Amazon Prime has an array of benefits, in addition to the fast and free shipping that originally made it famous. Over the years, those benefits have expanded to include special grocery discounts, free food delivery with Grubhub, ad-free music streaming, and (new for 2024) fuel discounts.
The cost of Prime has expanded too, hitting $139 per year in 2022. The key to making sure that Amazon Prime is worth it to you is to make use of as many benefits as you can. So we rounded up some lesser-known Prime benefits you might have forgotten about (or never known about).
Download the KCL app or text SAVE to 57299 to see current Amazon deals.
New for 2024, Prime members get $0.10 off per gallon of gas at certain stations.
This new benefit rolled out in October 2024. Prime members can get $0.10 at BP, Amoco, and AMPM gas stations in the U.S. (which is about 7,000 locations nationwide).
To activate this benefit and get your $0.10 off per gallon, you'll need to do the following:
Log in to your Prime account and visit amazon.com/fuelsavings to activate the offer. Follow the instructions to link your Prime account to Earnify, BP's rewards program. You'll also need to add a phone number and enter a verification code sent by text.
If you want, you can download the Earnify app (Android or Apple) to locate participating gas stations.
When you fill up at the pump, just input your phone number. Or open the Earnify app and input which station and pump you're at to get your discount. You'll get your discount in real time and pay $0.10 less per gallon than everyone else.
With this benefit, Amazon is directly competing with other retailer paid membership programs, especially Walmart's. Walmart+, for example, has already offered $0.10 off per gallon at Exxon ad Mobil stations for a few years.
Amazon estimates Prime members will save an average of $70 per year with its gas benefit. How much you'll save depends on how many participating stations are near you and how often you can plan to stop at a BP, Amoco, or AMPM station.
Get unlimited generic medications for $5/month with RxPass.
Amazon Pharmacy is cool enough on its own, offering low-cost generic meds to anyone, Prime member or not — but they’ve saved their best pharmaceutical benefit for the Prime members. It’s called RxPass, and it allows access to generic medications for over 80 common health conditions at an affordable cost.
Prime members can receive as many eligible medications as needed, delivered to their door, for a flat fee of $5 per month. This fee covers the cost of eligible generic medications and there are no additional charges. It is currently available to customers in most U.S. states (it's not available in California, Texas, and Washington) and can be canceled at any time. To sign up, visit the Amazon Pharmacy RxPass website.
Get a free Twitch subscription + free games through Prime Gaming.
Your Prime membership comes with Prime Gaming, which offers tons of free PC games for Prime members. Plus, you can get a free Twitch channel subscription. Gamers stream gaming videos on Twitch — it’s like YouTube, but for video game enthusiasts. Usually, you have to pay a fee ($4.99 per month) to subscribe to your favorite streamer's channel. But Amazon Prime gives you one subscription for free.
Try clothes on for free with Prime Try Before You Buy.
The Amazon Prime Try Before You Buy service is exclusively for Prime members, and it’ll save you from returning pieces that you hate or that don’t fit. It'll also save your wallet from the upfront cost of ordering multiple sizes.
You can order between three and eight clothing items and send back what you don’t want within seven days. You’ll only pay for what you keep. Check out what's available for Try Before You Buy.
This is especially helpful when combined with Amazon Outlet, where you can find some pretty steep discounts on designer fashion items.
Access Amazon Lockers for free.
If package theft is a problem in your area, consider sending your orders to an Amazon locker.
These self-service kiosks allow you to pick up your package whenever you want — including evenings and weekends — instead of letting it sit on your porch all day.
Non-Prime members pay for Amazon lockers when they pay shipping fees, but they're free for you to use because you’re a Prime member. Oh, you can place returns in the Amazon Locker too — also free.
KCL TIP: You can also make Amazon returns at Kohl’s, though this benefit is available to everyone regardless of Prime status. They’ll even box up your items for you!
Amazon Key delivery is free — after you’ve paid for setup.
With Amazon Key, an associate delivers your packages to a secure location like inside your garage or gate.
