What some people misunderstand (mostly out of wishful thinking) is the pricing.
If you order hosting for one month, you pay $12 a month. If you order hosting for 5 years, you pay $4.99 a month. But you don't pay 4.99 every month. You pay it all when you sign on. That is the reason you get hosting at half price. The savings involved in billing you once instead of 60 times are big. Also, of course, $300 in the hand right now is worth a lot more than the same amount spread out over 5 years.
Of course, if you don't have $300 right now, knowing that huge savings are available doesn't help.