks for the great information. I just changed my dish network account and couldn’t be more pleased.

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Kim

I’m not currently a Dish customer but can I still get the welcome pack, or do I have to already be a customer and then request it?

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Dianne

I just called the # you gave and got the biggest line of BS just like always! I was very courteous and guy told me they no longer offered DVR with pkg. You pay normal fee for it $15. And I was told Welcome Pkg $19.99 was mainly infomercials, not programs normally watched! I
Then he tried to “sell” me a different pkg. And told me to go to DISH.com and compare their pkgs. I have and they’re too expensive! I’m so frustrated. I live on a budget and although I’ve downgraded dish programming my bill continues to go up. I’m paying $91 month for America Top 120.

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Pauline Eby

You can get it to start with. It comes with some great channels for a small price. Of course you can go up to other packages .

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Wanda Cummings

Hi,i was a customer a few years ago and I want to know if I could establish service an could be any way to pay small amount of the old an new looking forward to the payment in small amounts

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camille

i have had the welcome pack for several years now and the price has never changed. it is still 19.99 after probably about 8 years or longer. did not have a hd receiver when i signed up for the package so i can not upgrade to hd. i do have a netflix account for movies and a roku that i stream it on. the roku does stream hd and with my dish account i can log into my channels and get hd with the roku they also have a new channel called news on that i get my local weather on in hd.

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Pamela McAlister

Check again. They just took TLC out of welcome pack with no prior notice. And replaced with crappy Hallmark.

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Judy Steward

I have Dish Network. The Welcome Package is what I have and it’s cheap at the moment I can’t afford that much. I didn’t know about this till a few months ago I was between jobs and couldn’t afford 60 dollars or more I was paying. But now low and behold it’s went up 3 dollars, when I as dish why they said everything was going up. I don’t understand why some of you when you called that they worked with you to lower yours. When I called to cancel some of my programming they don’t even try taking me out of it.

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Lee

Can I get dish welcome pack I have the 211z receiver and dish tail getter antenna

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Rebecca Davis

I have had the welcome pack since I said I was going to cut the cord a couple of years ago. But I am not able to get dish on demand with the WiFi connector I just ordered from Dish. Why? They sold it to me and said it would work. I spent over 2.5 hrs on the phone waiting then talking to a “specialist” today and she couldn’t help me. Can someone please help???

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Sam Smith

Welcome Pack is now $35.00 WITHOUT LOCALS! With locals it’s $47.

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Bubble Head

The price of this package has gone up to $30.99. ($23.99 sans DVR.)

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Jackie Sevenson

Those prices are totally wrong. I have the welcome package and it just went up to $39.99 a month.

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Susan

if you had before 1/14/2021 it’s $35.99 which I think is ridiculous for what we get. mostly shopping shows and infomercials. I only keep it to get the local channels because antennas do not work at my house. $35.99 plus 2 very outdated receivers at $7.00 each because I refuse to pay $30 a month for 2 hoppers. For $15 more per month I can get YouTube TV with tons more channels and local is included. I’m very seriously considering dropping Dish
altogether.

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Dish guy

They won’t give you 2 hoppers anyways.. Leases only 1 hopper and Joey receivers

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