Amazon Prime: New Members Start FREE 30-Day Trial and Lock in First Year for $79/Year (4 Days Only)

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As I mentioned last week here, Amazon.com recently announced that existing Prime members will now pay $99 per year on their annual renewal date and Amazon Student members will pay $49. However, if you have to join Prime (or you’ve been debating about whether to join), now is the time to do so! For the next 4 days only, new Prime Members can start a 30-day FREE Trial of Amazon Prime and lock in at the $79 price for the first year of membership (a $20 savings).

When you enroll in the free trial of Amazon Prime, you’ll have access to the benefits of FREE two-day shipping (my favorite feature! 😀 ), unlimited Prime Instant Video, and access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Note that you won’t be charged for your free trial, BUT you will be automatically upgraded to a paid membership plan (at the locked in rate of $79 for the first year) at the end of the trial period. To cancel your Amazon Prime Trial, you will just need to go to to Manage Your Prime Membership and click “Do not continue”.

Join The Discussion

Comments 18

  1. Mary

    Can anyone tell me about the selection of the videos you get with the unlimited Prime Amazon Instant Video streaming? How new are the movies they allow you to choose from? For instance, could you get Frozen or Catching Fire right now? I’m currently disappointed in the selection Netflix has. They seem to be older movies.

    • Queenjen87

      They have a similar selection to netflix, but kids shows they still have Dora!! (Which was taken off Netflix and caused a meltdown with my four year old). Movies are mostly older. You can stream new movies, but have to pay. Also if you want it to your tv, you have to have a wifi DVD or blue ray player they streams prime.

    • Elizabeth

      The selection is fairly comparable to Netflix. They have a lot of the same shows/movies but each also have things the other doesnt. You would not be able to stream new release movies for free, you can’t really get that from any subscription streaming services, the movie companies would lose too much money.
      I have subscriptions to both and for streaming I prefer Netflix, it is much more user friendly in my opinion.

  2. Alice

    Netflix and Amazon pretty much have the same thing. There are no new movies on Amazon however they do offer new movies but you would have to pay for them. They are not included with Amazon Prime.

  3. Rachael

    I have heard rumors of buying yourself a gift membership and having it delivered to yourself right after your current year ends. That way you can lock in the 79 price for another year…Anyone know if this will work?

    • Hunterwoody

      I would so do that!

    • Laura

      I’m counting on it working. I bought the Prime Gift from my husband’s account for $79 the day they made the announcement, and it is supposed to be delivered to me on 4/18 (my membership actually expires on 4/17 which is the effective day of the increase, my bad luck). I thought it might seem more authentic to gift it from another account, but I’ve read plenty online comments saying that you can do it from your own account and even use your own gift card balance to purchase it. The charge is on our credit card already, so for us it’s just paying the yearly fee a month early in order to avoid the extra $20, and there should be no real interruption or loss to our subscription. I guess we’ll know on 4/18 whether it will work for sure, but I can’t see why not.

  4. Stacy

    I did a free trial around Christmas and found a lot of different movies on Amazon Instant Video that Netflix didn’t have. I am considering getting both and getting rid of cable. Also have the option to rent movies that are not free or purchase and download.

  5. Dani

    I don’t think amazon and netflix are all that comparable, especially with their kids selection. Netflix offers a lot more & is more current. They have a much better movie selection, too. I do like the ability to rent, in case I don’t want to venture out to a redbox. We use both, as well as HULU. We haven’t had cable in years.

  6. Anna

    BTW you can split prime with up to 4 households. You just invite them and you cannot see each others orders or anything. We are splitting ours with siblings in different states, super deal!!!

    • Trish

      When you split the prime membership only the original prime member gets the amazon prime instant video and the kindle books thingy, all of the other members only get free prime shipping. Found this one out the hard way. 🙁

    • sheeba m

      This is a thought but how do you split the membership becos I know I would be able to find 4 householdsto split up the cost??

  7. txhrc4

    I feel that even at $99 a year, it is still a great deal, especially if you order a lot from Amazon. We also have Netflix and between the two (Amazon Prime & Netflix) I am able to watch old shows I never got to watch when they were on the air. Like Veronica Mars (Amazon Prime) and Stargate SG-1 (Amazon Prime). If I were to watch these through Netflix, I would have to order the discs. I prefer to be able to watch these shows and other shows through streaming.

  8. Brandy

    Great deal for new members but kind of a slap in the face to existing customers such as myself. I may give amazon a call.

    • Daniel

      Agreed. It always bugs me when companies do this sort of thing. I understand trying to pull in new customers with this kind of promotion, but at the same time, they’re punishing existing customers for being loyal.

      • Brandy

        I know it sucks. Cox cable used to do this all the time and it would really grind my gears. But I don’t have cable anymore so no more being po’ed. Lol

  9. Tom Sidick

    I’m trying to figure out what exactly you get with Amazon Prime free trial period. I assumed there would be no rental fees for watching new movies during the trial period, but I’m wrong. Unless I’m doing something wrong, only a select few movies have no rental, but most due. So what’s the point win the free trail period.

  10. Meghan Kaesemeyer

    Amazon’s retargeting ads are relentless. I look at a product once, and it follows me all over the internet.

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