WoW’s latest 6-month subscription rewards take flight with an absolutely perfect owl mount

I love this owl. It is beautiful. It is graceful. It is colored in a way that I can probably make a matched transmog set.  It can skyride so it can soar through the skies with all of your favorite dragonriding moves. And the best part is certainly that it is free… at least if you have a 6- or 12-month WoW subscription.

The Charming Courier mount is available in retail WoW right now — if you have a recurring 6- or 12-month subscription, it might not show up immediately, but it should be available soon. If you don’t have one of these long (and pricy) subscriptions, Blizzard is certainly trying to encourage you to buy one for $77.94, but if you aren’t inclined you can also buy the Charming Courier for $25… but for that cost, it’s a lot less appealing.

There’s an equally charming reward for Classic players, who can get the Swoopy owl pet. I love this owl too, but I just don’t play Classic very much, so my enthusiasm is lessened. Like the Charming Courier, you can buy Swoopy as a standalone purchase for $10, which, again, makes this adorable owl a bit less exciting.

I really enjoy these extra bonuses for subscribers, and even though my cynical side knows this is Blizzard trying to lock us in for a long subscription period leading into the expansion, I’m still mentally categorizing plate armor options that match its feathers. As a practical matter, if you’re going to be playing WoW or WoW Classic a fair amount of time over the next six months, a 6-month subscription is the best price you’ll get for a WoW sub (there are no additional discounts for a 12-month subscription, which costs $155.88). And if you do, you’ll get an owl friend (or two, depending on what you play) on top of it.