Last Updated on November 5, 2026
So, the hotel Wi-Fi works perfectly. Netflix recognises your account, your viewing history is still there, and you’re ready to pick up where you left off with your favourite series. Except for some reason, the programme has disappeared – you search everywhere but it’s just not there.
It’s a familiar problem for Americans visiting Britain. You might be halfway through Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix back home, only to find that searching for it in the UK produces nothing useful. The series hasn’t been cancelled or removed from Netflix everywhere. It’s still available to American Netflix subscribers. But in Britain, the streaming rights belong elsewhere, and viewers can find the show on Disney+ instead. We should point out that it can happen in the other direction too, lot’s of stuff is missing from the US version of Netflix too.
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However, that isn’t much consolation if you’re only visiting for a fortnight and don’t particularly want another subscription.
Same Netflix account, different television programmes
Netflix operates internationally, your account is global; but it doesn’t offer the same selection of films and programmes in every country. Its library depends on licensing agreements negotiated with all the different studios and distributors. Sometimes Netflix has worldwide rights which is obviously the case for it’s own material. But often, particularly with programmes made by other television companies, those rights are divided between countries.
When an American subscriber travels to Britain, Netflix will presents the catalogue available in the UK. You don’t suddenly have a British Netflix account for this to happen. The service uses information about your internet connection to establish where you’re watching from. THat’s where your account is based – your current location.
Your subscription still works, but the programmes available to you can change. It works in the other direction too. British visitors to America may discover that familiar films have disappeared, while other programmes suddenly become available. Britain also has its own collection of streaming services. BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and 5 offer plenty of programmes that American visitors might enjoy exploring.
Some are free with adverts, although registration, location restrictions and licensing requirements vary. BBC iPlayer, for example, requires a TV Licence for use in the UK. For a visitor wanting to discover British television, there’s plenty to watch. But that doesn’t help much when you’re halfway through a series from home.
Can a VPN bring back the American Netflix catalogue?
One possibility is to use a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN routes your internet connection through a server elsewhere. If you’re in Britain but connect to an American VPN server, websites will generally see the server’s US IP address instead of your normal British one. So in theory all you have to do is make sure you have a US connection (and IP address) before you open Netflix on yoru device. Netflix should recognise that connection as American and let you have the US catalogue.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite that straightforward.
Netflix doesn’t want you to do this as it breaks their agreements, and unfortunately it can identify many commercial VPN addresses. Rather than presenting the full American library, it may restrict what you can watch to programmes licensed internationally or more likely block you access when the VPN is anabled. That’s one reason VPN users sometimes report contradictory experiences. A particular service might work perfectly for one person while another finds that much of the catalogue is missing. The VPN’s location matters, but so does the way it handles streaming connections.
We tested NordVPN’s SmartPlay technology
NordVPN uses a feature called SmartPlay, which combines its VPN service with SmartDNS technology. The idea is to help certain streaming connections work through specialised network arrangements, without requiring the customer to configure additional settings. We wanted to see how well it worked in practice.
Using a NordVPN server in New York, we opened Netflix and searched for a film available in the American catalogue but missing from the British one. Our test film was The Devil Wears Prada. It’s hardly a new release, but it provided a useful way of checking whether the regional catalogue had changed.
The film appeared and played successfully through the American connection. We left it running for around two minutes without problems. Switching back to our normal UK internet connection produced a different result: Netflix reported that the film wasn’t available. We also tried a French VPN server. Netflix opened normally through that connection, although we didn’t separately test a France-exclusive programme. The tests don’t guarantee that every programme or country will work, but they do demonstrate that regional Netflix content can be accessible through a VPN connection.
Watch our Netflix VPN test
We’ve put together a short video showing the American and French connections, which you can watch above which illsutrates the exact process. Although if you want something a little less technical then – this offers another version – How to Change Netflix Region with a VPN it’s hopefully quite easy to follow and you can see the explanation of NordVPN’s SmartPlay technology and what our network tests revealed.
A few things to remember when travelling
Netflix’s catalogue changes regularly. A programme available in America today might move to a different streaming service when licensing agreements expire. It can change very quickly although Netflix now generally gives you a warning and has a leaving now soon section. Alas, VPN compatibility can change too – this is something of a battle – Netflix wants to block VPNs and the companies are trying to fly under the radar. Netflix actively manages access through VPN connections, and its current guidance says that some users may see only internationally licensed content. VPN viewing also isn’t supported on its ad-supported plans as it messes up ithe ad allocation presumably.
If you’re travelling and have a particular programme in mind, it’s sensible to check where it’s available before leaving home. Downloading episodes through your streaming app may be useful too, although offline viewing rights and availability can also vary when travelling.
For American visitors, Britain offers a surprisingly large selection of television services like the BBC available with a UK IP address. There’s no shortage of entertainment, particularly if you’re curious about British programmes. But when you just want to finish the series you started back home, discovering that your Netflix library has changed without warning then it can be a rather unwelcome part of the holiday.
