You can use wireless tether without the surcharge. You can kill the google ads on your phone. You can put custom themes (colors and stiff) and roms (android with or without motorola's blur or Verizon's forced programs (bloat)) on your phone.
The downside is that you will void your warranty. Of course, if you need to take the phone back for any reason, you can always hide root by reinstalling a non-rooted 2.2.