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Amazon Prime offers several key benefits for shoppers, including discount deals, Prime Music, Prime Video, Prime Reading, and more. If you love shopping with Amazon, getting an Amazon Prime Membership is a no-brainer. You will benefit greatly from what Prime membership offers: deep discounts and free, fast shipping on things you buy from Amazon.
The only downside of Amazon Prime is that Membership is not free. However, a Prime membership plan is not too expensive if you often shop on Amazon. If you are still hesitant to pay for it, here are a few ways to get it for free or at a discounted price.
What Is Amazon Prime?
If you are new to Amazon Prime, it’s a membership program that offers benefits and deals on items you typically purchase from Amazon, along with fast and free shipping options. In addition, you also have access to Prime Insider, which keeps you up to date with shopping news and tips. You can also access Amazon’s entertainment services, including Amazon Original series, movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, and more.
What Are The Prime Benefits?
There are several valuable benefits to becoming an Amazon Prime member.
- You receive fast and free shipping, with options ranging from two-day to one-day and same-day delivery, with no minimum purchase required.
- You receive no-rush shipping and earn rewards for future Amazon purchases.
- You receive a two-hour grocery delivery.
- You receive free two-day prescription delivery.
- You receive exclusive discounts and offers on Amazon items available only to Prime members.
- You receive exclusive discounts at Whole Foods Market, both in-store and online.
- You have access to Prime Day events each year, which offer significant savings and discounts on items sold on Amazon.com.
- You get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com.
- When you have five or more subscriptions, you receive 20% off family essentials, including diapers and baby food.
- You can access Prime Wardrobe to try on clothing items, including shoes and jewelry, and pay only for those items you’ll keep.
- You receive free standard shopping on all Shirt.Woot purchases.
- You receive free two-day shipping and next-day shipping at Shopbop.com
- You receive free expedited shipping on all Zappos orders.
- With Prime Reading, you get unlimited access on any device for eBooks, magazines, and more.
- You can download free new releases with First Reads before the official publication date.
- You receive discounted 4-month print magazine subscriptions for only $0.99 each.
- You receive one year of Grubhub+ membership (normally costs $9.99 per month, a savings of $120 with your Prime membership).
- GrubHub+ offers the following benefits:
- Free unlimited delivery on orders of $12+ (does not include taxes, fees, and gratuity) at participating restaurants.
- Access to elite Care.
- Double your donation with a donation match when you donate your spare change.
- Exclusive perks and rewards with every order and more.
- Registration for the promotion is required (link below).
- Direct Link to the Offer
- The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card earns 5% back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market purchases, 10% back on select products, and 1% back on all other purchases.
- The Amazon Prime Store Card earns you 5% back daily on Amazon.com.
- The Amazon Prime Secured Card earns you 2% back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and more.
For more details on Amazon Prime benefits, you can access information here.
How Much Does An Amazon Prime Membership Cost?
The plan for Amazon Prime membership costs the following:
- $14.99 per month
- $139 per year. You save $40.88 with the annual plan.
- Prime Video membership costs $8.99 per month.
However, there are ways to get Amazon Prime for free or at a discounted price. See below:
Free Prime Membership
Below are a few methods to get an Amazon Prime Membership for free.
Free 30-day Trial Amazon Prime
If you’ve never had Amazon Prime, you can try it out for free for 30 days. After 30 days, Amazon will automatically charge you for the monthly Membership unless you cancel before your free trial ends.
If you do not wish to continue your Prime membership, set a reminder on your calendar or through the Amazon Prime settings (more below) to remind you via email three (3) days before your free trial ends to cancel your Prime membership.
For those who have tried Prime in the past, you can continue checking to see if you are eligible to try Prime again. Unofficially, Amazon offers customers a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial once every 12 months, so keep checking here, as you never know when it may become available again.
I have also seen reports indicating that you can use a different email address to sign up for an Amazon account to get multiple free trials. However, managing multiple Amazon accounts and payment information is a significant amount of work.
To try Amazon Prime, do the following:
- Go to the official Amazon Prime page.
- If the offer is available, click the Try Prime free for 30 days button.
- Follow the Amazon site to finalize your trial.
- Please note that a payment method is required to try Prime, but Amazon does not charge your card during your 30-day trial period.
Free 6-month Trial Amazon Prime & 50% Discount for Students
If you are a student, you can get an Amazon Prime free trial for six (6) months. After that, you pay for your Prime membership at a 50% discount off Prime’s plan.
