Garmin OnePak auto-renew

[toto]

This announcement was a little while ago, but I hadn’t seen it mentioned on MS. 

Basically, they’re changing OnePak subscriptions to be a rolling renewal, and they have an option to auto-renew if you want it. 

I was kind of excited about this until I realized that they don’t offer a discount for auto-renew. I generally pay for new databases only when I have an upcoming flight that needs them, so I don’t pay exactly on the 12-month renewal date. I’d probably switch to auto-renew if they offered a nonzero discount.

 

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/aviation/faq/vxa27TcTIu9dKKtNaPKQ98/

 

What's New with Aviation Database Subscriptions?

• Aviation Database subscriptions will be transitioning from issue-based to time-based subscriptions.

• With the new time-based subscriptions, the expiration date will be 12 calendar months from the date the subscription was purchased.  This is different from the older issue-based subscriptions.  With the issue-based subscription, the subscription would expire at the end of the last database cycle that was issued. The new time-based subscriptions will be set to automatically renew each year.  This will alleviate the need to log into flyGarmin to see which subscription options to purchase. 

• With the new auto-renewal feature, rest assured you will always have an active database subscription to support your Garmin Avionics whether you are using the Garmin Aviation Database Manager, Garmin Pilot’s Database Concierge, or the new GDL 60 with automatic database downloads.

 

[Marc_B]

My suspicion is that this goes hand in hand with the GDL60 and Connected Cockpit. Auto-renew would make sure you don’t skip a beat.

But the last few years I’ve gone to Osh, Garmin always had a discount for my subscription and would hate to miss that at Osh. But surely Garmin has already considered this and has a backend game plan to provide a discount, credit or extend your coverage…

Going to Osh this year so will find out!

[Pinecone]

It annoys me that you can only get the discount if you physically go to Oshkosh. 

[PeteMc]

3 hours ago, Pinecone said:

It annoys me that you can only get the discount if you physically go to Oshkosh. 

BTW....  who's going to OSH that can sign me up for a discount?! 

[toto]

Just now, PeteMc said:

BTW....  who's going to OSH that can sign me up for a discount?! 

How does that actually work? If you go visit the Garmin booth at Oshkosh, do you have to pay for the subscription right there?

[PeteMc]

1 minute ago, toto said:

How does that actually work?

I haven't been to OSH in a while, so I don't know know about Garmin now.  But for other manufacturers when I did go, they charged you then and extend your subscription. 

[toto]

So I renewed a subscription with fly.garmin.com, and here’s how they are doing this …

They require you to enroll in auto-renew when you complete payment for the subscription, and it is not possible to opt out. In order to submit your payment, you are opting in to a recurring auto-renew. 

It is very easy to disable the auto-renewal, but it can only be done after your subscription is activated. You just go in to the “Manage Subscriptions” tab and change the auto-renew slider to “off.”

The extra hurdle of waiting for subscription activation and then going back into the fly.garmin.com website to disable will probably mean more recurring subscriptions for Garmin.

It’s hard for me to say whether this workflow is what people want, but I would definitely prefer the option to choose whether or not to enroll in auto-renew at the time of payment. The two-step process is kind of a pain.

 

[Pinecone]

I agree that they should make it easier to opt out, but the auto renew is nice that you don't forget to renew and find yourself without current databases.

If you don't want it to renew, but it does, a quick call to Garmin (maybe not so quick) Aviation support and they will refund the unused portion of the pack you just bought.