Times Prime is a comprehensive digital membership service which provides access to premium subscriptions, exclusive offers and delightful experiences across multiple online and offline merchants. Backed by Times Internet Limited, Times Prime claims to be the only membership one will ever need. It tries to curb the hassle of managing multiple accounts, passwords and coupon codes for various services/portals by bringing them under one umbrella of Times Prime membership.
I enjoyed the benefits of the Times Prime membership program for close to a year. In this article, I am documenting my real world experience with Times Prime membership and some tips to maximize the benefit. So without further ado, let’s get started.
Fees
- Annual Fee: Rs. 999
The Times Prime Membership comes with an annual fee of Rs. 999. A free trial for 30 days is available to all before purchasing the membership. Previously in the past, the complimentary 1 year membership was given to users of ET Money app for a limited time, but this offer is withdrawn now.
As of now, you can use coupon code TP003 after clicking on URL below to get a discount of Rs. 50.
Benefits
The benefits provided by Times Prime Membership are divided into three categories:
- Premium Subscriptions
- Exclusive Offers
- Delightful Experiences
Let’s look into each of these in detail.
Premium Subscriptions
Times Prime Membership provides complimentary memberships to many premium subscription programs. The list is dynamic and at the time of writing this article, following memberships were included:
- Gourmet Passport by DineOut: Gourmet Passport by DineOut provides 1+1 on buffets even at 5 star restaurants which is quite amusing. Plus one gets 25% back as DineOut Cash on settling the restaurant bill using DineOut app. Times Prime Membership provides a 1 year subscription to this program which I feel is the best offering of this program.
- 8PASS PRO from Box8: 8PASS PRO provides 25% off, no minimum order criteria and free priority delivery on Box8. Times Prime Membership provides 6 Months subscription up to 20 orders to 8PASS PRO which is a decent value proposition.
- Zee5: Zee5 subscription enables you to watch premium content on Zee5 app. Times Prime comes with 6 months membership of Zee5 to keep you entertained.
- MUBI: MUBI is subscription-based streaming OTT service which offers online streaming of a curated selection of films just like Netflix. However their content catalogue is no where near Netflix. Times Prime provides 3 months access to MUBI with its membership.
- Gaana Plus: Gaana Plus provides unlimited downloads, High Definition streaming and Ad-free experience to music. Times Prime Membership provides a 1 year subscription to Gaana Plus which is awesome and my second favorite offering from this program.
- TOI+: TOI+ provides access to exclusive content and ad-free experience to Times of India digital edition for an year. Again this is a good offering and lets you read news without distractions.
- OYO Wizard: Times Prime bundles 6 months of OYO Wizard Blue Membership which enables you to save up to 10% on OYO Rooms.
- Fitcoach: Fitcoach enables you to workout from your home at your convenience. Times Prime is bundled with 3 month complimentary membership of Fitcoach.
Out of the above, I feel only Gourmet Passport, Zee5, Gaana Plus subscriptions are worthwhile. Rest are just okayish and are there for name sake. To know the latest subscription offerings from Time Prime Membership, check this webpage.
Exclusive Offers
Times Prime Membership provides exclusive coupons for many partner merchants enabling you to get great deals. The offers are again dynamic in nature and at the time of writing this article, some of the notable offers are listed below:
- Uber: 25% discount up to Rs. 50 on Uber premier riders once in a month
- Eatfit: Rs. 50 discount on food and grocery up to two orders per month
- Myntra: 15% discount up to Rs. 750 on minimum order of Rs. 2,000
- 1mg: 25% discount on medicines every month
- Zoomcar: 30% off on every booking
- Yatra: Discount of Rs. 3,000 on international flights booking of minimum Rs. 30,000 and 25% off upto Rs. 3,000 on hotel bookings
- PVR: 4 F&B vouchers worth Rs. 1,000 in a year
- WorldWide Media: Unlimited access to all magazines from WorldWide Media like Femina, Filmfare etc. and ability to download them in PDF format.
You can check the full list of current offers here. The offers bucketed with Times Prime Membership are great.
Delightful Experiences
Times Prime Membership provides exclusive discounts on experiences curated by their partners. The list of experiences and corresponding discount is dynamic in nature and varies from time to time. Though currently no offers on experiences are live, below are some past offers:
- Insider: 20% off on curated experiences
- CherishX: 25% discount on experiences
The latest list of experiences and corresponding discount can be viewed here. These discounts seemed to be reasonable in the past and were a good value add to the program.
Personal Experience
I was reaping the benefits of Times Prime Membership for a year. Times Prime Membership dashboard shows I saved Rs. 7444 during that period which is a staggering amount. Gourmet Passport, Big Basket Offer, Gaana Plus and Swiggy Super were some of the benefits which I used very frequently. Hence my experience had been wonderful and I never faced any issue with redemption of memberships and discount coupons. I was able to use Gourmet Passport at Sheraton Grand Whitefield, Bangalore, which is a 5 star hotel, for a free buffet costing Rs. 1,699. I have documented my experience in detail here.
Drawbacks
Removal of many membership programs like Swiggy Super, BB Star and removal of monthly discount offers on Bigbasket made me not to renew the membership. The only worthwhile memberships remaining now are Gourmet Passport, Zee5 and Gaana Plus. Given the conditions prevailing now, I highly doubt anyone can utilize the Gourmet Passport benefits. Times Prime should introduce new memberships and offers to make this program great and relevant again.
Verdict
Times Prime Membership is one of its kind and is a great initiative on consolidating the multiple memberships. It certainly removes the hassle of managing multiple accounts and subscriptions making members’ life simpler. However removal of many fantastic subscriptions like Swiggy Super, BB Star has made this program less attractive. Absence of lucrative partner discounts and experience offers has pushed this program on back foot. Times Prime should look out for new partnerships and introduce new memberships and offers to make this program great again. Until then, I am downgrading the rating from 4.5 to 4.
If you’re interested in getting Times Prime membership, use coupon code TP003 after clicking on URL below to get a discount of Rs. 50.
What do you think of the Times Prime membership program? Let me know your experience in comments below.
