All products and promotions are independently selected by our experts. To help us provide free impartial advice, we will earn an affiliate commission if you buy something. Click here to learn more
Looking to upgrade to a new broadband and television deal? If you switch to Virgin Media this week, you'll be given the choice between a free Xbox Series S console, worth £249.99, or £150 off your monthly bills.
Following the shake-up from Sky Broadband earlier this year, Virgin Media is now one of the only broadband providers that still offers 18-month contracts as standard — so you can renegotiate a new deal or switch to another supplier to unlock bigger savings (or more free gifts) six months earlier than the competition.
To make its latest giveaway even more enticing, Virgin Media has ditched its usual £35 set-up fee, which covers any engineer call-outs, helpline support, and the initial activation of your new full-fibre broadband connection.
Upgrade to a new full-fibre broadband or television bundle with Virgin Media, and you'll be given the choice between £150 off monthly bills or an Xbox Series S (worth £249.99) for free. The promotion is only open to new or returning customers, and you'll need to pick your freebie before 11.59pm on Sunday October 13 — or miss out.
Between the waived set-up feeand the £150 in bill credit, it's perfectly plausible that you won't need to pay anything for your new broadband and television contract for the first two or three months.
Virgin Media will automatically deduct your monthly bills from the £150 bill credit, only charging your Direct Debit when the funds run-out.
Depending on the plan you've picked, you might enjoy free Virgin Media until the new year.
With Christmas looming on the horizon, choosing the Xbox Series S — part of the most recent console generation launched by Microsoft — could be the best decision. This feature-packed console is capable of playing immensely-popular games like Fortnite, Fall Guys, Halo: Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Sea of Thieves, Rocket League, and upcoming titles like Indiana Jones And The Great Circle and Grand Theft Auto VI.
Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from picking the Xbox, then selling it unopened close to its original RRP of £249 and using that money to discount your bills even further.
Whether you decide to take the £150 discount or the console, you’ll need to think fast.
Virgin Media is keeping its latest giveaway around for long ― with the deal set to expire at 11.59pm on Sunday October 13, 2024. That means you’ve got only a few days to make a decision
Following its merger with O2, all Virgin Media customers now enjoy access to O2 Priority. This loyalty scheme unlocks early access to tickets for some of the biggest gigs and tours. You’ll also enjoy discounted cinema tickets and free coffees from high street chains.
Xbox Series S is capable of playing the latest generation of console games, including multi-platform titles you'd find on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X
For those who don’t know, the Xbox Series S is part of the latest generation of game consoles, alongside the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It's worth noting the model offered by Virgin Media is not the upcoming refresh announcement by Microsoft earlier this month, which won't launch until this autumn.
Microsoft scaled back some of its capabilities to offer a more affordable way to access the latest games, so you won’t be able to play in 4K Ultra HD resolution like the Series X and PS5. But the Series S is still capable of 120 frames-per-second, Dolby Vision, HDR (High Dynamic Range), and 5.1 surround sound.
It’s also compatible with the biggest streaming apps, including Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, and Sky Go. It has a smaller 512GB hard drive, so you might need to invest in an external storage solution to install everything you want onto the disc-less console.
But don’t forget that Microsoft offers its Netflix-like Xbox Game Pass service on all of its consoles, letting you stream titles from the cloud or download to play offline.
For a monthly subscription fee of £12.99, you’ll get access to every title from a Microsoft-owned studio, which following approval from the Competition and Markets Authority last year now includes Call of Duty creator Activision Blizzard. Save data is synced online, so you can pick-up and continue on a range of other devices, including some Samsung TVs, iPad, Android and iOS phones.
If you're new to Xbox Game Pass, you'll be able to access everything on the service for £1 for the first month of your subscription.
Virgin Media’s £200 discount or Xbox giveaway isn’t available with every plan that it offers, so you’ll need to pick between a few select plans. The eligible bundles are as follows:
As the name suggests, this package is designed for film fans. You’ll get Virgin Media’s fibre broadband with average download speeds of 132Mbps ― that’s roughly twice as fast as the average UK home broadband connection (69Mbps) as well as a TV 360 box with 200+ channels, including all Sky Cinema channels and 11 dedicated kids’ channels. You’ll also be able to make calls to UK landlines and mobile numbers at no extra cost over the weekend
Just as the above package caters to movie buffs, Virgin Media has put together this broadband and telly package for sports lovers. You’ll get a slightly faster broadband connection, with average download speeds topping 264Mbps. Weekend calls are also included. But this time around, your Virgin TV 360 box will offer 195+ channels with all Sky Sports in HD. You’ll also be able to tune-in to the newly launched Sky Sports Tennis channel.
Virgin Media’s Biggest Combo does what it says on the tin. You’ll enjoy both Sky Sports and Sky Cinema channels on your Virgin TV 360 set-top box as well as some 210 other live channels. If that wasn’t enough to keep you entertained, there’s a complete Netflix subscription thrown-in too. As above, weekend calls to UK numbers won’t cost anything and you’ll enjoy download speeds of 132Mbps ― plenty to stream everything on Netflix without a hint of buffering.
With this bundle, you’ll enjoy Virgin Media’s second-fastest broadband speeds, topping out at an impressive 1,130Mbps. That’ll let you download entire boxsets of TV shows in High Definition in minutes. Calls to UK numbers are available at no cost anytime of the week, and you’ll also get a SIM on the O2 network with 10GB of 5G mobile data to use with your existing phone, or to gift to a family member. When it comes to entertainment, your Virgin TV 360 box will be loaded with 230 channels, including Sky Sports and Sky Cinema in HD.
All of these bundles have an 18-month minimum contract term.
