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Perhaps you’re familiar with the all-too-common dilemma: pay exorbitant amounts for in-flight internet to entertain yourself, figure out if the in-flight entertainment is worth your time, or sit in agonizingly bored silence for the duration of your flight? A newly announced Netflix feature means that with a little preparation and foresight, you’ll never need to choose between those two options again. As of November 30th, 2016, you can download certain shows and movies directly from Netflix.
The official announcement of the new feature makes it clear that more shows and movies will be available to download as time goes on. However, there are already some great options!
You can get caught up on Stranger Things, if you managed to resist the major hype from a few months ago. All available episodes of Netflix’s highly rated new show The Crown are also ready to download. The beloved Parks and Recreation is a lighthearted way to kill time on your flight, and all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to help you through longer trips. Other available shows include Narcos, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Dexter, and Orange Is the New Black.
For a complete list of shows (and movies!) that you can now take with you, open the Netflix app and open the Available for Download list. Unfortunately, this feature isn’t currently available for web-based Netflix use; it only functions on iOS or Android phones & tablets. At this time, there’s no word on whether the service will be expanded to work on computers as well.
While it would be nice to have the option of downloading shows and movies on your laptop, having access to them on your smaller devices is still a great option. Best of all, the ability to download is included in your current Netflix subscription at no extra charge. Yes, you could always read a book, magazine, talk to your fellow passengers, or take a nap.
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We recently became Netflix fans so being able to download shows and watch it during our flights will be a big benefit! Thanks for announcing this.
This is a really good benefit and I am not more inclined to buy Netflix
Fantastic! I was wishing for such feature for quite some time. I was surprised how quickly I ran out of interesting content to watch on Amazon service. Thanks for letting us know.
Great news. There are limitations on which programs can be downloaded. I hope this expands to cover all programs soon.
This will be great for car rides, we’re getting sick of messing with portable DVD players!
When it comes to in flight wifi, nothing beats Emirates. $1 for 500 megabytes? Yes please.
Finally! That’s one thing that Amazon Prime Video did way better than Netflix, though the content is a bit poor lately.
Worked great for me. It’s really easy to download and delete after watching.
If only I had a netflix account still!
just cancelled mine, but we got to watch the Gilmore Girls … Yes, I am not ashamed.
Can not wait to use this great new service.
This is great! Potential game-changed for business travelers. Will this encourage more people to select mobile devices with greater storage capacity?
It certainly has me rethinking the 16GB capacity I have on my iPad mini.
This is awesome! I know I will be downloading some for my kids before going on a trip. I believe that was the first thing I even thought after reading about it. Now does my kids’ tablets have enough space? lol!
good news, will be even better when it can be used on a computer
Agreed; but glad we finally have at least an option for now!
Finally we can watch movies on domestic flights. I’ve been a long time netflix subscriber.
This is great since most in flight wifi restricts streaming services (in practice and just based on pure speed available)!
This is great. Netflix has a bunch of great stuff to watch.
I hope they expand the list of shows soon.
I wonder how long the downloaded shows stay on your phone.
Awesome, hopefully the feature will come to computers soon!
Thanks for the information, helpful, especially while on the road.
This will do nicely. I’ve been using Amazon’s service to watch Downton Abbey but I’ll finish that on this next trip. Now onto Netflix shows!
Amazon has been offering this for quite a while (though for some reason excluding Showtime shows)
This is a godsend for my toddler who watches the same show over and over again. Plus I don’t have to download a ton of episodes!
This will be great for flying.
Amazon has offered this functionality for years. About time Netflix caught up.
About time! You’re not allowed to stream movies using GoGo inflight so now you gotta remember to download the movie first on Netflix.
Thanks for all the great content you put out! Very helpful
I wonder if this will eliminate the need for in-flight entertainment.
This is awesome, hope they add this feature to the GearVR app so I can watch netflix offline in vr
This is awesome!
Perfect for my upcoming vacation!
That’s fantastic! I don’t always find anything i want to watch in flight and if I’m on the train, I’d rather not be streaming for all 3-6 hours i’m on there either. I was downloading stuff from google play before but yay, more options!
Awesome news. This will be handy for domestic flights
Great news! This will be good for domestic flights!
Well, nice to download and see movies and series on train and plane!
Finally! I’m so excited!! Will be great for long flights and car trips!
We’ve been using the same feature on amazon prime videos for the past year. It’s awesome! But sometimes it is frustrating that certain shows are not available for download…
Looking forward to trying it out next week! Thanks
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, will make good use for our next trip.
Until AA finally decides to get around to upgrading their vintage US Air metal without IFE, this is truly a great alternative!
I’ve been doing this with Amazon Prime Video when nothing of interest was available on the In Flight Entertainment. So happy I can do it from another source now. If Hulu can just hop on board this will cover most of my bases!
This is great news for Netflix fans who fly often.
This was long overdue!
Will take advantage of this on our upcoming trip. Just hoping my tablet can handle it!
So excited about this. Great way to catch up on my shows. In past, I would sit there bored to death and wondering if I was getting a blood clot in my leg:( This will also help me when flying with my kids! Thanks for the info:)
This will be great for my international flight next quarter. If only my ipad battery lasted that long…
Thanks for the tip! I just checked it out and it looks like there’s a great selection of kids movies as well!
good article . Will try the download app.
Great news! I’ll definitely take advantage of this during my next flight.