Amazon Prime is an amazing service that we highly recommend.
But, it’s not free.
It costs $10.99 per month or $99 annually.
While that might not be a huge amount, if you’re really trying to cut back, or you’d like to try the service before you have to part with any of your hard-earned cash, getting Prime for free is even better.
But before we get onto that…
What will I learn?
What are the benefits of Amazon Prime?
Prime is a service from Amazon that gives you access to a huge range of benefits.
KashKick: Get paid directly into your PayPal for watching videos, surfing, shopping and more. Join KashKick Now!
Panel Payday: Earn up to $75 per survey. They also pay up to $50/hr for mystery shopping. Join Now!
InboxDollars: Paid over $57 Million to members to watch videos, take surveys, shop and more. Get $5 instantly!
Branded Surveys: Get $1 instantly just for joining for free. Plus get paid within 48 hours by PayPal! Join Branded Surveys
iPsos iSay:: If you have to only sign up for one paid survey site, go with Ipsos (high paying survyes)! Join iPsos Now!
Swagbucks: Get paid to watch videos, shop online, take surveys and more. Join now & get $5 instantly!
These benefits include:
- Free, fast shipping.
- Access to a library of movies and TV shows that you can stream for free.
- Free music.
- Access to exclusive discounts.
And much, much more!
Make sure that you check out our Amazon Prime review for a full breakdown of all of the benefits on offer through AP.
Is Prime even worth it?
If you’re a frequent shopper of Amazon, yes, Prime will save you way more money than you’d spend on the membership itself.
In our Amazon Prime Review, we stated how Prime can save you $174.96 on shipping fees over a six month period.
Even if you only order three items per month through Amazon, the cost of Prime is still definitely worth it.
With free 2-day shipping, hundreds Amazon freebies like music, movies, and books, as well as exclusive Amazon coupons and discounts, Prime is definitely worth it.
So How Do I Get Prime for Free?
As we mentioned above, being a member of AP nets you tons of benefits, which far outweigh the cost.
But, there are a few things that you can do to get the service for free.
There are many ways to get AP for free, but the ones we’ve outlined below are pretty much a sure thing.
Advertisements
So if you’re looking to get the service at no cost, then try out one of these methods.
1. Sign up for the free trial
Amazon offers a free trial of Prime, but before you brush it off, thinking that maybe it’s only for a week, like the Netflix or Hulu free trial, give this one a go.
The company’s free trial lasts a super generous 30 days!
You get access to all of the benefits, like free shipping and Prime Video – the company’s streaming service.
You can test out AP for a whole month, without having to pay anything!
But, you do have to enter credit/debit card information to start your free trial.
And, if you don’t cancel it before the trial period ends, then you will be charged.
This means that you need to make sure that you make note of the date the trial started. You can cancel it before the free period is up and avoid getting charged.
2. Get 6 months free with Prime Student
If you have a valid student email address, then you could get Prime for free for a whole six months!
That’s a pretty generous deal.
So if you are a student, then make sure that you sign up for a Prime Student account, rather than a regular one – otherwise, you won’t get the discount.
If you’re a college student, this one is a real no-brainer!
Plus, once the free trial ends, you get a 50% discount on your membership.
What if you’re not a student?
One of the best Amazon hacks a few years back was the one where you could sign up for Amazon Student and enjoy the benefits without even being a student.
Basically, to sign up, all you needed was a university email address, one that ends with .edu. For example, you@exampleuniversity.edu.
So, a lot of people were able to get a .edu email address by asking friends and family to share theirs or by using sites online that made it easy to get a .edu email.
That method no longer works.
Why?
Amazon caught on.
They now require more than an email address to prove you are a student.
Now you need to provide:
- Transcript
- Acceptance letter with matriculation date
- Student ID with expiration date
So, unfortunately, you can’t use that hack anymore.
The good news is that even if you’re not a student, you can still use the other options mentioned in this post to get free Prime.
3. Get free Prime with Sprint Cell plan
If you’re already with Sprint, or you’re considering switching to one of the company’s plans, then you’ll be glad to know that you could get Prime for free.
Sprint customers can get Amazon Prime for free, for 60 days!
That’s a really great deal.
It’s really easy to sign up for this offer.
Here’s how:
- Go to sprint.com/plans to sign up for Sprint Better Choice XXL with Amazon Prime included. (You can also do this by going to your local Sprint store or by calling 1-800-SPRINT1.)
- After signing up, check your phone for a text message with the activation link. Click the link and complete the Amazon Prime registration.
- After that, you are ready to enjoy Prime and everything it has to offer for free!
According to the company, the plans entitles you to 12 months of free Prime.
4. Hope for your package to arrive late!
I’ve been a Prime member for a few years now, mainly because I do a lot of my shopping online and about 90% of it through Amazon. So It’s worth it for me.
Now, one of the perks of AP is that you get free 2-day shipping on millions of times.
Unfortunately, there are times when that doesn’t hold up.
In those cases, you can contact support and ask why the item is late.
In many cases, the representative will give you something to make it up to you.
A few things I have gotten over the years include:
- $25 Amazon gift certificate.
- $150 credited back to my credit card (for a smart TV that never arrived. Yes, they also sent me another one.)
