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I started using Amazon in college — from books I couldn't find in the school store to last-minute gifts before heading home for the holidays.
Despite using Amazon for the past decade or so, I didn't apply for the Prime Visa (see rates and fees) until July of last year. I was already paying for a Prime membership and started earning 5% back on all my Amazon spending.
While I don't do the bulk of my shopping on Amazon, the Prime Visa has saved me a few hundred dollars over the past few months — and at no additional cost, thanks to its $0 annual fee. Here are some of the ways I've taken advantage of the Prime Visa and its paired benefits.
$200 Prime Visa welcome bonus
One of the best things about the Prime Visa is its $200 Amazon Gift Card bonus. It doesn't require any additional spending, and the gift card is instantly deposited in your account. Once I was approved, it appeared in my account within 15 seconds.
While the welcome bonus shouldn't be the only reason you sign up for the Prime Visa, it's a great incentive. Not only can you save $200 on future Amazon purchases, but you can also use the card for last-minute shopping and earn at least 5% cash back.
If you aren't currently an Amazon Prime member, a full-priced membership costs $139 per year. This welcome bonus would essentially cover more than a full year of membership — another reason to give the card a shot.
How I've used the Prime Visa
While I do try to shop locally when I can, Amazon is a great alternative for harder-to-locate items or when you need something shipped in a hurry.
Over the past 5 months, I've saved $212 using my Prime Visa: $58 on deals and discounts and $154 on delivery fees.
According to my account breakdown, the majority of my "saved with deals" savings come from the Prime Visa's 5% cash back on Amazon.com spending. And the $7.33 I earned on "other" purchases was from the Prime Card Bonus — a feature that gives you 10% off or more on a rotating selection of items and categories on Amazon.com. (Honestly, the Prime Card Bonus earnings were more accidental than intentional.)
I only use the Prime Visa for my Amazon purchases; it earns the highest rewards rate on Amazon-related purchases among all the other cards I own. But the points it earns aren't as valuable compared to my Chase Sapphire Preferred (see rates and fees), which earns transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Even though the Prime Visa is a Chase credit card, it earns cash back (in the form of points) that can't be combined with Ultimate Rewards points. The points you earn with the Prime Visa are less valuable but simpler to use; they can be redeemed for additional Amazon purchases, cash back, gift cards or through Chase Travel at 1 cent per point.
While the Prime Visa's 2% cash back at gas stations, restaurants and local transit is a nice perk, especially if you don't own a variety of credit cards, you'll likely be able to earn a higher rate elsewhere. For instance, my Sapphire Preferred earns 3X Ultimate Rewards points on dining, including eligible delivery services and takeout.
Additional Prime benefits I've used
To qualify for the Prime Visa, you'll need an Amazon Prime membership. As such, you'll earn the Prime Visa's high cash back rates alongside several Prime benefits.
Prime Video
One of Amazon's best-known services is Prime Video, which offers popular TV shows, movies and Thursday Night Football. Prime isn't the streaming service I use most frequently, but I still use it often enough to notice if I lost access.
The base tier of Prime Video comes with ads, but you can pay $2.99 per month for ad-free viewing.
Grubhub+ membership
Along with Prime Video, you'll receive a complimentary Grubhub+ membership with unlimited $0 food delivery fees and exclusive savings. I don't use Grubhub every day, but free delivery is helpful when I'm interested in trying restaurants a bit further away.
Free 2-day delivery
The perk I use most often is one that heavily contributes to Amazon's popularity: Free two-day delivery, and sometimes even one-day delivery. Since I live in New York City, a significant number of items are available for next-day or same-day delivery, all of which are delivered for free with a Prime membership.
Prime Day savings
Being a Prime member, you also get access to the Prime Day sale, which offers exclusive savings to Prime members. During the sale, the Prime Visa sometimes offers an additional 2% cash back (for a total of 7% back) on eligible Amazon.com purchases with no-rush delivery.
Prime Day this year was the catalyst for my Prime Visa application, as I could use the gift card welcome bonus for the current sale.
When is the Prime Visa worth it?
Since the Prime Visa requires an Amazon Prime membership (and some benefits are tied to that membership), it's not always straightforward to determine whether the card is worth it. Here are a few times the Prime Visa might make sense for you:
You're a frequent Amazon shopper
If you do a decent amount of shopping on Amazon, earning 5% cash back each time is a great deal. While the points you earn always have a flat value of 1 cent per point, the card's simple redemption options make them easy to use.
With the Prime Visa, your points never expire as long as your account is in good standing. As noted above, there's also the possibility to earn 10% back or more on select products through Prime Card Bonus deals, which are a nice perk when you come across them.
You enjoy Amazon Prime's perks
If you find yourself really enjoying the benefits that come with an Amazon Prime membership, you should consider applying for the Prime Visa. Even if you use the card pretty sparingly, the gift card you'll qualify for is, in itself, worth nearly two full years of Amazon Prime membership.
If you plan to pay for the Prime membership anyway, there's no upfront cost of owning the Prime Visa thanks to it's $0 annual fee.
You want the welcome bonus without committing to Prime long term
Amazon Prime offers a monthly subscription option in addition to its annual plans — a good option if you've already used your free trial.
If you apply for the Prime Visa while you have a Prime membership, you'll still be eligible for the $200 gift card as a new cardmember. Even if your membership lapses after a single month, you'll still receive the gift card. But your Prime Visa will be downgraded to the Amazon Visa with your points balance intact.
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