You must have a .edu email address to sign up for this offer. If you do not have one, you can still apply; however, verification is required, and it typically takes 3-5 business days to complete the process.
- Go to the official Amazon Prime Student page.
- Click on Start your 6-month trial.
- Follow the Amazon site to finalize your 6-month free trial for Amazon Prime.
- Please note that a payment method is required to try Prime, but Amazon does not charge your card during the six-month trial period.
Free 6-month Trial Amazon Prime & 50% Discount For 18-24 Year Olds
Similar to the Amazon Prime Student offer, all 18 to 24-year-old Amazon customers can get an Amazon Prime free trial for six (6) months. After that, you pay for your Prime membership at a 50% discount off Prime’s plan.
To take advantage of this offer, Amazon requires age verification to complete the enrollment process.
- Go to the official Amazon Prime 18-24 Year-Olds page.
- Click on Start your 6-month trial.
- Follow the Amazon site to finalize your 6-month free trial for Amazon Prime.
- Please note that a payment method is required to try Prime, but Amazon does not charge your card during the six-month trial period.
Free Amazon Prime With Citigold Account Package
Citibank offers Citigold Account Package clients up to $200 in annual rebates on select memberships and subscription purchases, including Amazon Prime membership.
The Citigold account package requires a lot of money ($200,000+ in eligible linked deposit, retirement, and investment accounts) to remain a client. It may be too much to become a client to get the Prime membership, but this is an option if you are already a Citigold account member. Moreover, Citi often has a cash bonus promotion if you open the Citigold account package and complete certain required activities, and you can earn up to $2,000 in cash bonuses.
Visit the Citi subscription offer page and scroll down to view the participating merchants, including Amazon Prime.
Free Amazon Prime With Metro by T-Mobile
Switching cell phone companies to get a free Prime membership sounds insane. Still, if you are already a Metro by T-Mobile customer or plan to switch or get a prepaid phone plan soon, you can consider Metro, which is part of the T-Mobile phone company.
Metro has an unlimited $60/month Heritage Plan with a complimentary Amazon Prime membership. That saves $14.99 per month for the Prime membership, which reduces your Metro prepaid plan from $60 to about $45 per month. If you stay on the qualifying Metro Heritage Plan forever, that’s like getting a free Amazon Prime membership!
Free Amazon Prime With Vodafone Mobile Plans (UK)
Vodafone’s UK site offers entertainment plans, including YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium, and Amazon Prime, all of which are included in its on-contract and SIM-only mobile plans.
I am unfamiliar with Vodafone (UK), so please refer to their website for more details.
One-Year Free Amazon Prime With Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Travel Rewards Card
The Visa Signature Flagship Travel Rewards Credit Card by Navy Federal Credit Union offers an annual Amazon Prime membership statement credit. You must pay the annual Prime membership fee with the card, and they will reimburse you with a statement credit. Limit of one promotional offer per card per year.
Free Amazon Prime With Amex Platinum Card Australia’s Subscription Credit
The Australian version of the American Express Platinum Card offers Amazon Prime subscription credit on a monthly or annual basis, up to $84 per calendar year. You must pay for the Prime subscription using your Australian American Express Platinum card.
Discounted Prime Membership
While you may not be eligible for a free Prime Membership, there are other ways to get one at a discounted cost.
Amazon Prime One Week for $1.99
Sometimes, your Amazon account may not be eligible for the free 30-day Prime membership trial. However, Amazon occasionally offers a special offer where you can get one week of Prime for only $1.99. After one week, you pay the full Prime membership price.
While this special offer is brief, it may be useful in certain instances where you want to try out or enjoy Amazon Prime benefits for a limited time, such as getting free, fast shipping or watching a particular show that’s only available on Prime.
To try one week of Amazon Prime, do the following:
- Go to the official Amazon Prime page.
- If the offer is available, click the Try Prime button.
- Follow the Amazon site to finalize your trial.
Discounted Prime Membership With EBT Cardholders
EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer, a government-assisted program that issues welfare payments through an EBT card. If you are an EBT cardholder, you can get Amazon Prime at a discounted price of $6.99 per month, a 50% savings.
- Go to the Amazon Prime government assistance page.
- Click on Join Prime.
- Follow the Amazon site to sign up for your Prime membership with a discount.
