The guy I had yesterday once played semi-pro football and we chatted it up a bit and I thought I was golden, but alas...
Persistence paid off about an hour ago. Got a nice woman who looked at my account, said I already had a "great" promotion, $40 off/month (which is less than last year) and it would be tough to get any more promos. After about ten minutes, she worked some kind of magic and low and behold, she offered ST Max for free.
It really is a crap shoot...just keep calling until I guess you get the rep with a pocket full of promos to give...maybe morning is better, maybe Wednesdays are better...who the F knows.
Next year, I'll have a kid in college and I'll just go that route, rather than the annual begging and pleading.