13 Things You Didn’t Know Were Free With Services You Already Pay For
Karola G | Canva I’ve been a marketing writer for over a decade. Usually, I’m encouraging people to spend money — but today, I’m going to let you in on an industry secret: By checking the fine print on your memberships, you can probably save yourself hundreds, if not thousands.
The average American spends around $1,000 a year on subscription services. From streaming platforms to food delivery plans, modern life is one big auto-renew. And since most plans include perks you probably don’t know about, you may be paying double (or triple) for overlapping benefits. By leveraging the services you already pay for, you may be able to get these pricey perks at no extra cost.
Here are 13 things you didn’t know were free with services you already pay for:
1. Gym memberships
Newsflash: Your health insurance company wants you to stay healthy, so you won’t cost them as much in medical bills. That’s why some health insurance plans (like Aetna Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield) may fully or partially reimburse your membership fees at participating gyms. Some may also cover online or in-person fitness classes.
- What you get: free or discounted gym memberships
- What you need: a participating health insurance plan
- How to access it: Check your plan benefits to see if your health insurance will reimburse you, or search your plan on Active&Fit Direct. You can also Google “[your insurance company] + gym membership.”
2. Movies, shows, & documentaries
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Looking to cut the cord on cable or stop spending so much on streaming platforms? Start by getting a library card. (You’re already funding libraries through your taxes, so you might as well take full advantage.)
Your local library probably offers access to Kanopy and Hoopla: two mobile and smart TV apps where you can watch movies, shows, and documentaries. They’re like Netflix and Hulu, except they’re totally free.
- What you get: access to free movies, shows, and documentaries
- What you need: an active library card from a participating library
- How to access it: Using your library card, make free accounts on Kanopy and Hoopla and start streaming.
3. Ebooks
Once upon a time, ebooks were more affordable than physical books, but now, digital titles can cost up to $20. Avid readers often spend hundreds of dollars on ebooks every year.
Fortunately, your local library probably uses the Libby app, which lets you borrow ebooks and download them straight to your phone or compatible ereader — at no cost. The only downside: Since digital copies are limited, you might have to wait your turn.
- What you get: free ebooks
- What you need: an active library card
- How to access it: Download the Libby app and input your library card information.
4. Audiobooks
Audiobooks are even more expensive than ebooks, which is why I stopped buying them years ago. Now, I rent them using my library card via the Libby app, or I use my Spotify Premium account to browse and listen to popular titles for free (up to 15 hours every month).
- What you get: free audiobooks
- What you need: an active library card or a Spotify account
- How to access it: To borrow audiobooks via the library, download the Libby app and input your library card information. For Spotify Premium, open the app and navigate to Audiobooks.
5. Fruit & vegetable seeds
Libraries lend out more than just books. Some public libraries also have “seed libraries,” in which they offer fruit, vegetable, and herb seeds to the community for free. The program aims to strengthen food security, create a seed-saving network, and cultivate local plant diversity.
- What you get: free seeds to plant fruits, vegetables, and herbs
- What you need: a participating public library
- How to access it: go to your local library and ask if they have seeds, or search for a seed library near you.
6. Admission to museums
Maybe you love art, science, and culture, or maybe you’re bored out of your mind on a Saturday afternoon. Either way, the U.S. has some of the best museums in the world, and depending on where you bank, you could get in for free.
Bank of America offers its cardholders free general admission to hundreds of participating museums during the first full weekend of every month. CitiGold users can get free access to the MoMA and the New York Botanical Gardens, and if you have Capital One’s Venture X card, you can get 50% off a TheCultivist membership for free events and museum access.
- What you get: free or discounted access to museums
- What you need: A Bank of America card, a CitiGold checking account, or a Capital One Venture X card
- How to access it: See here for Bank of America, here for CitiGold, or here for the Capital One Venture X card.
7. Insurance on rental cars & travel
Before you pay extra for travel-related insurance, do yourself a huge favor: Check the fine print on your credit card benefits.
