Amazon Instant Video Archives - Amazon Prime abroad

Can I purchase Amazon Instant Videos with Gift Card balance?

Posted on February 8, 2019 | by Christine Wilson | Leave a Comment

You probably know that you can purchase all sorts of content at Amazon.com with your VISA or MasterCard, not matter where the card is issued in the world. But, if you try to purchase an Instant Video or maybe rent a movie, you will quickly get into trouble.

Just a few minutes, I wanted to check whether or not I can use my Amazon Gift Card balance to rent a movie on Amazon.com. Well, the truth is – I cannot! That is really a pity, not only for me, but for Amazon as well. Imagine this, you get this present from someone, an Amazon Gift Card with the value of 20 USD and now you want to spend it watching a movie online. But, only then you discover that you cannot do so. And why? Because you cannot use your Amazon Gift Card for purchasing and renting Instant movies. You can buy DVD’s and so on, but you cannot watch the instant content. Isn’t that kind of unfair?

What can you do about this?

The truth is, you can pay for your Amazon Prime subscription with any sort of payment card online. That is neat. It doesn’t need to be issued in the United States, but it can origin from almost anywhere in the world (as far as I know). This will give you access to all the content available with your Amazon Prime subscription (you will still need a VPN that will let you stream Amazon Prime content abroad), but your payment card will work well. You will still have access to Prime Music, Prime Reading, and other great stuff on Amazon – but, you will not be able to purchase Instant content that isn’t included with your Prime subscription.

But now, what is the solution if you are desperate to buy or rent an Amazon Instant Video right away? To be honest, I don’t know what is the solution at the moment. You will need an American Payment Card of some kind, but the solutions that worked with this for some years, are not working anymore.

What would I do in this case?

I would, without a doubt, say bye bye Amazon, and rather go to Google Play Movies instead to find a solution there. It is quite easy to get an American Google Play account, and with this, you can easily purchase content and watch movies instantly on your Android device.

It is so much easier to rent and buy movies in the Google Play Store in the USA

As a matter of fact, I just tried this – You can purchase a Google Play Store Gift Card on Amazon, which you can later use to get an valid US Google Play Store account, which can be used easily. Doesn’t that sound great?

So, forget about renting and buying Instant Movies on Amazon, but instead, visit Google Play Store and watch the same content there. They also have great discounts available from time to time, so you might even save some money doing so!

Are you ready to get started?

If you have any comments or questions, please write a comment and I will do my best to help you out!

Coming to Amazon Instant Video in February 2017

Posted on January 25, 2017 | by Christine Wilson | Leave a Comment

I have already written about what’s coming to Amazon Prime in February 2017. But, what movies and TV series will be made available on Amazon Instant Video?

Maybe you wonder what the difference is between Amazon Instant Video and Amazon Prime? The answer is easy. With Amazon Prime content you can stream it for free since it is included in your subscription. New content is however to “hot” to include in Amazon Prime, but to make it available you are given the chance to buy the rights to watch every single episode of a TV series or a movie and thus the rights to stream it. And yes, there are many situations in which you will want to buy the rights to watch a movie or to stream a TV series, for example in February 2017.

What I look forward to the most in February 2017 is without a doubt the premiere of 24: Legacy, a new season of the FOX blockbuster series. This time 24 will come with a season of 12 episodes and without Kiefer Sutherland in the role as Jack Bauer. Based on the trailers it seems as if the show will go on without any hint in the story that there actually existed a CTU with Jack Bauer in the lead earlier. Still there might be some connection because Tony Almeida just showed up in the newest 24: Legacy trailer. Time will show. If you want to stream the new episodes of 24: Legacy then you can buy the right to watch the entire season on Amazon, or you can buy the right to watch the different episodes one by one. Or you can visit Hulu and watch all the episodes there instead. Find out more on how you can stream 24 online on Hulu from abroad right here.

Another great movie coming to Amazon Instant Video in February 2017 is Doctor Strange. I remember watching it in the theaters and I had low expectations. The movie however surprised me and I actually liked it. If you want to watch it online then February is the month when it will become possible.

Coming to Amazon Instant Video February 2017

TV series coming to Amazon Instant Video

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern 20 February 1
Steven Universe Vol. 6 February February 17
The Dead Files 10 February 5
Mighty Magiswords Vol. 2 February 4
The Detour 2 February 6
24: Legacy 1 February 6
MasterChef Junior 5 February 10
Planet Earth II 1 February 19
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee 1 February 16
Bates Motel 5 February 21

Movies coming to Amazon Instant Video

The Dead Files February 5
Disierto February 7
Legion February 9
Doctor Strange (2016) (Theatrical Version) February 14

American card required to pay for Amazon Instant Videos

Posted on July 21, 2015 | by Christine Wilson | 22 Comments - Last update: March 12, 2019

American Card required on Amazon Instant Videos

If you are located outside the United States and want to watch Amazon Instant Videos you might bump into a minor problem. In fact it will turn quite big, because Amazon requires you to have an American VISA or payment card to buy Instant Videos, and no matter if you use a VPN and have an American Amazon.com account, it is not enough. What can be done?

