How do I Watch Movies on United Airlines

How do I Watch Movies on United Airlines

While flying can speed up travel, the hours spent in the middle of the plane seat may seem like a long time. The battery life of your cell phone or laptop is as important as the media that you downloaded beforehand.

This is where airlines step in. Airlines have increased their offerings to passengers and seatback screen users with more entertainment options.

We have compiled a list of entertainment options on board major U.S. airlines.

United In-flight Entertainment

Television and Movies

United Airlines provides more than 100 channels live TV to passengers on certain 737 United aircraft equipped with seatback TVs. United customers have access to more than 100 channels of DirecTV through the United app. They also have access via the United app to a large collection of television series and movies.

Music

United Private Screening features on seatback TVs include music videos from VEVO and music channels.

Wi-Fi

United has partnered with four internet companies to provide Wi-Fi for domestic and international flights. Wi-Fi cannot be used for voice or video calls by the airline. Wi-Fi access pricing varies depending on the flight, but it typically starts at $8 for domestic flights. If customers are frequent flyers, they can purchase a Wi-Fi subscription for either a monthly or an annual fee. United MileagePlus members may pay for Wi-Fi subscriptions using miles. For a domestic monthly subscription, it costs 7,500 miles or 80,000 miles.

All passengers will be able to use free messaging while on United flights. You can send and receive SMS messages as long as your aircraft is Wi-Fi-equipped and not one of these exceptions (select 757s or 767s, or 787s). This includes most apps such as Apple Messages/iMessage and WhatsApp. Because SMS messages cannot be sent and received over United Wi-Fi, they can only be sent via a cellular network.

United Airlines has added a new option to watch TV on flights. This allows passengers to stream content directly from their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

The airline introduced its new entertainment system in February. It will begin rolling it out on U.S. airlines in April.

United will preload 150 movies, 200 TV shows and other content onto the onboard system. The airline will allow passengers with compatible devices to stream from the aircraft's server. This means that there is no need for them to pay extra for Wi-Fi service and they won't have the worry of an entire plane consuming bandwidth while binge-watching.

United chose a mix of classic and new content to begin, which includes popular TV shows like "Downton Abbey" or Netflix's "House of Cards". The aircraft will eventually swap out new episodes and movies every month, so frequent fliers won't run out.

There are some limitations to the program. It is limited to Apple smartphones and tablets with iOS 6 or higher. Passengers must download the official United App to watch shows on their iOS devices. Android users will be left out in the cold without a laptop, but United is currently adding support.

A spokesperson for United stated that they expect to offer the same service to Android users later in the year.

The movies and shows can only be viewed by passengers while they are in flight. However, United plans to make it available from "gate-to gate" due to recent changes in mobile device policies. The FAA modified its policy in late 2013 to allow passengers to use their mobile devices prior to and during take-off, as well as landing.

The streaming works on computers with Windows XP or Windows 7. You will need the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer browsers. You can use Safari, Chrome, or Firefox on Mac laptops that have OS X 10.6 and higher. Flash 10.3 or greater must be installed on the browsers. Some of the content cannot be viewed without a particular browser plug-in. This can be downloaded in flight.

Airbus A319, A320, Boeing 747-400, and some Boeing 777-220s will be the first to offer this feature. You can check the list of amenities on your flight to determine if the in-flight streaming service is available.