CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question
A company has committed to a 1-year Compute Savings Plan at $100/hour. During a given hour, their actual compute usage is only worth $80 at On-Demand rates. How does the Savings Plan apply?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume unused Savings Plan commitment is either refunded or carried over, similar to a prepaid service credit, when in fact it is forfeited per hour, testing your understanding that Savings Plans are a commitment-based discount model, not a usage-based credit.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
You pay the committed $100 for the hour, with $20 of the commitment being unused
With a Compute Savings Plan, you commit to a consistent hourly spend ($100/hour) in exchange for lower compute rates. If your actual usage in an hour is only $80 at On-Demand rates, you still pay the full $100 commitment for that hour; the unused $20 is not refunded or carried over. This is because Savings Plans require you to pay the committed amount regardless of actual usage, ensuring AWS receives the predictable revenue that funds the discount.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
You pay $80 (actual usage) and the unused $20 commitment carries over to the next hour
Why it's wrong here
Savings Plans are billed on an hourly commitment basis: you agree to pay a fixed amount per hour regardless of actual usage. In this scenario your commitment is $100/hour, so you owe the full $100; the $80 of actual usage does not reduce your bill, and the $20 unused portion is forfeited rather than carried over to the next hour. Because there is no rollover of unused commitment, the described carryover is not a feature of Savings Plans, making this option incorrect.
- ✓
You pay the committed $100 for the hour, with $20 of the commitment being unused
Why this is correct
With a Savings Plan, you commit to a specific hourly payment (here, $100) in exchange for discounted rates on eligible usage. Your actual usage for the hour is $80, which is below the commitment, so you are billed the full committed $100 for that hour. The $20 difference is unused capacity and does not roll over or get credited back; it is the cost of the flexibility and discounted pricing the plan provides. This exactly matches the correct behavior described in the question.
- ✗
You are refunded the $20 unused portion at end of month
Why it's wrong here
AWS does not provide refunds or credits for unused Savings Plan commitment at any point, including at the end of the month. The unused $20 represents the portion of your hourly commitment that exceeded actual usage; this is the price you pay for the discounted rates and capacity reservation, not a prepayment that can be reclaimed. Because Savings Plan billing is based on hourly commitments rather than monthly true-ups, a month-end refund of the unused portion does not occur, making this option incorrect.
- ✗
You pay $80 discounted at the Savings Plan rate, saving even more than committed
Why it's wrong here
The discount from a Savings Plan applies to eligible usage up to the committed amount, but it does not lower your total hourly bill below the commitment. In this case, even though actual usage is only $80, your contract obligates you to pay the agreed $100/hour; the $80 of usage is simply covered by the $100 commitment, so there is no additional saving beyond the commitment. The idea of paying $80 'discounted at the Savings Plan rate' misrepresents the billing logic: the discount reduces the effective rate on usage, but it does not reduce the committed payment itself, making this option incorrect.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on CLF-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company has 10 EC2 On-Demand instances running. They purchase a 1-year Compute Savings Plan for a commitment equivalent to 6 instances. What happens to the remaining 4 instances' cost?
hard- A.The remaining 4 instances are free since the Savings Plan covers all usage
- ✓ B.The remaining 4 instances are charged at On-Demand rates
- C.The remaining 4 instances are charged at Spot Instance rates
- D.AWS suspends the 4 excess instances to enforce the Savings Plan limit
Why B: A Compute Savings Plan applies to any EC2 instance usage up to the committed hourly amount (in this case, equivalent to 6 instances). Usage beyond that commitment is charged at standard On-Demand rates. Therefore, the remaining 4 instances are billed at On-Demand prices because the Savings Plan does not cover usage exceeding the commitment.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.