Amazon Prime: 21 benefits for each member

Amazon Prime is probably better known for two things: two free days (scratch that: a-day!) and Netflix style video streaming. These are decisive advantages, especially given the relatively low annual subscription fee of $ 119 (a basic Netflix subscription costs $ 108 alone). But a premium subscription is not just about sending and streaming. Much more.

Here is an overview of each of the benefits included in Prime – as well as some Amazon services that you might have imagined included, but that actually cost an extra fee. (You do not have a subscription yet? You can sign up for Prime here, even if it's only a 30-day trial.)

The full list of Prime benefits is surprisingly long. Let's start with everyone's favorite: fast and free delivery.

Shipping Advantages

Free delivery the next day: In the beginning, Prime offered a fantastic shipping upgrade: a two day free shipping on most of Amazon 's hardware goods, even though it' s most products, even S & # 's 39, it is only an article and it costs only a few dollars. (A $ 3 HDMI cable, do you mind?) Earlier this year, the advantage improved even further: Amazon has moved to day-to-day delivery for millions of products. Not in a hurry? When you arrive at the checkout page, look for an "immediate delivery" option, which can earn you a small credit (usually $ 1) that can be applied to digital purchases: e-books, movie rentals, and more.

Free delivery on the date of publication: Suppose you pre-order a new book from your favorite author or a new technology product. As a Premium Subscriber, you will receive this item the same day of its release, not one or two days later. Of course, only certain items are eligible.

Free delivery in two hours: Prime Now offers hyperlocal products, delivering Whole Foods grocery products and other items in just two hours – for free if you spend at least $ 35 and $ 4.99 if you do not. In addition, Amazon offers Whole Foods discounts exclusively to Premium subscribers (see below).

Business Benefits

Free delivery (or lump sum) of groceries and housewares: Toilet paper, dog food, shampoo, your favorite cereal – Prime Pantry will deliver these products, among others (just about anything that does not require refrigeration). However, to qualify for free shipping (and this will be by land, not by one or two days), you must spend at least $ 35. Spend less and shipping costs are $ 5.99 per order. You can also upgrade your Premium Pantry membership for $ 4.99 a month, but the only benefit is that you get free shipping with a minimum of $ 10 instead of $ 35.

Alexa offers: Do you own an Echo, Fire tablet or other Alexa compatible device? If so, say these magic words: "Alexa, what are your things?" She will launch a list of prime-exclusive rather random offers, stopping after each of them to ask if you would like to buy it. It's certainly not the most efficient way to shop – especially if you opt for online browsing to make sure the deal you get is really good – but it's still a big plus.

5% cash back with an Amazon Prime card: How do you get even better deals at Amazon? Sign up for one of the company's credit cards; each offers a 5% cash back on almost every purchase made by Amazon. There is the Amazon Store card, valid only at Amazon, which offers interest-free financing for various purchases. (At the present time, you can also get a $ 60 gift card when you sign up.) There is also the Amazon Prime Rewards Signature Signature Card, a more traditional credit card that also allows you to recover. non-Amazon purchases.

Exclusive discounts at Whole Foods: following Amazon 2017 acquisition of the grocery chainyou can now get exclusive benefits and discounts. If you shop in store, look for prices marked "Prime", then simply open the Amazon app on your phone and flash the QR code at checkout. While you're at it, use the aforementioned Visa Prime Rewards for an additional 5% cash back.

Instant reorganization with Amazon Dash buttons: In the beginning, Amazon sold physical buttons that you could use to rearrange various household products (paper towels, laundry paper, laundry detergent, coffee pods, etc.). But the Dash buttons are now exclusively virtual, which means you access them on your computer, your mobile device, Echo Show. ($ 230 at Amazon) or Samsung Family Hub. The functionality remains the same: a click automatically rearranges the individual products.

Advance access to Lightning offers: Amazon Lightning offers are for a limited time or while stocks last. If you are a premium subscriber, you have access to these offers 30 minutes before non-subscribers.

Access to Amazon Elements: Without doubt the most "meh" of all the benefits Prime, Elements is an exclusive Amazon store containing mainly "premium" vitamins, protein powder and other supplements, as well as baby wipes.

The discount of completion: Have a baby? If you used Amazon to create a gift registry, the discount on the purchase allows you to benefit from an additional 15% discount on the remaining items in the list (that is, say the items that were not purchased for you).

Premium Wardrobe: This exclusive Amazon gives you seven days to try on eligible clothes, shoes and accessories at home and then return them for a full refund of items you do not like.

