Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale 2022 is happening this fall, and as always, you’ll need to be a Prime member to participate in the deals. Prime is Amazon’s $139-a-year service that offers two-day delivery on all orders, plus a bunch of extras like the Kindle lending library and Prime Video. (See our summary of the top 9 benefits of Amazon Prime to learn more.)
The good news is that you might not need to pay for membership if you just want enough time to enjoy Amazon’s annual shopping extravaganza. Here are some ways to get a short-term Prime membership to cash in on the savings.
Method One: The standard 30-day free trial
If you’ve never tried Amazon Prime or haven’t tried it in a while, you may be eligible for a 30-day free trial. After the 30 days, Amazon will charge you for the subscription – $15 per month or $139 per year – so be sure to cancel before the trial ends.
Finding out if you are eligible is simple. Just log into your Amazon account and visit the Prime membership landing page. If you see a button that says Try Prime, click on it to subscribe. If the button says startso you’ve been in the pit too many times recently and will have to wait to become eligible again.
Method two: Prime Student 6 month free trial
Amazon has a student program that offers a free trial that lasts six months and 50% off the regular Prime membership price. If you’re in college, the Prime Early Access Sale 2022 might be a great time to prepare.
To qualify for Prime Student, you must be enrolled in at least one course at an institution in the United States or Puerto Rico, provide proof of enrollment if requested, and a valid .EDU email address. To get started, go to the Prime Student landing page and click Start your 6 month trial.
After the trial ends, Prime Student costs $7.50 per month or $69 per year. Be sure to mark the end date on your calendar (or simply cancel anytime after the 2022 Prime Early Access Sale) and your subscription will continue until the end of the trial period. The Prime Student discount rate is valid for up to four years.
Other Free Amazon Prime Paths
There are other ways to get Prime for free, but they’re not that simple. You can, for example, open a new account with a different email address and try Prime on that new account. However, keep in mind that this means you need to secure another account containing all of your payment information.
If someone in your household is already subscribed to Prime, they can share it with their account. Amazon lets you share a Prime membership with other members of your family, including one other adult and up to four children ages 13-17. Teen accounts cannot share Prime-exclusive offers, but second adult accounts can. This is only an option for family members (or trusted friends) as both adult accounts must agree to share the same payment details.
You can also sign up for Prime and apply for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card, which offers a 5% cashback on purchases from Amazon and Whole Foods. If you’re already buying at least $2,400 a year from Amazon and Whole Foods combined, this is an easy way to get your credit card benefits to pay for your Prime membership.
How to cancel an Amazon Prime free trial
Some of you might love Prime or Prime Student so much that you stick with it for free shipping and other perks. But if you’re a hardcore deal hunter who just wants to get rid of Prime when the deals are done, here’s what to do.
The standard way to dump Prime is to hover over your account name in the top right corner of any Amazon page and select Your main subscription in the drop-down menu. You can then cancel on the next page.
An easier way, however, is to go straight to this Amazon help page and click end of association. Regardless of how you start the unsubscribe process, it’s simple – you’re free and clean after doing so.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated in September 2022 to include information from the Prime Early Access Sale 2022.
[ad_2]
