We have a guide on the prerequisites for and steps to obtain ultimate for cheaper, via gold conversion here https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxGamePass/wiki/index/gold-ultimate-conversion
As there have been a few posts lately about this and feedback from community members, please put any updates or questions here, so it is easier for us all to share information.
Just to confirm it just worked for me today. UK here:
Check the subscriptions page again given in the instructions and it says I have XBox Games Pass Ultimate until 2024.
For those that don’t want to mess with the VPN method…
Newegg (US) has 12 month xbox live gold prepaid cards on sale for $50 with promo code 93XQU34. I’m not sure how long the promo lasts, just a heads up for those who might want a slightly less expensive US/North America xbox live gold prepaid card.
Worked for me ,done yesterday 21/04/21 in UK. My gamepass ultimate ran out, following day, I bought 3yr of Brazil xbox live gold, redeemed on the brazil xbox site via a VPN, then subscibed to gamepass ultimate, all converted with only cost of 1 month.
a hint for others who are wanting Gamepass ultimate again, dont try to buy a code, I tried a 2 week gamepass trial & refused as I have had it in the last.a 1 month worldwide gamepass ultimate code didnt work (saying its not for the right region). hopefully I can get them refunded as not used.
hope that helps people.
General advice: when redeeming a code, do not do it on your xbox, but use your PC or smartphone and visit https://redeem.microsoft.com/enter?ref=xboxcom
The Xbox always said my 1 month GPU was for the wrong region, but on my smartphone the code got accepted without any problems. Now I got GPU up until end of May 2022
Works great so far! (as of 13 April)
1.Purchased 36 months of XBL Gold (Brazil) on cdkeys.
2.Used VPN to redeem with microsoft account
3.Paid the $1 fee to convert Gold to Ultimate
4.Voila
Something is wrong here, it looks like the conversion is still 1:1 but I cannot purchase the one month of ultimate, sends me an error message.
What’s even weirder is that my gamepass says it expired on 4/16, but it’s still the 15th here. I have a feeling something about my timezone on the server is off, will try again later. I thought it expired today since that is what the warning on the dashboard says, and it did expire.
Edit: Spoke with an xbox support agent and she was expressing the same thought. The server for some reason still think I have Gamepass but I actually don’t. Will update tomorrow.
Edit 2: yep, just the server issue. Now it’s fixed.
Can confirm still working as intended, thank you so much for this simple guide! 3 years gold to 3 years GPU, nice and easy. Between this trick and the accessibility of x-cloud and a series S it’s just the bargain of the decade as far as gaming is concerned.
Just con confirm it work today.
Check the subscription and it says I have game pass until 05/2022
I end up spending $73.78 insted of $179.88 ($14.99x12) for one year of Game Pass. Great
Stopping in to confirm that it’s still working as of 8/13/2021!
Just being extra sure here but is the awesome deal still working/available? If I buy 36 months of Xbox live Gold, I can convert all of it to GamePass ultimate for $1? This will grant me GamePass Ultimate on both Xbox and PC?
Just did this right now. Bought 3 years for $180 at walmart, redeemed codes, upgrade to GPU for $1 then turned off recurring billing.
Three years of Gamepass. Woot!
Worked in Canada. Like. A. Charm. Thank you! 
Cheers.
Just wanted to chime in and confirm that this worked for me on May 1st 2021 in the US.
Retailers would only sell one year at a time so I bought 12 months of Live Gold at three separate retailers (Best Buy, Costco, Target) and had all three codes within and hour. Redeemed them individually and then did the $1 conversion to GPU as I’m a new customer. Microsoft sent an email saying I would be billed $15 per month starting on May 2nd 2024.
I think the 1 item per purchase thing might just be for all XBox stuff right now due to shortages. I ran into the same problem when buying the official controller rechargeable kits. I wanted two so I grabbed one on Amazon and the other at Best Buy.
I spent yesterday so tilted - bought the 36 months gold but then couldn’t get the GPU. I tried EVERYTHING but kept getting the “Something went wrong. Contact Microsoft Support” - could have cried.
Just tried it normally this morning and it went through first time - if anyone else has this problem just take a deep breath and keep coming back I guess.
Confirmed working, today (6/3/2021):
This is the first time I have re-subbed since my initial start at the $1 promotional price around 6 months ago.
TYVM to this subreddit for the reminder with respect to doing this in the right order. 
I can confirm that the conversion works with the “3 months for € 1” offer in Germany.
I now have three years of GPU plus two months and I love you guys. 
Thank god. The spam with all of the conversion/discount posts is unreal on this sub. Does this mean we can report any that we see and point them to this thread?
What is the purpose of using a vpn to purchase or not? Does it come down to if it’s cheaper to buy in your own currency or another? I’m in US so would it be beneficial for me?
