So I bought an Elite and migrated all my stuff from my Premium to it - but I never noticed any "free month of gold" deal (as it says on the Elite box).

I could be wrong but it doesn't appear my current gold subscription was automagically extended by a month. I also found no codes or anything inside the box that offered the free month.

It's not a huge deal being only a month - but it's something I was curious about.

I've always thought that refers to the free month of LIVE Gold that you get when you create a new LIVE Silver account.
Is there any fine print on the box where it mentions the "free month of gold" deal?

My brother picked an elite up not too long ago and the 1 month was automatic after he signed up new account.
We were wondering where the 1 month was too but after he signed up under a silver account it gave him 1 month of gold free.Dont know if it applies to existing.

hmmm - I'll bet you guys are right - probably only for a new account not existing. Oh well.

Just got an Elite and signed up for Silver. I am new to XBOX Live and I got no mention of going gold for a free month, although I got some printed material in the box that says I get one month free. How do you do it? Upgrade to gold on XBOX Live?

I just bought my first x-box of any kind 1-2 weeks ago (360 elite). I was also searching for how to activate my 1 free month of gold, so I called the x-box help line. They told me that the free month was only for people who have never had a x-box live account, which I hadn't, then walked me through a sequence of menu options that I never would have chosen on my own. I don't remember the details, but it went something like this: I plugged in all my information to create a new account on x-box live. One of the last few screens asks what kind of membership do you want (silver, gold for a month for $, gold for 6 months for $$....) I think at that menu, you're supposed to select silver. Then it says something like "Are you sure you want silver? Gold is better because...." At that point confirm that you still only want silver. Then on the next menu it says, "you qualify for one free month of gold, would you like to try it."

To me, it seemed like microsoft was making it purposefully hard to find this option. But at least I didn't have to wait on hold long to speak with a rep on the help line and as soon as I did, they gave great directions.

Hope that helps,
Stephen

I signed up on XBOX.com didn't see any option to upgrade there either.

I found this on XBOX.COM

"Free Xbox Live Gold Membership Trials (One Month)

Q: Is there a free trial membership I can use to check out Xbox Live for Xbox 360™?

A: Yes, a one-month trial Xbox Live Gold Membership is available with the purchase of a new Xbox 360 console.* The only requirement is that you have a storage device, such as an Xbox 360 Hard Drive or an Xbox 360 Memory Unit. While the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system includes a hard drive, the Xbox 360 Core system does not. If you purchase the Xbox 360 Core system, you'll need to purchase a storage device (hard drive or memory unit) to access Xbox Live from your Xbox 360 console."

No links, or any other info on how to actually get the one month free. Nice job Microsoft. Advertise the fact but don't give out info how to do it. Grrr...

Anyone have one of those cards for more than 48 hrs?

you only get the free month when you create a new account on a new box. You don't get the free month on your existing xbl account with a new box.

Pretty weak but that's the deal. They should just include a redeem code for a free month with the new box.

you only get the free month when you create a new account on a new box. You don't get the free month on your existing xbl account with a new box.

Pretty weak but that's the deal. They should just include a redeem code for a free month with the new box.

I know that. Brand new XBOX, I've never been on XBLIVE either, ever. No redeem code in the box, nothing. I see I'm going to be forced to actuall call MS support to get it. :mad:

I know that. Brand new XBOX, I've never been on XBLIVE either, ever. No redeem code in the box, nothing. I see I'm going to be forced to actuall call MS support to get it. :mad:

:confused: I'm not sure I understand what you're upset about. Just sign up for a normal silver account and you automatically get a free month of gold. A redeem code is not necessary and you don't have to do anything special or go through any special. Just start a free silver XBL account and for the 1st month it will be a Gold account.

They will notify you before your month is over to see if you want to keep it a gold account and start paying for live. If you don't respond your account will revert to a silver one at the end of the month. No need to call anyone at MS.

***Edit - Ah I missed that you signed up on the website. Did you sign up for a year of Live or month by month? I also think year subscriptions come with the extra month as well, ie they give you 13 months to first time you sign up for live instead of 12.

Wokisan, I found it frustrating trying to sign up on the console because every gamertag I entered was in use and it was time consuming using the controller to enter text, so that's why I signed up on-line. When I chose gold the system immediately wanted a credit card or redeem code so I declined and chose silver thinking it would see me as a new customer and I would automatically have gold access. There were no offers try gold for a month when signing up online. When I log in on my console it shows I have a silver membership. I'm not upset, just annoyed.

I just got off the phone with Microsoft support. I had to speak to a man of East Indian decent who sounded like Bill Lumberg from the movie OFFICE SPACE and the line "Um, Yeah... I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday." except with a heavy accent. He must have said "Um, Yeah..." about 20 times during my 10 minute call.

Anyway, the bottom line is I screwed myself out of the one month free gold membership by signing up on xbox.com and using the console to recover my gamertag. M$ said there is nothing they can do which I think is pure BS. They can see it's a new account with my console's serial number and they could have given me a redemption code. If this was for a years sub then I would be furious but one month is only $5 so it's more of the principle of it.

even after you recover your gamertag on a new box you can still create a second on it and get the free month. Not really what you want but it does work

I had to give up my game progress. Not much really, just an hour of Bioshock. Created a new account and a new (and better) gamertag (Arbitrary Logic). Now I have the free month. M$ support idiots didn't even know enough to suggest it.

Kids today. Where are your manners?

You might want to thank sjp777.

Kids today. Where are your manners?

You might want to thank sjp777.

Yes, absolutely! Thanks sjp777.

I'm by no means a kid. I do forget my P's and Q's once in a while though. :D

I still think it's semi-hokey that I dropped $449 on a new Elite - been a paying XBL Gold customer for 2 years now - and I'm more or less excluded from the "free" 1 month Gold offer. Like someone previously mentioned it only amounts to about $5 but it's the principal of the thing. Oh well.

I still think it's semi-hokey that I dropped $449 on a new Elite - been a paying XBL Gold customer for 2 years now - and I'm more or less excluded from the "free" 1 month Gold offer. Like someone previously mentioned it only amounts to about $5 but it's the principal of the thing. Oh well.

It's the same situation with cable and satellite providers. New customers get the perks to entice them to sign-on. Once you're in and giving them your $ you don't get any more deals. Now XBL could do something like give out some measly points once a year for long-time customers. There's also no reason they couldn't do points for people who upgrade to new systems and give one month trials to new customers.