Using your streaming services when you travel abroad
Your subscription usually travels with you, but what you can watch often doesn't. Here's what to expect when you take your streaming services abroad, and how to avoid surprises.
The catalogue changes to match where you are
Most services decide what to show you based on the country you're in right now, not the country where you signed up. Open Netflix on holiday and you'll generally see that country's Netflix library, which may have titles you can't get at home and be missing ones you can. Your account, profiles and watch history stay the same. Only the list of available titles changes.
Before you go, search the shows you're in the middle of on FlickFinder. It shows whether each one is on the same service in the country you're visiting.
Some services aren't available everywhere
Not every service operates in every country. Some, like Hulu and Peacock, are only offered in one or two countries. If you travel somewhere a service doesn't operate, it may not work at all, even though you're paying for it. Our streaming report lists how many countries each big service is in.
Travelling within the EU
If you live in the European Union and pay for a streaming service, EU rules on "cross-border portability" (Regulation 2017/1128) let you keep using your home catalogue while you're temporarily in another EU country. A French subscriber on holiday in Spain should see their usual French library, not the Spanish one. This covers the EU and the wider EEA. It doesn't cover trips outside Europe, and since Brexit it no longer applies to UK subscribers.
Download before you leave
Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and most other big services let you download titles to a phone or tablet. It's the easiest way to watch on a plane or with patchy hotel Wi-Fi. A few things to check:
Downloads usually expire after a set time and can have limits on how many you keep at once. Some titles can't be downloaded at all. And some services won't play a download in a country where that title isn't licensed, so check before you rely on it.
Keep your account secure on the road
Public Wi-Fi in airports, cafés and hotels is convenient but not always secure. Sign out of streaming apps on shared or hotel TVs before you leave, avoid entering passwords on networks you don't trust, and turn on two-step verification for your accounts where it's offered.
Follow each service's terms
Each service sets its own rules on where and how you can watch, in its terms of use. If something doesn't work abroad, the service's help centre is the best place to check what's allowed in the country you're visiting.