I love Amazon Prime. In my personal opinion, it’s one of the best deals going in the tech sector. And it has added many new features since I first became a member several years ago.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, Amazon Prime is famous for its Free 2-day shipping on most items. Many members find this benefit alone to be worth the annual $119 annual membership fee (or $12.99 per month if you pay as you go).
But Amazon Prime also offers:
Prime Video – streaming video with an extensive library of movies, TV shows, and documentaries.- Prime Radio – streaming radio, featuring the ability to stream entire albums, customize radio stations, multiple genres of music, etc.
- Prime Photos – free storage for all of your photos in Amazon Cloud Drive, as well as an additional 5GB of free storage space for personal video and document storage.
- Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – the ability to borrow one book per month for free from a select library of thousands of books,
- Kindle First – allows members to get one free book each month before it is released to the public.
- Other benefits – ability to share free 2-day shipping with members of household, exclusive Prime coupons and discounts, seasonal promotions.
As you can see, there is a lot of value for $119 a year. You can also get Amazon Prime Student for roughly half the cost.
My family and I no longer subscribe to cable TV. We cut the cord several years ago, and watch TV through a combination of over the air TV with a digital antenna, and a combination of Amazon Prime and Netflix to stream video.
I also use the Amazon streaming music to avoid listening to annoying commercials from commercial radio, and to listen to entire albums on demand. It’s a great service that is included with your Amazon Prime subscription.
Amazon Prime is a Great Deal for Military Members
One of my favorite benefits is the free 2-day shipping. I am geographically separated from most of my family. So Christmas shopping is easy with Amazon. I can order gifts, have them wrapped, and shipped for less than the cost of buying something locally, adding the time and expense to wrap it myself, then the time and expense of shipping the item via the post office, UPS, or FedEX.
The 2-day shipping is even more important when the clock is ticking closer to the Christmas shipping deadlines.
I also frequently use the free 2-day shipping for personal purchases that aren’t time-sensitive. It’s often easier to purchase something from Amazon and have it shipped to my door rather than drive to and from the store, search for the item, wait in line, etc.
Many military members find themselves in the same situation. Living away from family members makes a service like Amazon Prime ideal for sending gifts. Amazon can also be a great way to order items when you live overseas, as many items on Amazon can’t be found at the Exchanges or on the local economy. Note that Free 2-day shipping may not apply to all overseas locations as transit times can take longer, and most 2-day shipping is sent via UPS. That said, most items can be shipped to APO addresses, even if it may take longer than 2 days.
Amazon Prime Video Now Available to Some Overseas Military Members
Amazon Prime Video and Radio may be different for many overseas military members due to licensing agreements. Amazon Prime Video and Radio are generally only available in the US, due to how the licensing and royalties work. However, Amazon recently announced they are offering Amazon Prime Video to military members on certain military installations.
Here is a list of the bases where Amazon Prime Video is currently available (as of January 7, 2016):
| U.S. Military Base/Camp | Country | Internet Service Provider |
|---|---|---|
| Fenty | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Kandahar | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Kandahar | Afghanistan | Ifone-Neda |
| Marmal | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Bagram | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Phoenix | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Walton | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Lightning | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Leatherneck | Afghanistan | SniperHill |
| Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base | Romania | SniperHill |
| Incirlik Air Base | Turkey | Turk Telecom |
| Camp Lemonnier (US Navy) | Djibouti | |
| Yokosuka | Japan | Americable |
| Atsugi | Japan | Americable |
| Iwakuni | Japan | Americable |
| Sasebo | Japan | Americable |
| Kadena AB, Okinawa | Japan | Mediatti Broadband |
| Camp Foster, Okinawa | Japan | Mediatti Broadband |
| Camp Schwab, Okinawa | Japan | Mediatti Broadband |
| Fort Buckner, Okinawa | Japan | Mediatti Broadband |
| Yokota Air Base | Japan | Allied Telesis |
| Misawa Air Base | Japan | Allied Telesis |
| Camp Arifjan | Kuwait | QualityNet |
| Camp Buehring | Kuwait | QualityNet |
Amazon Prime Originals now available on AFN: Amazon also just announced they are broadcasting some Amazon Original series on Armed Forces Network, bringing access to these shows to overseas military members and their families. Here is a sampling of the shows that will be available:
- Transparent: Mondays 11:00 PM local time starting on January 11
- Bosch: Tuesdays 11:00 PM local time starting on January 12
- Alpha House: Wednesdays 11:00 PM local time starting on January 13
- The Man in the High Castle: Sundays 12:00 AM local time starting on January 17
How to Sign Up for Amazon Prime
As mentioned early, I think Amazon Prime is one of the best deals going in Tech. You can sign up for a free Amazon Prime trial by clicking this free Amazon Prime Trial link.
You can also get a discount with Amazon Student if you are a current student with a .edu email address.
Jameel says
Hi, I noticed from your article that Amazon caters to students by providing a discount. Do they also offer discount to members of the military?
Ryan Guina says
Unfortunately, not that I am aware of. But it’s still a great deal – one of my favorite resources in all of the tech market!
Blake Turner says
You ought to write an article on Tidal. They give a 50% discount to all veterans. So instead of the $25 a month for master quality tracks you pay $12.50. Literally the only Vet discount I’m willing to accept lol
Doug Rossi says
So, let me get this straight, if you are a student, you get a discount. If you have an EBT card, or on Medicaid you get a huge discount, correct? How about offering the men and women of the armed forces the same. Miltary members work twice the hours for half the pay, and the put their lives on the line every day. BUT at Amazon, they can only get a discount on Prime if they also have an EBT card….
Sounds kinda wrong people…
Janna S says
I totally agree! WTH?
Chance says
Every retailer should offer a military/fire/police/ first responders/ military veterans and mostly disabled in the line of duty to any of the above! Disabled should be 20%. Even Lowe’s gives veterans a 10% discount everyday.
DJ Derringer says
I agree with all of the comments regarding Amazon offering students and gov aid recipients a discount as opposed to military and veterans.
However, consider this…
to say just active military and reservists, excludes an enormous group of prior service and retired. when you INCLUDE them you add potentially MILLIONS of potential customers (and family members using the perk).
When you consider bean counters come up with the profit/loss margins WHENEVER offering such a thing, it becomes crystal clear why people are precluded. That’s not even considering the numbers of first responders…
The size of Amazon and Walmart would make this a ridiculous point, yet… here we are…
Michaela Damico says
DJ, there are 46.5 MILLION people on food stamps in the US. Your argument is invalid.
Rick says
I am blown away! I had to look up what an EBT card was…but people on food-stamps get huge discounts on Amazon Prime?!?!?!? WTF?!?!?
That is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!
When I was on active duty, I considered Prime an absolute necessity. Living in $hothole towns and away from family meant the 2 day shipping was a godsend. I completely agree that Amazon should offer a discount to military members. However, they are based in Seattle right? That means (like Starbucks), they’d probably rather spit on all of us “baby killers” than give us a discount.
Michael Berish says
Rick that’s a weird thing to say about Starbucks and the fact it’s in Seattle. As a matter of fact, I am a 20-year vet and There has not been one Starbucks out of the 30 states I’ve been to or any airport that didn’t give a military discount as opposed to the big chain stores that it depended on whether or not they were a franchise or not if they gave the military discount. I’m not sure if you just don’t like Seattle or whatnot but your statement is completely false lol