How To Sideswipe The Amazon Prime Price Increase
On Thursday, 15th September, the monthly Amazon UK Prime subscription in the UK will increase from £7.99 to £8.99, and the annual cost will rise from £79 to £95. Time is short, but there's still a way to save a few quid on your subscription.
If you currently pay annually and your subscription is due to renew in the couple of weeks after the 15th of September, cancel NOW, then purchase a new subscription at £79 – so you'll save £16 over the next year. To do this, you need to contact Amazon's customer service team before the 15th of September and ask them to "end benefits immediately" and then sign up again. If you did it, try and do this online, your membership would run until your renewal date even if you cancelled, meaning your new subscription would start after this date, so you need to call.
It's now too late for those currently paying monthly to convert to the annual package and lock in at £79 for the next year. (This is because Amazon won't begin your annual subscription until your current month's subscription has finished – so you needed to switch by 14 August to ensure you paid £79.)
Prime gives you several benefits, including free one-day delivery on many items, access to TV shows, movies and some Premier League games, music streaming and more. Amazon offers newbies a free one-month trial of the service.
You can sign up, then cancel the trial before Amazon charges you – but don't forget to cancel, or you'll be charged the normal £79 for a year's Prime, or £95 if your first payment is taken from Thursday, 15 September. (If you select monthly billing, it's £7.99, or £8.99 from 15 September.)
If you only want Prime to stream TV shows and movies or Premier League games, then there's a cheaper £5.99 a month Prime Video-only option, which is great value for anyone just looking for a way to watch a massive library of films and tv programmes, which works out cheaper than Netflix, and has a wide range of kids programming as well as adult viewing options.
If you are a student, you can grab 6 months of all the Prime features for free, then pay half price, per month, on an ongoing monthly subscription, via the Prime Student account. It can save students money on textbooks as the student account gives a 10% discount on a wide range of textbooks.
Amazon Household is a handy way for someone else in your home or family to have all the features of Prime without the cost of a 2nd Prime account. Our family uses this, which means we were able to cancel one of our Prime accounts, saving us £79 a year, but with no loss of Prime services, which is a great and often underutilised option for those trying to save some money.
You can add one adult and up to four kids' profiles – to your account at no extra charge; however, you won't be able to share all the Prime benefits with a child, but you can share some digital content, for example, books and games.
The other adult needs their own Amazon account. Once you've authorised each other, you'll be able to share selected benefits, including free one-day delivery on many items, Prime Video streaming and more. It means you can save on the cost of multiple subscriptions and even split the cost of Prime membership without having to share login details.
It does state you have to agree to share payment methods – so only do this with someone you trust.
What you can share with the household
If you have Amazon Prime: Prime Video streaming, unlimited one-day delivery, early access to lightning deals, and Prime Day deals. Note: any children added won't be able to shop at Amazon.
If you make digital purchases: Kindle e-books, apps and games downloaded from Amazon Appstore.
What you can't share
Digital films, TV shows, music or audiobooks bought or rented from Amazon.
Amazon Prime Student members and anyone with just a Prime Video subscription can't share their benefits.
How to share your Prime benefits
Start by creating your Amazon Household and linking the adult Amazon account you want to share with, or if you want to share content with a child, add a profile for them.
Both adult account holders will need to authorise the other to use the existing payment cards on the two accounts. There's no need for authorisation when adding kids, as what you share is less sensitive.
You can choose what services/digital content you do or don't want to share – see the Amazon website for detailed info on sharing and accessing shared content.
When setting up an Amazon Household, you'll get to use your separate Amazon logins, so you won't be able to see the other person's purchases, avoiding spoiled gift surprises or having someone be able to view your account and see how many orders you actually make!