I recently called Microsoft to get them to turn off the automatic renewal option on my Xbox Live account when I found out something interesting, during the process they offered me 500 free microsoft points in order to NOT turn off the automatic renewal.

I assume they do this for everyone, so if you have automatic renewal of your gold account and you want 500 free points call them at 800-469-9269 and tell them  you want to turn it off.  They will offer you the points and you will be 500 points richer...

Maybe this is old news but I thought I'd share the info...spread the word.