Days remain until Amazon officially ends a 16-year-old program that allowed members to share free shipping benefits.

Amazon announced the discontinuation of the Prime Invitee Program on its customer service site in early September. The program is ending on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at which point Prime invitees will lose access to Prime delivery, according to the company.

The Prime Invitee Program was launched in 2009 and allowed customers to share Prime benefits with anyone, regardless of primary address.

Amazon's replacement for the program, Amazon Family, only lets customers share Prime delivery benefits with people who live in the same house as them.

But Amazon said while the ability to share delivery perks with anyone is being taken away, customers will be able to share more than before with Amazon Family.

"Prime members can instead share a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family, including: fast, free delivery; access to exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day; movies, series, and live sports with Prime Video; Amazon Music and additional digital entertainment; access to a free Grubhub+ membership; and fuel savings at more than 7,500 bp, Amoco, and participating ampm locations," the company said in its statement to USA TODAY.

According to the e-commerce giant, the change will impact members who enrolled in the Prime Invitee Program between its creation in 2009 and 2015, when it stopped accepting new members.

Amazon said in a statement Sept. 29 that the Prime Invitee Program impacts fewer than 1% of U.S. Prime members. Phasing out the program affects hundreds of thousands of people, Amazon said. Impacted users were notified directly.

Here’s what to know about the move from the Prime Invitee Program to Amazon Family.

Customers impacted by the change get a Prime deal

Amazon said it will offer those impacted by the Prime Invitee Program’s cancellation a limited-time Prime deal. The deal will get users 12 months of Prime for $14.99 and will be available until Dec. 31.

An Amazon spokesperson sought to clarify that the company directly notified impacted users of the change.

I lost access to Prime delivery. What can I do to fix it?

Those who lose access to Prime delivery must ask a household Prime member to add them to their Amazon Family. They can also sign up for their own Prime membership.

I want to continue to share Prime shipping perks with others. What do I do now?

According to Amazon, those who want to share shipping benefits with family members must be enrolled in Prime and make other household members part of their Amazon Family. Amazon Family allows Prime members to share benefits with one additional adult, up to four teens added before April 7, 2025, and up to four children.

Prime members who want to share benefits with others must:

  • Have linked accounts through Amazon Family.
  • Share the same primary residential address (the address you consider to be your home and where you spend most of your time).
  • Agree that all payment methods be shared on one account for household verification.
  • Have a Buy Now U.S. billing address for Prime Video sharing.

The company also said that although those wanting to share Prime benefits must share payment methods on the same account, but each family member will still be able to shop with their own payment method.

According to Amazon, those needing to sign up for Amazon Family must:

  • Visit your Amazon Prime membership.
  • Find the "Share your Prime Benefits" section.
  • Select "Manage Your Amazon Family."
  • Send invitations to Amazon Family members.

Family members can leave and rejoin an Amazon Family anytime. However, those leaving an Amazon Family must wait 12 months before joining a new one, the company said.

(This story was updated to meet our standards.)

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon's crackdown on certain shared Prime accounts begins this week

Reporting by Saleen Martin, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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