17 Reasons Why we Love Amazon Prime: They're SO MUCH MORE than Free 2- day shipping!

Honey Graham and I have been long time members of Amazon Prime. We live 40 minutes from the nearest decent grocery store and Walmart and the nearest Target, craft stores, pet store, etc are at least an hour away. We have a personal relationship with our UPS man. In short, we LOVE Amazon Prime. There's so much you can do with it. 

Shipping Benefits: 

1) FREE Two-Day Shipping on eligible items (addresses in the contiguous U.S.) There's also  FREE Same-Day Delivery in eligible zip codes (not ours) and Prime Now, where eligible zip codes can get FREE 2-Hour Delivery on thousands of items (again, not ours). 

2) FREE Release-Date Delivery: FREE Release-Date Delivery on eligible pre-order items delivered on their release date to ZIP codes within the continental U.S. Personally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this benefit. When the Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Voyager series were released on DVD last year, we got them delivered right to our door on the day they were released! SO AWESOME!

3) FREE No-Rush Shipping: Sometimes I don't need my Amazon order right away. I can choose No-Rush Shipping at checkout and earn rewards for future purchases. I've gotten free digital downloads and $5 credits, and more. 

Streaming Benefits:

4) Prime Video: unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes for paid or free trial members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. This is the best way for us to watch Doctor Who and the Tick! We have Netflix too, and there's a lot of overlap between these two providers, but sometimes, Prime Video has it and Netflix doesn't!  Related to this is Amazon Channels, where you can watch your favorite shows and movies from HBO, SHOWTIME and STARZ channels — no cable required, cancel anytime and no additional apps to download. $4.99–$14.99/month for Prime members (we don't have this nor do we really need it right now). 

5) Prime Music: unlimited, ad-free access to hundreds of Prime Playlists and more than a million songs for members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. This is one of my favorite features of Amazon Prime. I love listening to music, and the music catalog is pretty impressive! We have the Amazon Echo Dot and that makes it even easier to listen to our music. Related to this feature, which we also don't have because it costs more money is Amazon Music Unlimited. Prime members can get discounted Amazon Music Unlimited monthly plans and there are annual plans available exclusively to Prime members.

Shopping Benefits:

6) Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card: Eligible Prime members earn 5% back every day on all Amazon.com purchases, in addition to rewards everywhere else you shop. I love shopping with my Prime credit card. It's pretty much free money on Amazon. Usually, I get 5% back on Amazon purchases, and 1-2% back everywhere else. There's also the Amazon Prime Store Card, where Eligible Prime members can get 5% back every day on Amazon.com purchases and access to exclusive financing offers. 

7) Amazon Dash for Prime: Never run out of your favorite products with Amazon Dash Button. You choose the products you buy most often, like cleaning products, batteries, etc. You get a little button and all you have to do is push it, and it arrives at your door two days later. It works over your wifi network. Of course, this feature is limited to the products they have available, but they have a great selection.

8) Prime Pantry: Prime members in select regions can shop for groceries and household products in everyday sizes and pay an additional delivery fee. Prime Pantry orders cannot be shipped to addresses in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. This is another of my favorite features. I combine shipping discounts and coupons and sales and I get huge boxes of food and supplies at great prices delivered right to my door. I don't have to drag my kids to the store. Amazon frequently has promotions for shipping discounts, so I have never had to pay the $5.99 fee. Even if I did, it would be well worth it! Related to this, which we haven't tried yet, is Amazon Fresh. Prime members in select regions can pay an additional monthly membership fee to receive FREE shipping on all Amazon Fresh orders of $50 or more, or pay a flat delivery fee for each order they place under $50.

9) Deals and Discounts, Compliments of Amazon Family: These include up to 20% off diapers, baby food, and more through Subscribe & Save and 15% off eligible products from your baby registry. When I was pregnant with each kid, I was able to complete my baby registry witih a 15% discount on the rest of the items I still needed. It was very nice. I also like the 20% off diapers! 

10) Prime Early Access: Get 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon.com. Lightning Deals are great, and you get to shop them earlier than everyone without Prime. Sometimes, the best Deals sell out very quickly, so getting in there early gives you a better chance to snag those deals! 

11) Amazon Elements: Access to Amazon Elements products, Amazon's own line of everyday essentials. We buy their batteries all the time. I've also gotten office supplies and an office chair. There's tons of items to choose from, and they are quality and well priced. I always have a supply of their baby wipes on hand as well. 

Reading Benefits:

12) Prime Reading: You can borrow books, magazines, and more from the Prime Reading catalog and read them on your Fire tablet, Kindle e-reader, or the Kindle reading apps for iOS and Android. There's a ton of reading material out there! 

13) Amazon First Reads: Early access for members in the U.S. to download a new book for free every month from the Amazon First Reads picks. You can also purchase hardcover titles at exclusive prices. I haven't utilized this as much as I should. 

14) Audible Channels for Prime: Unlimited listening to original audio series and playlists handcrafted for every interest. I'm pretty impressed with the variety of channels available, and I need to listen to more of this (I prefer to listen to music). 

15) Washington Post Free Trial: Enjoy unlimited access to The Washington Post with a six-month free trial. I did really enjoy my trial! 

Other Benefits:

16) Membership Sharing: Two adults living in the same household can create an Amazon Household to share certain Amazon Prime benefits. If you have a paid Prime membership under your personal account you can share your shipping benefits with your Amazon Business user account. This is a little confusing, since some benefits are included and others aren't, but it is nice that Honey Graham and I don't BOTH have to pay the Prime fee every year since we live in the same house. 

17) Prime Photos: Secure unlimited photo storage and enhanced search and organization features in Amazon Drive for you and the members of your Family Vault. I love this benefit too! I have a TON of photos and I like having them all in one place. 

Amazon customer service has almost always been excellent. I also have Parabus, so if (and when... it DOES happen sometimes) an order is supposed to arrive on a certain day and is late, Parabus automatically contacts Amazon and tells them it's late. Amazon customer service then replies and usually gives us an extra free month of Prime. Cool! 

Returns are easy enough, especially with clothing and shoes. A few times, we've gotten merchandise that was damaged, and they have always replaced it for free and very quickly. 

Of course, you can buy practically everything on Amazon.com anymore. Not everything is Prime eligible, and that's okay, but man, I love seeing those Amazon Prime boxes on my doorstep! 

Do you love shopping online as much as I do? Which of these benefits would you use the most?