Readers ask, surf answers: Surf every 2 months - will the subscription now be more expensive?

From the 2026 season, the print edition of surf will only be published every two months - a reduction from ten to six issues per year. This move was widely commented on after it was announced and obviously raises questions. Here is a representative question from reader Andreas B.

"Dear surf, the current surf is full of bad news. Firstly, we learn that Andreas Erbe is retiring. What a pity! But well deserved for him, of course! And then you want to almost halve the publication frequency? At the same price? Come on! You're not serious! You only want to provide me as a subscriber with material every two months? And then refer me to the Internet? Nah guys, it's quite different to hold a magazine in your hand than to slide around on a website. I was actually looking forward to the 2-month rhythm being over soon and now this! Do some more soul-searching! You can't do this!"

Here is the answer from the editorial team:

Hello Andreas, the plan is to reduce the publication frequency to two months, also for reasons of efficiency, as the costs for printing, distribution etc. have only been going in one direction for years - upwards. Nevertheless, our aim is to provide readers with the same or better quality by producing issues with MORE pages. surf will have a third more pages from 3-2026. This will also allow us to achieve a more balanced mix of topics in each issue, which has sometimes been a little difficult in the past with 100 pages. Obviously, our announcement in the magazine was somewhat unfortunate, because: The price for the annual subscription is falling from 67.90 euros to 49.90 euros! If you convert the price to the pages, the subscription will even be slightly cheaper in future 😊.

Subscriptions taken out in the past will only be switched to the new model (six issues/year) after the 10th issue has been received - at a lower price. From the editorial point of view, we can assure you that we will continue to go full throttle. Best wishes and a Merry Christmas!