Buy the Gift of Prime to Avoid Membership Price Increase
UPDATE: As of 2023, Amazon no longer allows Gift of Prime. The link below will show the following message:
Thank you for considering the Gift of Prime. This feature is no longer available. Please see our Amazon gift cards, which can be used to purchase Prime as well as millions of other items on Amazon.
Amazon can decrease, increase, or keep the Prime membership cost. If you enjoy Amazon Prime, you can secure the current $139 annual Amazon Prime membership for a year or more if you’d like. Therefore, when Amazon raises the membership fee, you will still pay the $139 Prime membership fee. Here’s how:
- Buy a $139 gift of Prime for a 12-month membership.
- Gift of Prime functions like a gift card for Prime membership.
- You can buy as many gifts of Prime gifts as you want.
- You can ONLY buy one gift of Prime one at a time.
- Each gift of Prime membership does not expire.
- Have the gift of Prime emailed to you, and make sure you keep track of each one. To make this work, you must go to your Prime settings to cancel your Membership. See the instructions below on “How to Cancel your Amazon Prime Free Trial and Amazon Prime Membership.”
- After the end date of your Prime membership expires, go back to your email, click on the gift of Prime link, and follow the prompts to successfully enroll in Prime again for another year at the cost you paid for the gift of Prime membership in step 1.
Use Amazon Gift Cards to Pay for Amazon Prime
Amazon allows customers to pay for Prime using Amazon gift cards. Technically speaking, this is not a completely free method of getting a Prime membership. However, there are times when you may receive Amazon gift cards as gifts or purchase them to meet specific needs. Those include earning bonus credit card points on the Amazon category or meeting a minimum spending requirement to get a nice credit card sign-up bonus.
To pay for Amazon Prime with your Amazon gift card balance:
- If it’s your first time joining Prime membership, ensure you select the Amazon gift card balance before activating your Prime membership.
- Amazon uses the gift card balance as a default payment option when it is available to pay for a Prime membership. You will need to verify that.
- You can update the payment method if you are an existing Prime member. Follow the steps below:
- Go to Prime in your Amazon account or click here.
- On the top, click Manage Membership.
- Click on Edit Your Payment Method.
- You can select your preferred payment method, such as the Amazon gift card balance, or use the gift card balance with your credit or debit card.
- Click the “Continue” button to complete the process.
Save Prime Membership With Amazon Household Sharing
Amazon allows Prime account holders to share Prime benefits with another adult (18 and up) in their family. A household typically comprises two adults, up to four teenagers, and four child profiles that may reside in a house.
You can share the following Prime benefits:
- Free Prime Delivery benefits
- Streaming access to Prime Video
- Free books with Prime Reading
- Amazon Photos and album sharing
- Free books with Amazon First Reads
- Unlimited listening on Audible Channels
- Early access to Amazon Lightning Deals
With this Amazon Household Prime Sharing, you can save some money on Prime Membership by having only one adult in the family pay for the Membership for the whole family. However, remember that payment methods are also shared if you use the Amazon Household feature with a roommate or a friend.
You can read more information on Amazon Household and Prime sharing on Amazon.
Save Prime Membership With Amex Offers
There is another way to get a discounted Amazon Prime membership. American Express cardmembers can occasionally take advantage of Amex Offers that target Amazon purchases.
For example:
- Spend $200 or more on Amazon.com and get 1,000 Membership Rewards points up to 3 times.
- Get +5 Membership Rewards points per eligible dollar spent. Up to 2,000 points on Amazon.com
While this method does not provide a free Prime membership, it can save you money by earning statement credits or bonus American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points from American Express.
How to Cancel Amazon Prime Free Trial & Amazon Prime Membership?
Suppose you are participating in the Amazon Prime free trial and do not want to continue your Membership after the trial ends. In that case, I strongly recommend that you have a way to remind yourself to cancel your Membership before the trial ends.
The process to end your Prime membership’s free trial and cancel Prime is the same. To do that:
- Go to Prime in your Amazon account or click here.
- On the top, click Manage Membership.
- Click on “Update, Cancel, and More,” then check the box under “Remind me before renewing.”
- Amazon will email you a reminder three (3) days before your free trial ends to allow you to cancel your Prime membership before they automatically charge you.
- On the same page, click on End Membership if you wish to end or cancel your Prime membership. Amazon will prompt you to confirm your decision. If you still wish to cancel, click the “Cancel My Benefits” button.
- Please note that while your Amazon Prime membership is no longer active, its benefits remain valid until your next billing cycle or until your free trial expires.