- $10 Amazon gift card.
- One month of free Prime. (3 times over the last year.)
Yes, I did get a free 1-month Prime because my package didn’t arrive in 2 days even though it had the “2-day shipping guarantee.”
Now, this usually this works if you are already a Prime member. You just get a free month added to your membership.
And technically you could do this over and over to get free Prime for a long time (although it’s highly unlikely that they roll with it.)
So here’s what you do next time you have a late package:
- Step 1: Contact Amazon support
- Step 2: Explain the problem (maybe even add why it’s a big deal since this was a time-sensitive item.)
- Step 3: Politely ask for a free Prime extension.
- Step 4: Enjoy it!
The best part is that even if you don’t get that, they’ll give you something (usually a free Amazon gift certificate for $5-$10.)
What if you’re not a member already?
No worries!
This also applies to late packages for shoppers who paid for a 1-day delivery shipping upgrade.
So, if you’ve paid for an upgraded shipping and your package is late, contact them and ask for a free Prime trial.
Pro tip: I noticed what you get has a lot to do with the particular employee you’re dealing with. If you find them not helpful, simply close the chat box or hang up the phone and contact them later. Hopefully, you’ll get somebody else.
Methods that Sometimes Work…
Above, we mentioned some of the best foolproof ways that you can get AP for free.
But, those aren’t the only ways that you can avoid the cost of membership.
There are a few other methods you can try.
However, these methods aren’t a sure thing, like the ones above.
Sometimes, they work and sometimes they don’t. But they’re definitely worth a try.
5. After your free trial ends see if Amazon offers another
This is something that often works with many other companies too.
For example, I tried this for my SiriusXM radio subscription and while I wasn’t able to get a free trial, I got a 50% discount for the next 6 months.
The idea is simple…
Right before your trial is over, cancel the membership.
In order to keep you around longer, Amazon will often ask you if you want another trial. All you have to do is say “Yes” and you’ve got yourself another free 30 days.
This one requires a bit of patience, and don’t be certain that the company will even send you one.
I have seen a lot of people, especially on Reddit who claim this has worked for them, some even multiple times.
Either way, it’s worth a try.
6. Sign up with a new account each time
According to reports online, including one in this Reddit post, you can get multiple free trials if you sign up for Prime with a new account each time.
Apparently, Amazon looks at the account – the email address you sign up with and login with – rather than the credit card used.
This means that you can sign up for a free trial with one Amazon account.
Then, when that trial ends, you could sign up for another trial using a different account. You could use your spouse’s account, for example.
Or you could just create multiple accounts yourself.
It’s easy to sign up for a few different email accounts – Microsoft and Gmail offer them for free.
Give this one a try.
The company might catch on, but it’s worth trying.
If it works you could get Amazon Prime for free forever!
How to Get Amazon Prime for Cheaper
As you can see, there are a couple of ways to get Prime for free. But most of these are for a limited time.
There are also ways, however, that you can get AP cheaper.
1. Get it for $5.99 with an EBT Card
Recently, Amazon gave people who are part of government assistance programs the chance to get a Prime membership for just $5.99 per month, rather than $10.99 per month.
You will need an EBT card.
You can sign up for this discount membership on this page.
2. Get 1 year free (?) with American Express Card
On the Amazon website, there is an offer available for one year of Prime for American Express card holders.
But, when you go onto the AMEX website, there’s no detail of the offer on there anymore, meaning that the offer is probably no longer available.
However, there is another Prime deal available to AMEX members.
At the time of writing, there’s an offer available through Slick Deals, which gives AMEX card holders 5,000 American Express Membership Rewards Points.
So while you still have to pay $99 for the membership, you get points back, which you can spend, meaning you save cash.
3. Look for offers on coupon websites
Another easy way to get a discount on Prime is to check out coupon websites.
On these platforms, you can find discount codes that can save you money on Prime.
There are codes for free trials and money off of Prime purchases.
A couple of websites that provide Amazon offers, include:
- Coupons.com: https://www.coupons.com/coupon-codes/amazon/
- RetailMeNot: https://www.retailmenot.com/view/amazon.com
- DealCatcher: https://www.dealcatcher.com/amazon-coupons
- Groupon: https://www.groupon.com/coupons/stores/amazon.com
- Slickdeals: https://slickdeals.net/coupons/amazon/#all
How to get amazon prime free for life?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get free Prime forever?
It would be!
Unfortunately, there is no way to do that.
Sure, there are tons of blog posts and click bait YouTube videos claiming they know how to get Prime for free forever, but none of them actually work.
So, don’t waste your time on that. Instead, use the options we outlined above. Even though they give you free membership for a limited time, you still get it for free!
Takeaway
As you can see, there are plenty of ways that you can get access to all of the benefits of AP, without having to pay a penny for the service!
We do recommend that if you shop on Amazon – even if you just order a few items per month, that you join Prime.
Even after the free trial ends, it’s still worth being a member – you can save yourself so much cash on shipping.
And the amount of movies and TV shows that you get access to more than pays for the membership.
So if you’ve been wondering how to get Amazon Prime for free, then give one of the above methods a try.
Share your thoughts