I've never understood the 'i want to renew on my own terms'... if you're going to renew anyway, why do the manual renew each month? You don't get a discount for coming back, you have to do extra stuff ... You can swtich cards without cancelling, so that's not it.... I just don't get it (aside from moving from a credit card to a game card).

Because WoW is a leisurely activity, it has lower priority. If something comes up and I'm unable to play for a few months, the auto-renew will blow money on a game I'm not playing. Plus like I said about unexpected emergencies coming up that require all the funds in your bank account. Auto-renew puts it into negative numbers and you find yourself in the red.

@Clevins - although my own account is (currently) set for an auto-renew, I can most definitely see the reason why some people opt for the "renew on my own terms", and that is primarily due to our current economy.

Say that you have rent coming due, but at the same time, you had to pay for a new tire thanks to our "wonderful" roadways here in the US these days (street sweepers? What are they? Oh, those annoying boxy vehicles we occasionally see at 2:00am...we can't afford those anymore...well, at least that's the case here in Texas) and now you're a bit strapped, so that extra $15.00 may not seem like much, but it may also make the difference in being late with the rent (late fees) or running the risk of an overdraft charge.

Many of us live paycheck-to-paycheck these days (I'm one of them, for the moment...I have a new budget plan drawn up that I will stick to like glue, but it won't be until April before I see any real savings) so having the freedom to withhold Blizzard withdrawing that $15.00 from your account while you go on a one or two week sabbatical may well be a boon toward keeping a roof over your head, gas in your tank, food on your family (thanks, GWB, for the awesome quote) or whatever.

Game cards are a way to help out with this, as is just paying whenever you can. No, you don't save anything, but at the same time you also have better control over your finances.