Use this if you don’t have access to an Amazon Locker, because an Amazon Locker is superior to Amazon Key. It’s simpler and you don’t have to buy special equipment to use it. To boil it down, Amazon Key turns your garage or gate into a huge, glorified Amazon Locker.
It’s a cool idea, and while it’s not free to set up, it’s free for Prime members to use. It’s just got a lot of moving parts and pieces, so I’m leaving a skeleton of resources for you to check out if you’re interested in Amazon Key.
To use Amazon Key, you’ll be prompted in the Key app to choose one of these options for setup:
Install your smart lock and camera. (Here’s where to buy a smart lock and camera if you don’t have one.)
Add a garage door using your myQ account. (You’ll need to buy a myQ Garage Kit first.)
Activate your Ring account. (Buy a Ring device first.)
Here’s more about getting started with Amazon Key.
Here’s help for troubleshooting common Amazon Key problems.
Here are Amazon Key Frequently Asked Questions.
Too complicated? Just go with Amazon Locker.
Ensure your packages arrive on a specific day of the week.
I’m not one for predictability as a total life motto. But, when someone else is doing the discipline part for me, I’m all in.
Amazon Day is a feature that allows Prime members to select up to two days a week for orders to arrive, and Amazon will combine items into single packages as often as possible. So you reduce your waste and carbon footprint plus make more room in your recycle bin, because you’ll have less Amazon cardboard. And you can pick a day you know you’ll be home to pull everything into the house.
Shuffle through 100 million songs with Amazon Prime Music, no ads.
Want to listen to all 100 million songs on Amazon Music for free? A Prime subscription gives you access to Amazon Music’s full song library without commercials, but you have to listen to your favorite artists and albums on shuffle.
You can opt for the extra $9.99/month Amazon Music Unlimited service, to play specific songs or skip the ones you don’t want to hear.
Access Amazon Prime savings in the “Just for Prime” section.
In Amazon’s search dropdown, select “Just for Prime” to find Amazon Prime shopping deals — you guessed it — just for Prime members.
From here you can browse through deals listed or search for specific items in the search bar. Prime members also get a 30-minute head start on Amazon Lightning Deals.
Get free books through Prime Reading.
Prime members get access to loads and loads of free Kindle ebooks and audiobooks through Prime Reading. You can send the titles to your Kindle device, or to your smartphone or laptop to read. The Prime Reading library includes select fiction, non-fiction, kids' books, and even magazines.
If you’re an avid reader, you can choose to pay $9.99 for Kindle Unlimited. This will open you up to over one million free titles and thousands of audiobooks.
Get 25% off Amazon Kids+.
It used to be called “Freetime Unlimited,” but even with a new name, it’s the same idea. As a Prime member, you’ll only pay $5.99 per month per child for thousands of books, movies, TV shows, and educational games — all kid-friendly. Non-members pay $7.99 per month.
Plus, you can set time limits and restrict certain apps if you want to. Kids can’t make in-app purchases or access other apps like social media while they’re in Kids+.
Get special discounts on groceries and waived fees for online grocery orders of $100+.
Amazon Prime membership unlocks special discounts on groceries, whether you're shopping in store (at Amazon Fresh stores or Whole Foods), or ordering groceries online from Amazon:
10% off Amazon Fresh products. Amazon Fresh is Amazon's grocery line (available at Amazon Fresh brick-and-mortar stores and online for delivery).
10% off sale items at Whole Foods.
Plus, Prime members get free grocery delivery on Amazon Fresh grocery delivery over $100.
Non-Prime members don't get these special discounts or the free delivery.
KCL TIP: Not everyone is in an area covered by Amazon grocery delivery. Check your ZIP code here before you try to take advantage of these perks.
Get discounts at Whole Foods because you’re a Prime member.
When you’re shopping at Whole Foods, look around the store for tags that offer Prime member discounts. You’ll find dollar-off deals ($2 off a rotisserie chicken) and percent-off deals (10% off all fresh wrap sandwiches.)
