The big reason back in the day to hook up with Amazon was the free two-day shipping, the very roots of Amazon Prime. But since my Amazon shopping addiction has waned, I thought I'd explore what other perks an Amazon Prime membership gets me, among the more than 100 million Prime subscribers worldwide paying $119 a year for membership. You may be surprised by some of today's best Amazon Prime benefits -- free two-day shipping (and quickly becoming one-day shipping) aside.

(Note that during the coronavirus lockdown, Amazon is focusing fast deliveries on high-priority items including household staples, medical supplies and high-demand products; this may affect delivery times.)

Take a look at 31 of these perks that surround the free shipping of Amazon Prime.

Free Same-Day Delivery

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Free two-day shipping is so 2005, the year Amazon launched Prime. Today's Amazon Prime is all about getting more stuff to members at an ever-faster pace (above its recent efforts to speed up free two-day delivery to free one-day delivery; I've recently started getting several Amazon-shipped items in one day, free; the order defaults to one-day at checkout).

Now this: Free same-day delivery doesn't apply everywhere, mind you, but more than 10,000 eligible cities and towns and counting is a fairly wide swath. If your ZIP code, which you can check out right here, offers same-day service, when you order before noon and choose the same-day shipping option at checkout, Amazon says the package will be delivered by 9 p.m. that night (Sundays included, and don't be surprised to see the U.S. Postal Service delivering, though I'm seeing more and more Amazon-branded delivery vans). If you order past noon, an option is next-day delivery. Two caveats: The same-day order must total $35 or more, and not every product Amazon stocks is eligible (but more than 3 million are marked with the Free Same-Day logo, so there). If your same-day-delivery swag is under $35, Amazon will dock you a surcharge of three bucks, so you might want to slow your roll. Oh, and if you don't have a Prime membership and want that certain something-something delivered the same day, you can do so, but you'll be clipped $9.98.

Free Two-Hour Delivery

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Talk about impulse shopping. Amazon's Prime Now service delivers the goods to Prime members for free within two hours, currently in 93 (and growing) select markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, Virginia Beach and central New Jersey (Hi Mom and Dad!). Free two-hour delivery includes grocery orders from Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, in select cities. Can't wait two hours? You can get the goods delivered for free in an hour in some areas. Prime Now specializes in delivering items ranging from food and pet supplies to electronics and beauty products. And, of course, Amazon-only products such as Kindles. The service