Streaming benefits

Unlimited video streaming: Prime Video is apparent to Netflix and offers movies, TV shows and original content. It is accessible on virtually all mobile devices and streaming devices, as well as most game consoles and smart TVs. In addition, many TV shows and some movies can be downloaded to your phone or tablet for offline viewingas with Netflix. Here is our summary of every new movie and TV show on Amazon in July 2019

Limited streaming music: Amazon Prime Music offers unlimited, ad-free access to a song library of over 2 million tracks. You can stream them to different devices, but you can also download songs to your phone or tablet for offline listening. Prime Music should not be confused with Amazon Music Unlimited (see "Information not provided with Amazon Prime" below), which offers a a lot Larger library but additional costs. Low-cost subscribers, however, get a price reduction.

Media benefits

Unlimited storage of photos: Like Google, Amazon Prime offers subscribers unlimited cloud storage for photos. For most people, this means using the Amazon Drive application to download images of phones and tablets, but there is also a desktop application (for Windows and Mac) that can archive photos from your hard drive . Plus, Prime Photos gives you 5GB of storage for your documents and videos.

E-books and free magazines: As part of your Premium membership, you have access to Amazon Prime Reading, which – as a loan library – allows you to borrow up to 10 titles. The trap: This particular library offers a relatively small selection. So do not expect a lot of new titles or better sales. However, the selection of magazines – which runs quite often – can be decent. At the present time, you can for example consult Entertainment Weekly, Martha Stewart Living and Men's Health.

Free eBooks, Part 2: It's called Amazon First Reads and works as follows: Every month, the editors of Amazon prepare a dozen books to appear and give prime subscribers the opportunity to choose one of them. them – for free. And that is for the cures too; you do not just borrow the book.

Free Audible Channels: Amazon has the audible service of audiobooks. Audible Channels is one of the best kept secrets of Prime – a small selection of audiobooks only available to Premium members (and only available in streaming, if you want to download one, you will have to buy it). But speaking of secrets, these books are somehow hidden: to find them, you have to venture into the Audible application on your phone, and then tap the Chains icon and scroll the screen until you see Collections of audio books.

Free PC Games and Extras: Hardcore players know Twitch, which allows users to watch and share game videos. Prime subscribers who associate their Twitch and Prime accounts can get free games and loot in-game. (To access the old one, you'll need the Twitch desktop client.)

Bouts

Sharing members: Do you share a household with another adult? Then you can take advantage of Amazon Households to share many of your Prime benefits with this person. Household also allows four teenagers (aged 13 to 17) to create their own profiles for shopping and streaming.

Amazon Prime also allows you to add premium video subscriptions – HBO, Starz, Showtime, etc. – your Premium Video display system, although it's a simple benefit: you do not get any discounts on the separate purchase of these subscriptions.

What is not included with Amazon Prime

It's a lot of primordial goodness. However, some Amazon services are not included in your subscription – and some services are gone. For example, Amazon restaurants, which offered a food delivery similar to GrubHub, were dropped last month. There is no longer a free 6 month subscription to the Washington Post. Here is an overview of additional costs and additional costs.

Amazon Fresh: It seems unlikely that Amazon Fresh – a pre-owned grocery delivery service owned by Whole Foods by Amazon – will continue for a very long time, especially due to its limited availability (only a few regions) and its monthly rate of $ 14.99.

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited: FreeTime Unlimited is a subscription service designed specifically for children, e-books, games, movies, TV shows and other child-friendly content. Compatible with Kindles, Fire and Fire TV tablets, it includes parental controls including setting time limits, adjusting content filters and viewing photos taken with the tablet. You do not need a premium membership to get FreeTime Unlimited, but it's cheaper: $ 2.99 a month for a child or $ 6.99 a month for up to four children. If you do not have Prime, the service costs $ 4.99 and $ 9.99 respectively.

Unlimited Kindle: Kindle Unlimited – priced at $ 9.99 per month – seems to expand the content of ebooks, digital magazines, and audiobooks already included in your premium subscription. In reality, the extra content you get is not clear. First, make sure to register for a test. (As a result, Bonus subscribers are currently eligible for a free three-month trial.)

Unlimited music: Amazon's response to Apple Music, Spotify, etc., gives you access to some 50 million songs, far more than what you get with Prime Music. If you already have a Premium membership, adding Music Unlimited costs $ 7.99 a month, a few dollars less than competitive fees. However, a family plan pays $ 14.99 per month, whether you are a Premium subscriber or not, and this represents no savings compared to the competition. Indeed, you may want to to find out if Amazon Music Unlimited is a good deal for you before adding it to your account.

Originally published on October 18, 2016.
Update of July 9, 2019: This article is updated regularly as new benefits are added to Premium subscriptions and others expire.