Download the Whole Foods app and connect it to your Prime account; then scan the QR code at checkout to apply any savings.
Here are a few examples of Prime member deals I’ve seen at my local Whole Foods:
Organic strawberries: 2 for $5, regularly $4.99 each
Kind bars and granola: 35% off
Bell & Evans Chicken Tenders: Buy 1, Get 1 Free, regularly $6.99 each
Get early access to Lightning Deals 30 minutes before everyone else.
Next time you’re shopping, look for labels that say “Prime Early Access” on Lightning Deals. What’s a Lightning Deal, you ask? It’s a highly desirable deal that’s only on sale for a short amount of time (hours) and usually sells out. So early access is necessary for getting the best deals.
To get the early access, go to Amazon's Lightning Deals section. Then select "Exclusive" to unveil all the deals available only to Prime members before the general public.
Earn 5% cash back when you shop on Amazon with your Amazon Rewards card.
Amazon offers a few options for credit cards. The first, the Amazon Rewards card, is a traditional credit card that you can use wherever you shop. The second, the Amazon Store card, is a credit card you can only use at Amazon.
Amazon Rewards cardholders who are also Prime members earn all this:
5% back on all Amazon and Whole Foods purchases.
2% back at restaurants and gas stations.
1% everywhere else.
Non-members don’t get the 5% back on Amazon purchases.
Now's a good time to sign up if you’re a rewards credit card person. You’ll get a $100 Amazon gift card instantly.
It’s a similar story with Amazon Store cardholders. Prime members get that extra 5% back on every single Amazon purchase, where non-members only get 5% - 15% off select items throughout the year. New store cardholders can get an instant $60 Amazon gift card right now.
All rewards points can be used to make future Amazon purchases.
Get free shipping from Woot and expedited free shipping from Zappos.
Amazon owns Woot.com and Zappos.com, so as a Prime member you’ll get perks when you shop these online stores too.
Get free shipping at Woot.com when you link your Prime account. Since Zappos already offers free shipping on all orders to everyone, Prime members can get upgraded expedited free shipping.
Get access to thousands of Prime Video titles for free.
This is one of the benefits I use most often. Between TV shows, movies, and Prime Originals, Prime Video is still going strong in my top three choices for streaming.
Plus, you can rent movies or access Prime Video Cinema. In many cases, this means you can sit at home watching the same movies other people are watching in the theaters. Most Prime Video Cinema rentals cost $19.99.
Get free unlimited photo storage through Amazon Photo.
Everyone gets 5 GB of free storage for videos, but only Prime members get unlimited photo storage.
Wanna know how Amazon Photo compares with other plans? Check it out:
Amazon Photo Storage for non-Prime members: 100 GB for $1.99 per month.
Apple iCloud: 50 GB for $0.99 per month. (Breaks down to about $2 per month for 100 GB for an apples-to-apples comparison.)
Dropbox: 2 TB for $9.99 per month. (Breaks down to $0.50 per month for every 100 GB.)
Free Grubhub+ member ship gets you free food delivery.
This benefit is still pretty new (added in 2024) and quite valuable if you frequently order food delivery: sign up to Grubhub+ via your Amazon account, and get Grubhub+ (a $120-a-year value) for free. Grubhub+ membership gets you free delivery on orders of $12 or more, so you're also skipping the delivery fees every time you order food.
How much does Amazon Prime cost?
Annual membership fees are $139, up from the previous annual cost of $119. If you pay monthly, Amazon Prime will run you $14.99/month, where it used to only cost $12.99/month (Amazon raised their prices in the spring of 2022). Amazon Prime Students members are now paying $69/year or $7.49/month – a $10/year or $1/month price increase.
If you have EBT or Medicaid, you can qualify for a discounted Prime membership through Amazon Access. The discounted membership (called “Prime Access”) will run you $7.49/month. You'll have to re-certify every 12 months to continue to qualify for the discount pricing.
KCL TIP: As long as you haven’t had a membership in the past 12 months, you qualify for a free trial membership of Prime. You'll start being charged for your membership after the first 30 days.
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