Netflix

[Jenny349]

Hello fellow hosts!

Just dropped by to seek your opinions, please, on a guest asking for your Netflix password? It seems a little strange to me - I assumed guests would log into these services with their own account, if they have one. How would you respond to this request ? I don’t want to be unhelpful, but it seems a bit cheeky to me - could be just me, though ! 😊

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jenny349  I wouldn't give my guests my own Netflix account password bc I would have to change the password every time the guest checks out.

And if you are paying for just 1 device then you wouldn't be able to watch it at the same time when the guest is watching it.

[Kim866]

@Jenny349 --we don't have a Netflix account so it is up to the guests to use their account --I would just tell them that...even if you do have an account--lol

[Kia272]

@Jenny349 My initial reaction was to "just say no." However, I then realized that Netflix memberships are geographically based. So a US membership won't be workable on servers in another country, or the content will be limited. I have friends in other countries  that use a VPN so that they can access the US based content on both Amazon and Netflix. 

I would not give out your personal password, but if many of your guests are from other countries far away, it may be worth it to purchase a separate guest membership for your property. On the scale of things, it's a small price to pay for happy/happier guests. 

It is a little cheeky to ask.....Kia

[Jenny349]

Thank you for replies @Branka-and-Silvia0 , @Kim866 and your interesting insight @Kia272 - I must admit I hadn’t thought of the points you raised. 
I initially told my guest I didn’t have a p/w to share with her, then followed up with this message:

« Hello xx, I’m just looking into the Netflix issue! You’re the first guest to ask for my password and I’m trying to find a way to help. Do you have your own US Netflix a/c? If so, can you use it in Europe? Maybe the content you can access is restricted? Any insight you can provide would be helpful, thank you ».

To which she replied:

 « We will use our Netflix from America! »

Weird, non? Why not just do that from the get-go? (Sigh!) 😟

[Kia272]

@Jenny349 Perhaps they tried and ran into the issues I mentioned. I think you can log in but you get a message that your content is limited. Something like that. I experienced that the last time I traveled outside the U.S., but it's been a while so I don't remember the exact message. 

They may not realize that even if they log in with a membership based in the country where they are traveling, they might not be able to access the content they're looking for. 

Oh well, hosting is always interesting. 

[Michelle1851]

At my rental I have accounts just for the rental, however many guests sign me out and use their own.  Either way is fine with me.  I just have to remember to sign in for the next guest. 

[Michele1554]

How are you able to block access to the billing information for the account that would be accessibel with email/username and password?

[Huma0]

@Michele1554 

That's a good question, but when I look at the billing info when logged into my account, I can't see anywhere where sensitive info is displayed, only the email address that I am signed up with (password is hidden). Perhaps that's enough for someone who knows what they are doing to scam you, but it seems Netflix already has in place security measures.

I would be more worried about guests using services where there are additional fees, e.g. Amazon Prime or Apple TV+, where there is both included content and paid for content. Guests could run up quite the bill if they had access to your personal account. Even if you set up separate accounts for guests, I imagine they could still do this, unless there is a way to restrict that?

[Jenny349]

Hosting is always interesting as you say, @Kia272 ! 😉Given the difficulty of extracting any meaningful information out of this guest, I’ll work on the basis that a) she was just asking for my p/w on the off chance and b) this isn’t such an important issue after all. So no extra Netflix a/c at my rentals! Not yet, anyway 😉Thanks for all your replies! 👍

[Jenny349]

PS: c) I’ll make a new addition to my already lengthy arrival notes to point out that guests should use their own a/c to access Netflix etc. I genuinely thought that was obvious. Live and learn, etc.! Especially with Hosting! 😂

[John5097]

@Jenny349 

The TV in the guest apartment is set up so they only need to click on Netflix app in the menu. I just have one account but two devices can use it at the same time. They don't enter a password its already entered. The option is "John" me and "Airbnb Guest" and in insructions I ask they click on the the Guest one, so they don't populate my selections with the kind of shows they like to watch. One guest with a kid just checked out and so now I see a bunch of cartoon shows which means mom clicked on my channel, but not a big deal. They don't have any passwords and can access streaming cable and NF just by clicking on the app option. You don't need a separate account for them at least here in the US. I have have had one guest sign into their account so need to check each time to make sure guest didn't sign out of my account and into theirs.  

[Christine615]

Nope. Nope. Nope. (not to mention remote access to your account after they leave). You can either pay for a Netflix account for the unit (last resort), or you can buy a Roku box and put it in guest mode so they can't log into your accounts.

We provide a DVD player with a ton of movies and television series.

We once had a guest ask for the cable password to buy a movie and offered to pay the cost. She was such a great guest we waived the fee ($3.95) and she didn't abuse the privilege during her stay. But for the most part, nope - we don't give out passwords. But I did stay at an Airbnb that had streaming services already activated and I may consider that for future (I'm dropping cable due to the expense), but I will child-lock any pay-per-view options if I do.

BTW - Roku TV bought Quibi and rebranded as Roku Originals (free), and there are plenty of other apps on Roku that can entertain guests with free streaming and movies without them needing your passwords.

[Brian1613]

Don’t EVER give out your Netflix password. You can always come and help the guest set it up, or reset it, if it logs out. DO set up a sub-user account for your rental(s). Guests are to use that.

We offer several subscription services. Sometimes guests will log in to their own accounts to keep up with their shows. Part of our turnarounds, aside from cleaning, and sanitizing the remotes, is to check to make sure that the subscription channels log in. If they don’t we fix it before the guest arrives.

[James2830]

As a guest, I would just expect to use my own. Even if it was logged into the host account, I would ask before using or logging it out.