Microsoft Offers the Work & Play Bundle for Only $149

In time for the upcoming holidays, Microsoft is offering its Work & Play bundle for only $149. The bundle offers a year subscription to Office 365 Home, Xbox Live Gold, Skype Wi-Fi + Unlimited World, Assure Support Plan, and a $60 gift card. Purchased separately, each of these services would cost around $360. That is a total saving of over $210.

Microsoft Work & Play Bundle

This year’s Work & Play bundle is a bit different than last years but is still a great value. Here’s a closer look at what’s included:

Office 365 Home provides the latest version of Office 2016 that you can install on up to five different devices. You can use it to install Office on PCs, tablets, and Mac. The price of this subscription is usually $99.99/year.

Xbox Live Gold provides multiplayer gaming, party chat, free game demos, Skype, and Live TV (Xbox One), and more. The greatest benefit is Games with Gold which provides up to $700 in free games a year with $350 for Xbox One and $350 for Xbox 360. If you own a Xbox One, you can get the best of both worlds starting on November 12th when the console is upgraded to Windows 10. That upgrade includes backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games. The normal cost of a year of Xbox Live Gold is $59.99/year.

Skype Wi-Fi + Skype Unlimited World provides Wi-Fi access at over two million Wi-Fi hotspots around the world. Plus, it gives you unlimited minutes to call people around the world from your laptop, phone, tablet, and even your TV to other devices and landlines. The normal cost for this is $167.88/year.

Assure Support Plan is a one-year membership to the Microsoft Answer Desk for tech support from Microsoft experts via chat or email. And, if you live near a Microsoft retail store, you get in-store training. This normally would cost you $149/year.
A bonus $60 gift card is available to use in Microsoft’s online stores: Xbox, Windows Store, and Windows Phone store. You can use it for apps, music, media, and even grab yourself the latest popular Xbox game.

I purchased this last year and it included most of the same services. What’s left out this year is a subscription to Microsoft’s Groove Music service. Still, with everything included in this bundle for only $149, you’re getting one heck of a deal. Plus, it continues to add years each year you buy it. For instance, right now I have Xbox Live Gold and Office 365 through 2017.

The offer is available until January, 10th 2016. For more, check out the Work & Play Bundle in the Microsoft store.