Millions of Amazon Prime customers received the below letter this week, detailing the Amazon Prime price increase from $119 to $139 a year, and from $12.99 to $14.99 a month for the monthly plan. No you can’t get around it, no you can’t buy yourself an Amazon Prime gift card at the old rate (despite many sites saying that you can). According to the letter from Amazon “The new prices, plus applicable taxes, will apply after March 25, 2022, on the date of your next renewal.” However, the new rates are actually effective today, February 18th, 2022. Confused? You won’t be, read on.

Here’s the deal: If you want to sign up for a new Amazon Prime account, starting today the price is $139 a year, or $14.99 a month. Period. That includes buying a gift of a Prime membership. There are sites online saying that you can buy yourself a Prime membership gift card at the old rate of $119, then let your current Prime membership lapse, and then re-open it using the gift card that you had the foresight to give yourself before your current Prime membership lapsed.

Except that Amazon has already raised the cost of a gift Prime membership to $139. (You can check that out for yourself on the Amazon Give the Gift of Prime page.)

So, if the cost of a Prime membership is $139 today, what’s the deal with the 3/25 date? This is the part that is confusing some people.

If you are already an Amazon Prime member, and if your membership is set to renew after March 24th, you will renew at the new rate. If your membership is set to renew before March 25th, then your renewal for that year will be at that old $119 ($14.95) rate, but you will be charged the $139 rate for subsequent renewals. And no, you can’t renew early (we checked). Basically it’s like people whose Prime membership renews on dates between February 18th, 2022 and March 24th (inclusive) get a bit of a grace period. Nobody knows why, it’s the Amazon price hike lottery.

Now, there is one category of Prime user who can still finagle a better deal for themselves: If you are a monthly subscriber, you may be able to switch over to yearly at the old price if you do it before March 25th. We say “may” because you never know when Amazon will change that.

Here’s the letter that everyone is receiving:

Letter from Amazon Regarding Amazon Prime Rate Increase

Important change to your Prime membership

Dear Prime Member,

Thank you for being a valued member of Amazon Prime. We are writing to you about an upcoming change to your membership.

As of February 18, 2022, the price of the monthly Prime membership has increased from $12.99 to $14.99, and the price of the annual Prime membership has increased from $119 to $139. The new prices, plus applicable taxes, will apply after March 25, 2022, on the date of your next renewal.

We continue to invest in making Prime even more valuable for members. Since the last price change in 2018, we have added more product selection available with fast, free, unlimited Prime shipping, and we expanded Free Same-Day Delivery from 48 to more than 90 U.S. metropolitan areas. In addition, Prime Video has tripled the number of Amazon Original series and movies; and this September, Prime Video will release the highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and become the exclusive home of NFL’s Thursday Night Football. This is all on top of billions of dollars in Prime Day savings over the years; the addition of new program benefits like prescription savings and fast, free delivery from Amazon Pharmacy; and the continued expansion of Amazon Music for Prime members, Prime Reading, and Prime Gaming.

No further action is required. You may manage your Prime membership anytime by visiting Your Account.

Sincerely,
Your Amazon Prime Team