Netflix starts charging $1-$2/month extra for Blu-ray rentals

The movies-by-mail giant warned us last week that higher fees for Blu-ray rentals would be coming "very shortly," and indeed, subscribers are already seeing extra charges on their accounts. Luckily, the premiums aren't as bad as some had feared.

Engadget HD reports that some Netflix subscribers are seeing Blu-ray rental fees in the $1-$2/month range—annoying, given that Blu-ray and HD DVD rentals used to come free with any subscription package, but better than, say, an extra $5 to $10 a month.

Apparently, Netflix is still "testing" its Blu-ray price increases, hence the variation in the fees—and indeed, some (including myself) haven't seen any extra charges at all yet.

Word of the Blu-ray premium first surfaced back in April. At the time, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings justified the extra fees on the basis that "purchasing Blu-ray DVDs costs more, both at retail and wholesale, than standard definition DVDs," and that "consumers are used to paying more for high-definition content."

We'll have to wait and see what the final premium for Blu-ray rentals will be; it's still not clear whether there will be a flat fee for everyone, or a sliding scale depending on the number of "at home" movies in your rental plan.

Overall, I guess I can live with $1 or $2 a month extra—although in exchange, I'd like Netflix to boost the number of Blu-ray discs in its catalog. I only have three Blu-ray movies in my queue right now, and just one of them ("Pan's Labyrinth") is available now; "Doomsday" is a "Long Wait," and "21" is a "Short Wait."

So, Netflix subscribers—you OK with a $1-$2 monthly Blu-ray fee? Or are you thinking of jumping to Blockbuster?

Related:
Details of Netflix's Blu-ray premium emerges: $1.00 per month [Engadget HD]