How To Watch American Netflix in the Philippines

There are a lot of American service personnel in the Philippines. For some it’s the perfect posting. Fantastic weather, amazing culture, lovely surroundings and great food. It is a long way from home though and homesickness must be inevitable. So what better than sitting back with a cold drink and watching your favorite shows on Netflix? This tutorial will show you how to watch American Netflix in the Philippines.

If you have tried watching Netflix in the Philippines, you will likely already know that the content you get to see is a fraction of what you would get to see at home. This is down to licensing and copyright holders and Netflix has no choice but to comply.

If you check this page out, you will see that the Philippines had 2,583 movies and 1,153 TV shows available in 2018. Compare that to 4,839 movies and 1,580 TV shows for the US and you quickly see how much you could be missing out on while you’re away. Arguably, there is still enough content to keep you amused for even the longest deployment but it still isn’t like home.

What you need to do is use a VPN to watch American Netflix. Then, wherever in the world you are, you get the same programming you would at home. It’s a small thing but well worth doing.

Watch American Netflix in the Philippines

As long as you created your Netflix account while you were in the US or use a US bank account to pay, this will be your ‘home’ as far as the service is concerned. Netflix does not link your location with your account as people travel and move around. So if you suddenly start watching from the Philippines, rather than stopping you watching at all Netflix will just show content it can show in the Philippines.

This means you can freely use a VPN to appear to be in the US when you could be anywhere in the word.

The process would go something like this:

1. Join Netflix while you’re in the US if you don’t already have an account.
2. Set the payment method as a US bank.
3. Select a VPN service to use and install it onto the device you’ll have with you in the Philippines.
4. Test the VPN with Netflix before you leave.
5. Once deployed, use an American VPN endpoint server whenever you go online.
6. Use the Netflix app or website while using your VPN.
7. Enjoy all the movies and TV shows you would get to see if you were still home!

For once, it really is that simple.

If you have trouble watching something on Netflix or see ‘This content is not available in your region’ messages or your My List shrinks suddenly, you may need to change your endpoint server. Each VPN app has an option to select a different VPN server. Change this to a different server and retry Netflix. Sometimes they will blacklist a server to block it. Just try different servers until one works.

Choosing a VPN provider

Read What is the Best VPN Service? – April 2019 for specific recommendations on what VPN provider to use. As a general rule, you will want a couple of things from your VPN service.

A service that states they work with Netflix. This doesn’t mean they cooperate but that the VPN IP addresses have not been blacklisted at that time by Netflix. It’s a game of cat and mouse and the goalposts shift all the time. If the provider works with Netflix, it means that whenever a server is blocked, they will use another to keep you connected.

Multiple US endpoint servers. An endpoint server is a VPN server in a location with a local IP address. For example, a VPN endpoint server in Dallas will have an IP address assigned to Dallas, be physically located in Dallas and will make it look like you are there too. This is what allows you to watch US Netflix while elsewhere in the world. Multiple servers in multiple cities is going to work best.

Free trial. Even though a VPN provider may say they work with Netflix and regularly change their IP addresses when blocked, doesn’t mean they succeed. Before paying for a year of VPN, it makes sense to test it first. Most good quality VPN providers will offer several days free trial before you pay. Use it to make sure you actually can watch American Netflix in the Philippines.

Most leading VPN providers work hard to stay ahead of IP address blocking and provide access to watch American Netflix in the Philippines or anywhere. Those listed in the article linked above all do that and more so you won’t go far wrong with any of those. Just remember to try before you buy as this stuff changes fast!