Amazon Prime Day is coming back this June, but if you're the right kind of poor or the right kind of young, you don't have to wait for a sale - Amazon is practically giving away memberships already.
A standard Prime membership costs $139 per year or $15 per month, which is roughly the price of a modest dinner for two if you skip the appetizers. But for those who qualify, Amazon offers two discount programs that cut that cost in half.
First up: the Prime for Young Adults plan, which Amazon revamped in 2025 to replace the old Prime Student plan. If you're 18 to 24 or currently enrolled in a higher education institution, you can get Prime for $7.49 per month or $69 per year - a 50% discount. The real kicker: a free six-month trial, which is five months longer than the standard one-month trial. After that, the monthly fee kicks in, or you can cancel and pretend you never needed Prime in the first place. The discount lasts for four years or until you turn 25, whichever comes first, at which point Amazon assumes you have a real job and charges you full price.
For everyone else who isn't young but is broke: the Prime Access plan offers Prime for $7 per month to those who qualify for government assistance or meet income-verified criteria. That's a full Prime membership - all the streaming, shipping, and photo storage - at half the usual cost. To sign up, you visit the Prime Access page, upload proof of eligibility (like a document from an approved government program), enter your payment info, and you're in after a free 30-day trial. Existing Prime members can also switch to Prime Access by uploading verification, but you'll need to re-verify annually, because nothing lasts forever.
Eligible government programs include the usual suspects: SNAP, Medicaid, and others. Amazon does not offer a traditional senior discount, a military discount, or a teacher/first-responder discount, but older adults, military members, teachers, and first responders who qualify for Prime for Young Adults or Prime Access can still save.
As for Prime Day 2026, Amazon confirmed it will return in June instead of July, with no specific dates announced yet. ZDNET anticipates late June, which is as good a guess as any.