Most major credit card networks (like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express) automatically offer rental car insurance. Some travel cards will also reimburse you for flight cancellations and lost luggage — so you can decline that expensive add-on and still enjoy your vacation.
- What you get: free insurance on flights, luggage, and car rentals
- What you need: a participating credit card
- How to access it: Look up the benefits on your specific credit card to see if you’re covered.
8. Unlimited photo storage
Amazon Prime members can take advantage of free two-day shipping from the world’s biggest retailer — but a Prime membership also offers tons of extra services you probably don’t realize you have.
In addition to free video games, a large selection of ebooks, tons of shows and movies, and ad-free music and podcasts, an Amazon Prime membership also gets you unlimited full-resolution photo storage and 5GB of video storage, so you can back up your favorite memories for free.
- What you get: unlimited photo storage and 5GB of video storage
- What you need: an Amazon Prime membership
- How to access it: Sign into your Prime Membership here and scan the QR code with your phone’s camera.
9. 7–Eleven Slurpees
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If you’re one of the 132 million Americans who use T-Mobile, you’re probably eligible to participate in T-Mobile Tuesdays: free or discounted perks you can take advantage of every Tuesday.
In addition to $5 movie tickets with Atom and 10% cash back at participating restaurants, you can also get one free Slurpee from 7–Eleven every month.
- What you get: a free Slurpee every month
- What you need: a qualifying T-Mobile plan and the T-Life app
- How to access it: Claim the perk in the T-Life app and redeem it at any 7-Eleven or Speedway location, no purchase necessary.
10. Tire maintenance
There’s a reason I have stock in Costco: It’s one of the only companies that delivers consistent quality and unparalleled customer service year after year — often while sacrificing profit.
The company’s tire maintenance program is a perfect example. If you buy your tires at Costco, you get free installation as well as zero-cost rotations, balancing, flat repairs, and inflation checks for the whole life of the tire.
Is Costco losing money here? You bet, but what they sacrifice in margin, they gain in member loyalty.
- What you get: free tire installation, rotations, balancing, flat repairs, and inflation checks
- What you need: a Costco membership
- How to access it: Buy your tires at Costco Tire Center and bring your car in for any necessary tire maintenance.
11. Hearing tests
Tired of waiting for an appointment with an audiologist? Costco to the rescue again. Your membership also includes free hearing tests, either online or in person at a Hearing Aid Center.
If needed, you can also buy high-tech hearing aids at Costco for hundreds less than other retailers, plus they’re FSA/HSA eligible, and the service appointments are free moving forward.
- What you get: free hearing tests
- What you need: a Costco membership
- How to access it: Take Costco’s free hearing aid screening online or visit a nearby Hearing Aid Center for an in-person appointment.
12. Food deliveries
The extra fees on DoorDash and Uber Eats have gotten so expensive that I typically just close out of the app and go get it myself. Luckily, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you get a free Grubhub+ account, which lowers the service fees and gives you $0 food deliveries. On average, it saves members over $330 a year.
- What you get: a free Grubhub+ membership
- What you need: an active Amazon Prime membership
- How to access it: activate your free Grubhub+ membership here.
13. Entry to national parks
Technically, this isn’t a paid service, but if you’re a U.S. citizen with a diagnosed permanent disability, you can get an Access Pass, which gives you free lifetime entry to over 2,000 federal recreation sites and national parks.
Currently, qualifying disabilities include deafness, blindness, amputations, developmental disabilities, full-time wheelchair use, disabled veterans, and mental health disorders, though some people have been able to get the Access Pass with autism, ADHD, or a celiac diagnosis.
- What you get: free lifetime access to 2,000 national parks and federal recreation sites
- What you need: a permanent disability that limits one or more major life activities, a valid photo ID, and a state/federal document or a statement by a licensed physician proving your disability.
- How to access it: Visit a participating federal recreation site in person or apply online.
Maria Cassano is a writer, editor, and journalist whose work has appeared on NBC, Bustle, CNN, The Daily Beast, Food & Wine, and Allure, among others. She's in the process of publishing her memoir, which you can learn more about here.
