Netflix Adds Download Option for Offline Watching

Editor Shannon McMahon is always planning her next trip and often writing in her travel journal. Follow her on Twitter @shanmcmahon_ and on Instagram @shanmcmahon.

Shannon joined SmarterTravel in 2015. A former news reporter, she's lived in the south of Spain, spotted elephants in Sri Lanka, gone spelunking in the Caribbean, hiked Jordan's Petra Basin, interviewed Sao Paulo's Michelin-Star chefs, and explored China via bullet train. Travel trends, news oddities, and her visits to up-and-coming destinations are some of her favorite things to write about.

Her stories have also appeared online on USA Today, The Sun, Huffington Post, Business Insider, blog.TripAdvisor.com, Boston.com, and more. Her educational background is in journalism, art history, gender studies, Spanish, and film. She's been quoted as an expert travel source by CNBC, People.com, MarketWatch, The Washington Post, USA Today, and more.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "Plenty of extra thick hair elastics. They tame my frizzy curls and come in handy in a surprising number of packing and hotel dilemmas."

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Travel Motto: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Window, of course."

Email Shannon at smcmahon@smartertravel.com.

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Rejoice, Netflix watchers. The streaming service has finally added a download option to take advantage of before those times you’ll be without reliable or free Internet, i.e. traveling. So if you’ve ever put your show-binging habit on hold for a flight, fear no more—Netflix has listened.

“While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we’ve often heard they also want to continue their Stranger Things binge while on airplanes and other places where Internet is expensive or limited,” the company said in an announcement. “Just click the download button on the details page for a film or TV series and you can watch it later without an Internet connection.”

Other entertainment services like Amazon Prime have offered downloadable shows and movies for about a year now, but Netflix remains the most popular online streaming service. That means more than 50 million American households can now download their favorite Netflix shows to watch later.

The downloading capability comes just in time for holiday travel, so be sure to save your shows and movies ahead of time for those unexpected delays. The feature will no doubt also be handy for the gym, long car and train rides, and commuting.

Airplane mode. Road trip mode. Stuck-in-the-subway-for-20-minutes mode. Your favorite stories are now available for download any time. pic.twitter.com/g7QZA3TyE8

— Netflix US (@netflix) November 30, 2016

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The dozens of shows and movies available for download today include some of the streaming site’s most popular original series, like Orange Is the New Black, Narcos, House of Cards, The Get Down, and The Crown. The downloadable collection will continue to grow, and users can browse their options in the ‘Available for Download’ section of the app’s main menu.

To start downloading, simply update your iOS or Android device’s Netflix app. Happy binge-watching!

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Associate Editor Shannon McMahon writes about all things travel. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

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