Amazon Prime price increase to $139 coming soon — here's how to avoid the hike
This Amazon hack will get you another year of Prime at $119
The cost of Amazon Prime will increase on February 18. During Amazon's last earnings call to go over the company's quarterly performance, the e-commerce giant announced that it will raise the price of its Prime membership from $119 per year to $139 per year.
Month-to-month subscriptions will also see an increase from $12.99 to $14.99. In addition, we've confirmed that Amazon Prime Student will increase from $59 per year to $69 per year (month-to-month will also increase from $6.49 to $7.49). Those who receive government assistance and are signed up to the discounted Prime membership will also see an increase from $5.99/month to $6.99/month.
- New Prime members: Price increase starts February 18, 2022
- Existing Prime members: Price increase starts March 25, 2022
The Amazon price hikes will go into effect starting February 18, 2022 for new members. Existing members will pay the new price starting March 25, 2022. However, if you're one of the millions of Americans with a Prime membership, there's a small Amazon hack you can do now to avoid paying the price increase.
Existing Prime members can gift themselves a Prime membership for $119 before the price increase. (It's worth noting that you'll be charged tax on your membership). Once you receive the e-mail/gifted membership, just let it sit in your e-mail inbox until a day before your current membership expires.
Give the gift of Prime membership: $119 for one year @ Amazon
Want to avoid the Prime member price hike? Current Prime members can purchase one year of Amazon Prime for $119 and manually apply the gifted membership before their current membership ends. That will lock in another year of Prime membership for $119.
On the day before your membership expires, log into your Amazon account to manually end your subscription. (This will prevent Amazon from automatically renewing your Prime membership at the new/higher price). Once your Prime membership has ended, you can then manually redeem your "gifted" Prime membership. When you purchase the "gifted" membership, make sure to use your current e-mail address registered to your Prime account. This should keep your buying history and other Amazon Prime settings you currently have.
It's an easy way lock in the $119/year rate for one more year. If your membership expires late in the year, you can even have Amazon send you a reminder three days before your subscription renews.
Alternatively, new members interested in Prime can sign up for a free 30-day Prime trial and lock in the $119/year rate before February 18.
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According to Amazon, the company is raising its rates due to the "continued expansion of Prime member benefits as well as the rise in wages and transportation costs." Maybe it's meant to help pay for Prime Video's big-budget Lord of the Rings show and its massive cast. There's also now a report that Amazon could be buying Peloton.
However, with this simple hack you can enjoy one more year of Prime at $119. (Check out our list of the best Amazon Prime member benefits).
For more Amazon tips, make sure to check out our Amazon buying tricks and Amazon deals guide to save money on all of your Amazon purchases.
As deals editor-in-chief at Tom’s Guide, Louis is constantly looking for ways to avoid paying full price for the latest gadgets, appliances, and apparel. With over 10 years of deals-hunting experience, Louis price checks against multiple retailers and searches high and low for the best deals to bring readers. He's also always on the look out for the best coupon codes to use when shopping. A born-and-bred New Yorker, Louis is also an avid swimmer and marathoner. His work has appeared on Gizmodo, CNET, and Time Out New York.
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EvanVanVan So can you do this more than once? I'll gift like 5 memberships, I doubt it's getting any cheaper lolReply -
Pacman11 You can set a delivery date in the future, I had mine delivered to me 3 days before my subscription ends.Reply -
Ranger Kayla My daughter gets one day shipping because she lives close to Amazon shipping warehouses. I don't get one day shipping with Prime any longer since covid arrived. I should be offered a lower price because of this. I pay by the month so I will just cancel before the price increase and wait a week or longer for my orders. Wait! Already takes that long!Reply -
Joe73 Thanks, Louis for the workaround.Reply
So if the membership renewal date is i.e. on February 25th, I should manually end the membership on Feb 24th? Then apply the prime membership gift right after? -
Dcxdan I'm going to cancel this silly money pit. Yes, I saw 2-day shipping during the 30 day free trial period, but maybe once or twice when I joined. On the movie stuff, I might have watched one of two movies that they offered, the rest you had to pay. I find it amazing on these streaming services that they see what movies people are watching, and then they monetize them. I don't mean recent movies, but popular ones 10, 20, or 40 + years old. Thank goodness for my public library, most times they carry the movies on DVD.Reply -
CharliePappa I am getting out of this carousel. Cancel and save tons of money, not just 139 bucks but all the crap I buy because it's easy and I'll get it tomorrow. I am out of this idiocy.Reply -
johnathon007 Raising the price and removing guaranteed shipping in almost every case is the thing that is going to finally get me to cancel Prime. The last 3-4 years since they started using the USPS for delivery was a disaster but charging extra for it is too much.Reply -
g90814 They locked my account due to 'suspicious activity' when I purchased a gift prime membership today. Payback? I think so.Reply
They even cancelled the gift card purchase. I think I don't need Prime anymore. -
f15radar They did the same to me 3 times! I finally was told that if you try to order a gift membership before the increase you will get your account locked. Do not try it, I got locked 3 times!Reply -
louis_ramirez
I believe you can. The only downside to gifting yourself multiple memberships is that you'll have to pay the entire cost upfront. (Two years will cost you $238 for example).EvanVanVan said:So can you do this more than once? I'll gift like 5 memberships, I doubt it's getting any cheaper lol