Amazon Discontinues Program Allowing Prime Members to Extend Free Shipping Benefit to Individuals Beyond Their Household
In a recent update, Amazon has announced the replacement of its Prime Invitee program with Amazon Family. This change, effective from October 1, 2022, introduces new rules for the sharing of Prime membership benefits.
Previously, Prime members could share their free shipping benefits with non-household members. However, with the introduction of Amazon Family, this privilege is now limited to one other adult residing in the same primary household. This adult can be a spouse, family member, or roommate.
Amazon Family also offers the opportunity for up to four profiles for children to share the perks. Additionally, up to four teen accounts (added before April 7) can also benefit from the shared perks. The program extends beyond just free two-day shipping, allowing the sharing of a broad range of other perks such as exclusive deals and movies.
The company is not providing any further details about the reasons for this change in its update. Amazon is encouraging non-household members to subscribe to their own Prime membership instead.
On a positive note, Amazon is making significant investments to expand its network, aiming to bring faster delivery to less densely populated areas across the U.S. By late July, the service was already available in 1,000 of the more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities targeted by year-end.
In addition to these changes, Amazon is offering a discounted rate for a new Prime membership. Starting from a date specified as Friday, members can subscribe for a year at $14.99. This offer is valid until December 31, 2025. After the discounted period, the monthly cost for a Prime membership will be $14.99, and the annual cost will be $139.
Amazon has provided this update on its customer service section of its website. The company continues to strive to improve its services and offerings, and this change in the Prime membership program is part of its ongoing efforts to do so.
