How to redeem foreign digital movie codes in Google Play

[thestrangestick]

Just decided to go through all my 3D blu-rays (I only own 3D blus, I'm one of those nuts lol) for the codes to redeem all I could out of sheer covid boredom.

Now that Flixster is dead, it's not as easy to redeem foreign digital movie codes. Thing is, I buy blu-rays from all over the world, either for deals, or because many 3D releases are not released in the US. I couldn't find any info about how to do this, so I figured it out myself.

Step 1: You'll need a VPN. I use windscribe, but presumably any VPN service should work, I'm sure there are some decent free ones.

Step 2: Work out which studio the movie is from. (If you specifically have a google play code already, skip to Step 4) With older movies, the codes will often times still work, but the site they list for redeeming is often different now. If their URL doesn't work, you'll want to google '[studio] digital code redeem' for the right link. You might need to add the country in, warnerbros.co.uk/redeem is an example of one specific just to the UK.

Step 3: Keep in mind that some codes just don't work at all. For example, WB Italy codes seem to only redeem on flixster (unless there's an italian WB site with a redeem section I'm missing) but Flixster is long dead. You can try messaging the US support on warnerbros.com and making a generic comment about the code not working, sometimes the customer support people are nice and give you a US code.

Step 4: You need a google account that can switch store locations without fuss. This is the only part I am unclear on because I got different results with two different accounts. The first account was a more established account I use a lot. I tried refreshing the store page after switching VPN locations, but it didn't seem to budge from the American store. This could also be down to cookies, because I was testing this in a normal browser window. The second account I tested in an incognito window and every time I changed my VPN and refreshed, the store page/currency would change, which is what you want.

So maybe try it in your regular account in incognito/private browsing, and if that doesn't work, make a new account, and don't add any payment info to it. You can always family share the movies from your second account to your first later.

Step 5: Set your VPN to the country the code is from. Bear in mind some redemption portals like Universal are good at keeping track of your location, probably with cookies, so for some of them, if I've loaded up the portal with say an Italian VPN, then come back a minute later with a UK VPN, it'll still register me as being in Italy. Opening a different browser or incognito window can often fix this.

Step 6: If your VPN is working properly, you should be able to redeem your code on the studio's redeem site. (This isn't a perfect system, and you could run into problems with older codes that are linked to flixster. Some digital codes are just iTunes codes, so you can only redeem those if you're willing to make a new iTunes account that matches the region of the code.)

With WB and Universal codes, I was always offered a Google Play code only. This is where the VPN saves the day. If you click on that link without the VPN, it'll load the google store and then complain about the code's region. Load the link with the VPN, and it'll allow you to redeem it. You can have a google play account with redeemed movies from various regions with no issues. Right now I have Australian, German and UK movies in my dummy google play account. The German movie is in German though, lol.

Something else to keep in mind is that if you end up needing to load the redemption page in a private window to get it to work, when you redeem it, it's going to take you to the google store page and ask you to login. A much simpler way of finishing the process is to just copy the URL from the address bar and paste it into a browser window where you are logged in. This will trigger the code to apply to your account much more simply.

I also have no idea if these movies would port back to MA if you linked the google account, but either way it's nice to have access to some extra digital titles.

I hope this helps someone!

[Eidolon]

Wouldn't it just work if you ask a friend in a foreign country to log in for you and redeem it there? Then when you log into Youtube, it should be ready to use?

[kannibaliztik]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Wouldn't it just work if you ask a friend in a foreign country to log in for you and redeem it there? Then when you log into Youtube, it should be ready to use?

No

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by kannibaliztik

No

Why not?

[kannibaliztik]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Why not?

because of region locking.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by kannibaliztik

because of region locking.

What?! Since when have Google Play digital copies been region locked? They just aren't redeemable outside of the country they come from. Once they're redeemed, they're supposed to be accessible anywhere globally as I understand it.

https://support.google.com/googlepla...16151?hl=en-GB

From the above Google support page:-

You can only redeem your promotional code within the country that you bought your DVD or Blu-ray. If you’re travelling and you bought a DVD or Blu-ray with a digital copy, make sure that you redeem the digital copy before you leave that country.

It doesn't say anywhere that it won't play outside said country once redeemed. If that was the case, surely Google would mention that on their support page? But it does advise to redeem it in said country, thereby implying that it will work elsewhere once redeemed...

[kannibaliztik]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

What?! Since when have Google Play digital copies been region locked? They just aren't redeemable outside of the country they come from. Once they're redeemed, they're supposed to be accessible anywhere globally as I understand it.

https://support.google.com/googlepla...16151?hl=en-GB

From the above Google support page:-

You can only redeem your promotional code within the country that you bought your DVD or Blu-ray. If you’re travelling and you bought a DVD or Blu-ray with a digital copy, make sure that you redeem the digital copy before you leave that country.

