chance that you initially purchased your Amazon Prime membership to get free two-day shipping. But there are dozens of additional perks that can be tricky to find—and considering the cost of an annual membership, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you aren’t taking advantage of all of them. I’m here to help you get your money’s worth—especially ahead of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, which will run on October 6 and 7.
Below, I’ve listed the benefits you should be using as an
. Arguably, these incentives alone aren’t worth the cost of a membership, but chances are at least one of them will come in handy.
. If you’re one of them, these perks are worth checking out.
Updated September 2026: I’ve ensured perks, coverage, pricing, and links are accurate ahead of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days.
. This trial automatically renews, so set a reminder on your phone to reassess and make sure to cancel if you don’t want to continue your membership.
. You can pay $15 per month instead, but that raises the cost of the membership to $180 annually, so you’ll save more money by paying for the year up front. People 18 to 24 years old can get
(formerly called Prime Student), which is $69 annually or $7.50 per month after an extended
that lets members earn rewards on select purchases. Usually, they earn around 5 percent, but some shopping events bump up that rate.
, a discounted Prime membership that cuts the subscription cost in half. If you verify that you receive
qualifying SNAP benefits or other government assistance
, you can get Amazon Prime for $7 per month. Note that Prime Access members have to reverify eligibility once per year, and can only use Prime Access for four years total before they need to choose a different membership.
Prime members are eligible for free next-day shipping on millions of items and free two-day shipping on millions more. Depending on where you live, you may also be eligible for
. Other Amazon-owned stores also offer free and/or expedited shipping to Prime members, including
at checkout, which lets you complete a purchase using your Amazon account instead of signing up for a new account entirely. It seems like more of a convenience than a benefit, but it may be appealing to some shoppers.
, which pulls playlists and podcasts from a selection of 100 million songs and serves them ad-free. Members are also eligible for discounted subscriptions to
, a separate pick-and-play service like Apple Music or Spotify that offers on-demand access to 100 million songs. Normally, it costs $13 monthly, but Prime members can get it for $12 per month.
is also included with your membership. There are some killer originals, like
and select MMA fights. Purchased as a stand-alone subscription, Prime Video costs $9 per month. Note that, sadly, these plans include commercials. If you’re a Prime member and you want to go ad-free, it’ll cost another $5 per month.
I’d be remiss to gloss over Amazon’s members-only event,
. The semi-annual “holiday” has outperformed both Black Friday and Cyber Monday in years past, but not every Prime Day deal is actually a bargain. The WIRED Reviews team always
to make good deals easier to find—our coverage is unique because we only write about deals on products we have personally tested and can verify are great buys, rather than flooding our roundups with questionable third-party brands. This year, Prime Big Deal Days will take place on October 6 and 7, following up the first Prime Day event that took place in June. Our team will cover the best-of-the-best deals throughout the event.
Even outside of Prime Day, Amazon Prime members are eligible for special
. You might be able to knock off a few bucks from your
purchase, use a coupon on household essentials, or find lower prices on new
. Individual discounts vary, but we see these sorts of promotions pretty frequently—and, as with Prime Day, not all of them are good.
Both during and outside of special events like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, Prime members get early access to
. You’ll be able to shop 30 minutes before other customers. Whether Lightning Deals are worth your money is another discussion entirely, but it’s a perk worth checking out.
Overwhelmed by the sheer number of boxes at your door? (Honestly, as a product reviewer, I feel that.)
lets you schedule all of your deliveries to arrive on a certain day of the week. Rather than dealing with a box or two at a time on multiple days, you can get one package with all of your orders on whatever day you prefer. If you use Amazon Day delivery, you aren’t locked in. That means if you’re ordering something you need quickly, you can still opt for the fastest shipping method. Amazon Day delivery is a good way to cut back on all that extra cardboard (and your carbon footprint).
If you don’t need your order to arrive right away, sometimes at checkout you’ll see the option for free
. You might get a free digital credit to use on things like ebooks or dig