On Thursday, June 23rd, Linden Lab officially launched the new Premium Plus subscription package (or membership package, if you prefer), offering a new range of benefits and bonuses to those who wish to avail themselves of them. Some of the benefits come into effect immediately for those taking out a Premium Plus subscription, and others will be deployed in the near future, with further benefits also being added over time.
Alongside the announcement (but not linked to it at the time of writing this) this Lab released a FAQ page on Premium Plus.
What is Premium Plus?
- Premium Plus is a new subscription package that increases the benefits and options to those taking it above those offered within the Premium package, as well as sharing some benefits in common with Premium.
- It does not replace Premium, which continues as a subscription package for anyone who prefers it.
- It does not change the Premium subscription package in any way, all benefits found within that package remain “as is” with the launch of Premium Plus.
- It is open to any Second Life user – you do not have to be / become a Premium subscriber before becoming a Premium Plus subscriber.
- It brings the total number of options for using Second Life to three: Basic, Premium and Premium Plus.
Premium Plus Benefits Comparison with Premium
The following as a complete a list of Premium and Premium Plus benefits I have been able to assemble based on available information, and should hopefully provide a direct comparison be tween the two. It may be subject to update.
Note that √ in any field means an unchanged benefit from Premium to Premium Plus.
| Benefit | Premium | Premium Plus |
| 45-day L$ Sign-up Bonus¹ | L$1000 | L$3000 |
| Weekly L$ Stipend² | L$300 | L$650 |
| Free Tier³ | 1024 sq m | 2048 sq m |
| Linden Home Option4 | Up to 1024 sq m | Up to 2048 sq m |
| Group Slots | 70 | 140 |
| Off-Line Message Cap | 80 | 160 |
| Upload Fees (textures, animations, sounds) | L$10 per item | Free |
| Name Changes (+VAT if applicable) | $39 | $155 |
| Event Listing Fees | Single: L$10; Recurring L$50 | Free |
| Group Creation Fee | L$100 | L$10 |
| Land Experiences (Experience Keys) | 1 | 2 |
| Voice Morphing | √ | √ |
| Animesh Attachments | 2 | √ |
| Support | Live Chat | Live Chat + toll-free ‘phone (International: use Skye or similar) |
| 90-day transaction History | √ | √ |
| Premium Gifts | √ | √ + Premium Plus exclusives |
| Premium Sandbox Access | √ | √ + Premium Plus Sandboxes |
| Preferential Access to High-Volume Events | √ | √ |
Table Notes:
- The 45-day sign-up bonus is open to both Basic and Premium membership upgrading the Premium Plus.
- Note this is a first-time sign-up bonus only, it will not apply if you downgrade and then re-up later.
- The Premium Plus Stipend – L$650 is a flat rate; there is no upward adjustment for those currently receiving Grandfathered stipends of L$400 or L$500.
- However, the Grandfathered status will be re-applied if the subscription is subsequently downgraded to Premium.
- Free tier can be used against Mainland land holdings; or against a Premium Plus Linden Home (coming soon); or a mix of Linden Home and Mainland land.
- Linden Homes:
- Only one Linden Home can be held per account (Premium or Premium Plus).
- The new Premium Plus Linden Homes will hopefully start to be deployed in late 2022.
- Once available, 2048 sq m Linden Homes will have their own themes / styles, and the 2048 sq m parcels may in the future be able to leverage versions of the Premium Linden Homes for those who would like a smaller house and more yard / water space.
- Premium Plus members will be able to go via Land Support to request they are given a specific Linden Home parcel this is not currently part of the automatic Linden Home assignment system (i.e. being handled by the Linden Homes ordering web page).
- Update: Patch Linden, Meet the Moles [video 37:31-39:08]: Premium Plus homes are to have completely new ground-up themes / implementation, rather than being pre-planned (as per the Premium home themes).
- Name Changes:
- Premium Plus subscribers can change their name for US $15, but this has to be done via an Account Issue support ticket (subtype Change Account Details).
- The first name remains free form, but the Last Name must be from the current Last Names list.
Premium Plus Fees Compared to Premium
All prices US dollars – see the section below for upgrading from Premium to Premium Plus.
| Premium | Premium Plus | |
| Monthly Billing¹ | $11:99 | $29.99² |
| Quarterly Billing¹ ³ | $32.97 | Not available |
| Annual Billing4 | $99.00 | $249 |
Table Notes
- Monthly and Quarterly billing are subject to VAT where applicable.
- Those taking a Premium Plus subscription in the first 30 days following the launch will be charged $24.99 for their first month and $29.99 thereafter.
