[Microsoft Store] Upgrade XBox Live Gold to Gamepass Ultimate at 1:1

Make sure you redeem any Gold subscription before converting to game pass ultimate.

Gold time added AFTER conversion to Ultimate will be at a 3:1 rate. 12 months of Gold = 4 Months of Ultimate, so be sure to add BEFORE conversion.

Subscribe to PC Game Pass @ $1 for an extra month: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/p/xbox- ... 0KGQ8/0002

Process for Costco members (Note: rhutvirani has pointed out an expired costco membership worked, so YMMV.)
This assumes you have no active memberships with Microsoft. If you do, reduce the amount you buy accordingly as the maximum is 36 months.
1. From costco.ca buy:
two 12 Month Xbox Live Gold Membership – Digital download Item #1060292 for $60 each (2020-10-19 update - Best Buy currently has 12 month digital codes for $59.98 to save the hassle of dealing with Costco
one 6 Month Xbox Live Gold Membership – Digital download Item #1145546 for $38
Note: some people are reporting (as of Sept/Oct 2020) that Costco is cancelling orders if you order all three of these codes in the same order. To be safe, it might be better to order the two 12 month codes, and then order the 6 month code after those get delivered
2. You will receive codes in your email. Got to https://microsoft.com/redeem and apply one code at a time. Each time it will give you the option of getting 1 bonus month in exchange for setting up auto-renewal - do it all 3 times. This auto renewal will vanish anyway in a few minutes as you migrate. You have now added 12 + 12 + 6 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 33 months of Xbox Live Gold to your account.
3. Now go to HERE to subscribe to PC Game Pass for $1 for the first month (additional months are $6/month but that doesn't matter - it'll get cancelled in a few minutes in the migration). You now have 33 months of Xbox Live Gold to your account and 1 month of PC Game Pass on your account.
4. Now go to HERE to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1 for the first month and migrate everything else over to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. You'll now have 35 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
5. Now go to https://account.microsoft.com/services/ and turn off the recurring payments of $17/month just so you don't forget in 35 months time to do it. Note: you do not need to cancel the Xbox Live Gold and PC Game Pass; the migration process in step 3 has closed out those services already. The only recurring payment to stop is the one for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
6. You should see on that page the following:-
"Xbox Game Pass Ultimate"
"Expires on 5/xxx/2022" (IE May 2022 - 35 months from now)
"Turn on recurring billing" as a clickable link; which indicates it's not on

Total cost before tax: $60+$60+$38+$1+$1 = $160
Total months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate received = 12+12+6+3+1+1 = 35 months (the maximum you're allowed under this migration deal is 36 months)
Cost per month: $160/35 months = $4.57/month
---Setlist

FAQS
Q: I've already redeemed the $1 promotion and/or previously/currently have PC Gamepass and/or previously/currently have XBox Gamepass. Can I still upgrade my Gold to Ultimate using this technique?
A: YES! This is the MOST ASKED QUESTION in this thread. As long as you are not currently a Gamepass Ultimate subscriber, upgrading to Gamepass Ultimate will add up all of your current remaining months of PC Gamepass, XBox Gamepass, and XBox Live Gold and give you that many months of Gamepass Ultimate (plus one, since you're also technically paying for one month of Gamepass Ultimate when you upgrade)

Q: Related to my previous question: How can I get the $1 promotion back, since I've already redeemed it?
A: Nobody knows how or when or if Microsoft ever decides to re-apply the $1 promotion to your account. But if you're stacking the full 3 years, it only works out to like 45 cents a month. I know this is RFD and we want to pinch every penny, but come on now.

Q: I don't have a Costco membership. Where else can I get cheap live gold codes?
A: Either CDKeys or Ebay for Brazilian VPN codes have been successful for RFDers. You just need to connect to a Brazilian VPN server (free options should work) before visiting redeem.microsoft.com to redeem your code. You may also need to set your region to Brazil on Microsoft's page (bottom left corner if it doesn't prompt you to do so), and many browsers will auto-translate from Portugese for you as well (Chrome definitely will).

