You can play for free using a new Account for a number of days, or a weekend, as a Trial but as soon as you register a product code, you MUST subscribe to continue playing on the same account. If you purchase a Game Time Card, then yes, you get an extra 30 days, but you can play up until that runs out. However, you can't play even if your account has play time remaining - because when you buy the product you get 30 days play time free - BEFORE you subscribe. It's all wonky. Basically, registering your product should count as entering a time card for the purposes of determining if you have an active subscription. End of story.