At what altitude on final approach do airline pilots disengage the autopilot, and what are the decision criteria for disengaging it or not?

On the approach yesterday, my captain disengaged the autopilot at 12,000', about 10 minutes prior to the touchdown. It was a gorgeous day and he decided to hand-fly the 757 into the downwind leg and around the corner to the runway.

That's pretty rare, with most pilots taking over at just a few thousand feet. Many airlines dictate that the pilot leave the autopilot engaged until there is adequate visual reference for a landing. For instrument approaches, the pilot has to disengage the autopilot within 50 below the missed approach altitude, which is where the flight has to go around if the pilots can't see the runway environment. When the ceiling and/or visibility are very low, there are special procedures that crews can use to get into some fields and these allow use of the autopilot all the way to the runway—the crew, airplane, and airport have to be qualified to perform this.

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Tim Hibbetts on Quora:

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