Over Christmas 2020 I let my Ancestry.com membership lapse because I wasn't doing any personal genealogy. Now that I'm ready to renew I've been looking for a sale. A friend received a 50% off "one day only" sale email on 7 September. I tried to sign up for this but I was told it was only for new clients.
While doing some project edits late the other night I decided to call Ancestry. I expressed my dissatisfaction that this sale was offered to a new client but not to me. Had I closed my account instead of letting it go inactive I would have been able participate. The customer service rep said it was in problem and instantly offered me a 30% discount if I wanted to renew.
I do not know if that was a one-off or if that is common practice but if you are about to re-establish your account it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask for a discount. That she was so quick to offer the discount makes me think that it is a regular thing.
So if you need to renew your account or if you're thinking of starting a new account, you might give this a try. And if you do, and it works, please report back and let us know.