To fix this there are lots of articles on the web giving you ideas for what to do. This article started out telling you that you actually needed an American card number to get this working and that Entropay was the ideal solution for that, but then Entropay suddenly did not work anymore. So, if you want to buy Amazon Instant Videos and get the error message that an American Card is required, this is what you need to do!

Watch Instant Videos on Amazon without an American Card

Visit Amazon.com and buy yourself a Gift Card.
Send the Gift Card to yourself and add the money to your email address.
Retrieve the gift card and add the money to your Amazon account.
Delete all other cards connected to your account so that the only payment method remaining is the gift card.
Try purchasing the video again and it should now be working!

Since you need to delete payment cards not from the USA registered to your account it might be smart to add a decent amount of money to your gift card at once, so that you will have money there to buy at least a couple of films. Later you can of course add a card again, but at the time when you want to buy Instant Videos from Amazon you can only have gift card money available!

Have you tried it? Did it work for you? Have any trouble? Just write and I would love to help you on. I am using this method myself so it really does work! Enjoy!

Read more about watching Amazon Instant Videos from abroad here, and there you can also read some more about paying for Amazon Instant Videos and the need for an American payment card for this to work.

There is another method available, which is a bit more complicated, requires more time and more money. But, it is the best as it will give you a real US VISA Prepaid Card and a valid US address. This can also be used for CBS All Access, Hulu, US Apple ID and much more. You can read about it here.

How to watch Amazon Instant Video from abroad?

Posted on January 28, 2015 | by Christine Wilson | 6 Comments - Last update: February 4, 2020

I would like to watch films available on Amazon Instant Video online, and I am willing to pay for them, but because of my location, I am not able to. Recently Toy Store 4 and Avengers: Endgame was added to Amazon Instant Video, but I can not watch them. What can I do?

If you are located outside the United States and want to watch Amazon Instant Video there is one thing you need to do in order for this to work. Or, maybe two! Follow the instructions in this article and you will be ready to watch Instant Videos on Amazon.com in an instant. And you will not only be able to watch them, but I will also give you instructions on how you can pay for them without having an American payment card. Read on and enjoy watching after having followed these instructions.

Watch Amazon Instant Video from abroad

Make sure that you have an Amazon account in the United States registered with a postal code and postal address in the United States. If you do not have this yet, create one right away.
Sign up for the VPN services of ExpressVPN, download their program and connect to one of their servers in the United States which will provide you with a US IP address. Connect to their US server.

Visit the ExpressVPN website(and watch Amazon Videos online)

Visit Amazon Instant Video with your new user registered with a US address, and you can now buy and watch videos on Amazon Instant Video from all across the world.

American payment card required to buy Amazon Instant Video

There might be one more problem as you try to watch Amazon Instant Videos from abroad, and you will get the problem as you try to buy the video. Often Amazon.com will check if your VISA card number origins from the USA, and if it does not originate from the USA, you will not be allowed to buy the Instant Video you want to see.

If you face this problem you will need to get yourself an American VISA number or get yourself a gift card redeemed to your account and afterward delete all other available payment methods.

So, buy yourself an Amazon Gift Card using your current credit card. Afterward, redeem the gift card so that the money is registered on your account. This should be enough, and you will now be able to rent and purchase Amazon Instant videos on Amazon.com.

If you have further problems, you can try to delete your payment cards registered so that the only remaining option is to use your gift balance, and go ahead and try to pay for the video again. But again, the last step shouldn’t really be needed.

You can also create a second Amazon.com account with an address in the USA. Buy a gift card using your current account, and then redeem the gift card with your second and new Amazon.com account with an address in the USA.

If you already have an American account with Amazon and bought films before, but currently you are abroad and want to watch films, then you only need to sign up for ExpressVPN and get your American IP address, and you will be ready to watch at once!

Visit the ExpressVPN website(and watch Amazon Videos online)

This is a method that can also be used to watch Amazon Instant Video and Instant Prime Videos on iOS and Android devices from all across the world, but I will write more on how to watch Amazon Prime on Android devices from abroad in a future article to be published sometime!

If you have further questions on the subject of watching Amazon Instant Video from abroad, just write a comment and I will do my best to help!