And yet again, due to the way my subscription timing happens, I get punished for being a subscriber.

Subscription ends the same day that the "free" week starts, so rather than get access to all the characters I have to pay for all 16. I am going to continue the subscription for the 4 I am playing at the moment, but will not get access to the other 12. If my subscription had ended 2 days earlier this would not have been the case.

The Free time should be available to all, no matter what.

Toss a bone to your loyal customers SE, and don't make is a roll of the dice on timing whether people get a bonus or not.