How to get Amazon Prime for Free
All you need is patience, to spend at least $580 a year on Amazon.com, and decent credit. And before you click away after seeing me mention the word “credit,” bear with me. This is how to put a card to work for you properly.
This is simply an explanation of how I just managed to get it for free. You'll have to make some personal decisions, but to me this is a no-brainer. Free! (Well, about 10 minutes of your time)
I’m already a member of Amazon Prime, which we get our money's worth out of in many ways: cloud storage, videos, music, discounts, 2 day shipping and all the rest. It's a great deal if you're a consumer. You can even have a free trial if you aren't sure it's for you.
It costs $99 a year. Order a few large items and you recoup that easily in shipping costs. But it offers many more benefits as well. Obviously I don't need to sell you on Amazon Prime, since you're here trying to get it.
Also, when you get the Amazon card, you get $70 credit in your account, which knocks that cost down to $29 already. I'm not here to sell you on getting a credit card either, per se. I hate credit cards, normally. It's just a step in a pretty smart plan. If you have credit issues, maybe this might not be the best idea. You'll have to decide. This is what I did.
Apply for the Amazon card, which along with the aforementioned $70 credit, you get 5% off Amazon purchases. That can add up, fast. And 3% at gas stations, restaurants, and some other places you probably visit. And 1% on everything else. And it offers some great travel perks, unlike most cards that give you skymiles that expire in 3 months. Check out the list of benefits; they're pretty good, and useful.
That card, after approved, becomes the default payment method for your Amazon Prime account automatically. Perfect. Then I set up for my balance to be automatically paid in full each billing cycle through my bank's website. Easy enough.
So even though I'm technically using the card, it's just like using my checking account, with the money passing through the Amazon account briefly. I don't intend to carry a balance because the interest rate is WAY too high. I would advise you to avoid that as well. Note: You can call Chase, who manages the Amazon card, and negotiate a better rate, especially after using it for about a year or so, to build up a history of “paid in fulls” with them. That’s a good practice anyway with credit cards. You should be able to negotiate a much better rate if you pay your bills. If you like to carry balances, again, this is probably not the card for that, and it blows the whole plan I'm outlining here. The idea is to get Amazon Prime for free plus all the benefits of the Amazon card automatically and free. And build up some credit while you're at it.
With the 5% you get back on your purchases, you only need to spend $580 in one year to make up that remaining $29. Or 3% on gas, food, etc… Should be pretty easy. That isn't going to be any problem for our household. Free Amazon Prime FTW, baby!
Free $