- Quarterly Premium billing is only available to those who were on the billing plan prior to it being discontinued on June 24th, 2019.
- Annual billing is VAT exempt in those countries that normally charge VAT.
Upgrading from Premium to Premium Plus
Premium subscribers can upgrade to Premium Plus before their current subscription expires on prorate basis. So, an annual Premium membership that has 30 days remaining before renewal. This value is equivalent to $8.10 of the $99.00 Annual Premium membership they originally paid for. This would be credited towards the initial Premium Plus membership payment at the time of upgrade, either Monthly or annual.
Note that if the credit to be applied towards proration is larger than the value of the Premium Plus membership being upgraded to, Linden Lab will extend the renewal date for the Premium Plus membership to account for the additional value.
Personal Thoughts
Patch Linden’s initial (and incomplete) outline of Premium Plus during his Meet the Lindens session as SL19B did not garner a good response within the forums, largely on the basis of pricing. And, in fairness there are reasons to feel the offering is over-priced; but equally, there are cases where it may be viewed favourably.
Take the free tier offering, for example:
- For those seeking modest mainland space or wanting to put the tier to Group use, an outlay of US $249 a year doesn’t come off well against promoting an alt account to Premium and paying a total of US $198 a year for the same free tier.
- For someone (like myself) who has both a Premium account + a modest amount of privately rented land (at US $10.50 a week), or someone on Basic paying (say) $15-20 a week for a moderate parcel, it is possible that – once available – the Premium Plus Linden Home with their double Land Capacity and fewer-per-region density over Premium Homes might be an attractive proposition.
Similarly, while the rest of the benefits look to be middling – I personally have little need for 70 Group slot, let alone 140! – others might will be appealing, such as the $15 Name Change fee, particularly among those who swap back and forth between names almost monthly (and there are some – I know a few!). However and overall, whether people find the offer in keeping with Brad Oberwager’s “give two dollars of value, but only charge a dollar” philosophy or not, is liable to be hotly debated.
For my part, would I move from Premium to Premium Plus? Quite possibly; as noted above, depending on how Premium Plus Linden Homes regions are presented (e.g. themes, water access), then there is an attraction for me in upping to Premium Plus and dropping the $530+ a year I spend on renting a small private island.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
Inara thank you for the summary table and the the reference link and for your own thoughts. Very timely, thank you!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Thar She Blows! and commented:
Inara has some thoughts about the newfangled Premium Plus offering by LL. Looking at the prices I develop mixed emotions as well. 😮
LikeLike
From where do you know that promotional price is only for the first month ? I read this on the Second life blog :
“The all-new Premium Plus is available for $29.99 per month and $249 per year with a special limited time promotional price of $24.99 per month. Not ready for Premium Plus? You can still continue to enjoy our existing Premium offering, which is available for $11.99 per month and $99 per year. “
LikeLike
Via Patch Linden, during his MTL session at SL19B.
LikeLike
Honestly, it’s too soon to make any decisions regarding this new upgrade. In six months or so, it will be interesting to see if this “Premium Plus” account will be worth the extra costs. I have a Premium account and yes, it’s worth the extra costs. I plan on waiting to see if indeed this upgrade will be worth the cost. If so, then i’ll go premium (since it will cover my rental costs in Bay City. If not, then I’ll stick with what I have. Really, it’s too soon to decide, although I can see how some Residents will benefit from the added memory space in their account… I just don’t know if it will be a cost-effective benefit for me…as I suspect a lot of Residents will decide, in a few months.
What’s odd is that the actual experience inworld won’t change much, and that’s not going to be a big sales promotion. Better service, maybe a bit less lag in some places, that would make this worth the extra cost, but since that is so far not on the table, for now, I’ll stay Premium.
LikeLike
Sounds awesome for some but ones like me that have been in SL for over 16 years, not so great. People that came after me and get 300L will get a great increase making it worth it but I and others like me only get 150L increase, doesn’t seem to be right. If they would change that I would get it in a heartbeat as would others that I talked to.
LikeLike
Yes, for those on the current $L300 stipend, the increased amount amounts to about $L33,800 per year, or about. $100USD off the yearly cost. The free uploads and free recurring events could be a significant savings for merchants.
I’ve been inactive and need to drop some paid accounts, & wrap up other affairs, but this is cheaper than running extra alts for group land in some circumstances.
However, just 2 paid accounts at $L199, but with many texture uploads between them over the year adds up. Of course, $L300 X 2 X 52 weeks is also just under $100USD.
Math. Oog.
LikeLike