Q: I don't have an XBox. Do I need a console to do any of this?
A: I mean, if you read the instructions above, you would know that you do not. Everything is accomplished using Microsoft's websites.

Q: I don't have an XBox. Is it *worth it* for me to take advantage of this?
A: Only you can truly answer this question. But if you're a PC gamer, or have an Android phone (since XCloud is now included in Gamepass Ultimate), it's really paying the equivalent of 2 games' full retail price to have 3 years' access to a very large game library. Only you can decide if that's worth it to you.

Q: I'm currently a Gamepass Ultimate subscriber till dd/mm/yyyy. Is there any way for me to extend my Ultimate subscription for cheap?
A: You can't use Live Gold codes to extend your Ultimate subscription at 1:1 if you're a current subscriber, unfortunately. They convert it at MSRP. So at the regular price of your 12 month code ($70), they'll give you $70/$16.99 = 4 months. The same conversion process works for 6 and 3 month codes, too.

If the end of your subscription is in the near future (within a few months), you can just cancel it outright and start over. You lose your remaining months, but you can at least re-stack for 3 full years if that's your thing. The only caveat is that you have to do it via support, you can't do it yourself. Chat support on the Microsoft Store website can do it, you just have to make sure you ask for an agent that can see your account, there are lower level support tiers that don't have access to it.

If the end of your subscription is years in the future, your only real (cheap) option to extend is to go the EA Play conversion route. See this thread for more details: microsoft-ea-access-play-merge-game-pas ... h-2401871/

Q: When does this expire? Should I wait till I get my Xbox Series X/S before doing this?
A: Nobody knows when this will expire. XBox Live Gold is rumoured to be going away with the next gen, due to Halo 5 announcing free online play and Microsoft no longer offering 12 month Live Gold subscriptions on their website/consoles (but existing 12 month subscribers with auto-renew are still renewing for 12 months). In theory, if those rumours are true, then in theory we should be able to do this trick until the next gen consoles launch on Nov 10, 2020. If it's false and Live Gold isn't going anywhere, then there's no way to know when (or if) Microsoft will ever stop converting at 1:1.

Q: Related to the previous question: HAS this expired? Does it still work?
A: If it's no longer working, this thread summary will absolutely be updated, and the thread will be moved to expired deals. But if you're really concerned because somebody hasn't posted in the last 15 minutes that it's still working, or whatever, you can feel free to read Microsoft's Game Pass Ultimate Faq. The question "What happens to my prepaid months of Xbox Live Gold and/or Xbox Game Pass when I sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate?" should answer your question.

Q: I ordered codes from Costco, but they haven't arrived yet! How long do they take to arrive?
A: Digital codes from Costco take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days to arrive. Keep an eye out for an email from Codes2GO, as they're the ones that do the fulfillment. These emails often get pushed into spam folders, as well, so make sure to keep an eye out there.

Q: My Costco digital code orders keep getting cancelled! What am I doing wrong?
A: This happens to a lot of people, and Costco claims it's billing related. They seem to be EXTREMELY strict, so make sure that the name on your Costco account, as well as all address information, matches up exactly with your credit card. If you've verified that all of this matches, unfortunately, you'll have to deal with Costco's (terrible) support to try to get it sorted, or go with the CDKeys/Ebay Brazilian VPN code instead (or just pay full price - it's $10 more a year than Costco for the 12 month codes but that's only really an extra $0.83 a month)

Q: What are the conversion rates for XBox Live Gold codes if I'm an existing Ultimate subscriber? Can I use them to extend my Ultimate subscription?
A: Microsoft's Game Pass Ultimate Faq has a full list of conversion rates for different lengths of codes, but basically: you can use them, but it's the equivalent of paying regular price. So if you've got them sitting around and don't want them to expire? By all means... But it's not a cheaper way of extending your subscription if you're thinking of trying to be sneaky that way.