Amazon Prime Benefits
Although the cost of admission isn't cheap, there are many perks associated with an Amazon Prime membership. For instance, Prime members get 10 percent off on select Whole Foods purchases. Amazon has been doubling down on Whole Foods discounts with new weekly price cuts that save shoppers an average of 20 percent on in-season produce, meat, seafood, and other products.
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Last October, Amazon announced that Prime members would get free Amazon Fresh deliveries on orders of $35 or more. Amazon Fresh previously required that Prime members pay an extra $14.99/month. However, Amazon announced that Fresh would now be free for Prime members who have previously used the service. (Members who haven't used the service must ask to be invited to Amazon Fresh before taking advantage of the free delivery).
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Prime members also get discounts on digital services like FreeTime Unlimited, which costs $2.99/month for Prime members or $4.99/month for non-members. And should you receive an Amazon Prime delivery late, Amazon will try to rectify its mistake.
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Students can also benefit from Amazon Prime. If you're a two- or four-year college student with a valid .edu email, you can get a free six-month trial of Amazon Prime Student, which gets you all of the benefits of Prime in addition to special student-specific deals and coupons. After your trial ends, Prime Student will cost you half the price of a regular Prime membership for up to four years or until you graduate, whichever comes first.
Prime Student membership now comes with a deal on Music Unlimited, the paid streaming service that typically costs $7.99 per month for Prime members. Those college students will get the option to add the 50-million track library of Unlimited (which beats Prime Music's 2 million count) for $0.99 extra.
Those are just a few of the many features of Amazon Prime. Below are the answers to all of your questions concerning Prime membership.
Q.: What is Amazon Prime?
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A.: Amazon Prime is a paid service — $119 per year or $12.99 per month — that gives Amazon shoppers a variety of perks. The biggest perk, however, is free one- or two-day shipping on most items sold by Amazon.
If the $119 annual membership seems steep, there are a few ways to lessen the impact.
Q.: Why should I subscribe to Amazon Prime?
A.: Amazon lists a variety of reasons why customers who frequent its website may want a Prime subscription. Below you'll find a few.
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- Free two-day shipping on eligible items to addresses in the contiguous U.S. and other shipping benefits. For more information, go to Amazon Prime Shipping Benefits.
- Free same-day delivery in eligible ZIP codes. For more information, go to Order with Prime Free Same-Day Delivery.
- Prime Pantry: Prime Pantry gives members access to low-priced groceries as well as household and pet care items. Now a subscription service, Prime Pantry costs $4.99/month (in addition to your Prime membership). The service includes unlimited free shipping on Pantry orders of $40 or more. Orders under $40 incur a $7.99 shipping fee. Prime Pantry orders cannot be shipped to addresses in Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico.
- Prime Now: In select cities, Amazon offers one-hour delivery on tens of thousands of products from local stores. For instance, in New York City you can get delivery of beer, wine and spirits from Westside Market, Union Square Wines, or Vintage Grape. Amazon recently expanded its Prime Now delivery to include Annapolis, Cleveland, Louisville, North/Central New Jersey, and Pittsburgh. Prime Now also delivers food/groceries from Amazon-owned Whole Foods.