It doesn't say anywhere that it won't play outside said country once redeemed. If that was the case, surely Google would mention that on their support page? But it does advise to redeem it in said country, thereby implying that it will work elsewhere once redeemed...

well, feel free to try it out and let us know if that works.

[RalphoR]

Does anyone know if one can redeem a digital code from the UK if I am actually in the UK for a visit and connect through a hotels wifi? Plus, if I can get the digital movie in my Movies Anywhere account while in the UK will I be able to access it any time when back in the States?

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

Does anyone know if one can redeem a digital code from the UK if I am actually in the UK for a visit and connect through a hotels wifi? Plus, if I can get the digital movie in my Movies Anywhere account while in the UK will I be able to access it any time when back in the States?

As I understand it, you can redeem a code as long as you're in the country it's from. So if you're in the uk with a uk code, then it'll redeem, then you can keep it anywhere you go afterwards.
There is no Movies Anywhere in the UK, you can't access it here. The only way codes redeem is through Google Play.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

As I understand it, you can redeem a code as long as you're in the country it's from. So if you're in the uk with a uk code, then it'll redeem, then you can keep it anywhere you go afterwards.
There is no Movies Anywhere in the UK, you can't access it here. The only way codes redeem is through Google Play.

Very much appreciated. Thx!

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

Does anyone know if one can redeem a digital code from the UK if I am actually in the UK for a visit and connect through a hotels wifi? Plus, if I can get the digital movie in my Movies Anywhere account while in the UK will I be able to access it any time when back in the States?

Just coming back to this - a couple of things.
Log into your Youtube account when you get there and check to ensure that it'll let you play your existing purchased content first. It should do in theory. If it works, then it will of course work the other way around too.

I ran a few videos though last night, using the phone app to control Youtube. When I put a playslist together, a couple of films showed up as 'Video Blocked in Country' on the playlist, but still played anyway...

[thomas58]

I redeem Uk codes in the UK and have found the following when redeeming codes

Universal UV codes most of the codes no longer redeem past their expiry date (Have found some that have redeemed in the last couple of months e.g Fast and Furious 5, The Purge Election Year, Pitch Perfect 2). A couple of older universal titles have UV and digital itunes codes (Les Misérables, American Pie Reunion, Battleship) and some of theses you may find the UV code not working but the itunes code works ok when redeemed at itunes. Universal has site that shows expiry date of codes ( http://www.nbcucodes.com/ ) although you may find a couple still redeem like the ones i have listed above.

I have tried a few Lionsgate and BBC codes and these do not seem to redeem past expiry

All the Warner Brothers, Sony and 20th century Fox codes i have tried still seem to redeem (even if past their expiry dates) . The only exception to this may be some very old digital codes that predate UV codes (some might show windows media files on them)

Some titles have itunes codes (a few dont redeem but quite a few do redeem ok past expiry) . I have found it best to redeem the code directly at itunes. .To redeem you click on redeem in itunes then type in the code then submit, if they dont redeem you will probably get a code not valid error code or something similar , sometimes after pressing submit the button stays greyed out and nothing seems to happen if it does this wait for maybe a short time (a minute or so) then check on your purchased items/library and you will probably find the title listed.

Its quite possible the above information may change in the future (as digital licences expire or companies get taken over (e.g 20th Century Fox being taken by Disney)).

[Eidolon]

Not all 20th Century Fox ones redeem. I couldn't get Snow White & HUnter or Abraham Lincoln Vampire HUnter to redeem. It seems a bit hit and miss with Fox codes for some reason

[thomas58]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Not all 20th Century Fox ones redeem. I couldn't get Snow White & HUnter or Abraham Lincoln Vampire HUnter to redeem. It seems a bit hit and miss with Fox codes for some reason

redeemed Snow White and the huntsman (universal studios in the UK) in September 2020 and the uv code redeemed ok. On the copy i found it also had a itunes code that redeemed as well (there may be a different release of this title with just a UV code). Have found with some UK uv codes that as you are typing in the code it will show invalid code but once you have typed in the full code this message will disappear and the code redeems ok. I use the following websites to redeem codes in the UK (sometimes the insert gives a older website address that may not work (e.g older warner brother titles show flixster address but these redeem ok at https://www.warnerbros.co.uk/redeem )

fox - https://foxredeem.com/
universal - https://www.universalredeem.com/
warner brothers - https://www.warnerbros.co.uk/redeem
sony - https://redeem.sonypictures.com/