Factors That Determine Whether You Can Rent the Latest Movie Releases Online Close to the Release Date

In general, the “hotter” a newly released movie is, the harder it is to rent. This is true at traditional brick-and-mortar video stores, and it’s also true when you rent movies online.

Click here to try Netflix FREE for 1 whole month! Get unlimited DVDs by mail or watch 1000s of Movies and TV shows instantly on your TV, PC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, iPhone, Ipad and more. Never pay a late fee again.

If the movie you want to rent is not immediately available, both Netflix and Blockbuster suggest how long your wait time will be when you add that movie to your rental queue. When you rent movies at Netflix, they use the terms “Short Wait”, “Long Wait”, and “Very Long Wait”.

According to Netflix, a “Short Wait” means your wait time to rent a movie will be less than two weeks. “Long Wait” means less than 30 days, and “Very Long Wait” means less than four months.

Another factor to consider when you rent movies online is where you place the movie in your queue. For example, if you list Harry Potter 6 at the very top of your online movie rental wish list, you will receive it sooner than if you rank it third or fourth.

Until recently, consumers still ranked Netflix above Blockbuster in the online movie rental business. But that may be changing. Currently, wait times for new releases at Blockbuster Online tend to be shorter than at Netflix.

That’s especially true when it comes to Blu-ray, because Blockbuster has a greater volume of Blu-ray discs than Netflix. And as most fans of Blu-ray know, when you rent movies from Netflix in Blu-ray, you’re subject to an extra charge.

This is not the case when you rent movies online from Blockbuster. Blockbuster also has a list of high-demand new releases which are guaranteed to be in-stock, but Netflix does not offer such a guarantee.

Furthermore, Blockbuster’s “Guaranteed In-Stock” policy applies whether you rent movies at the store or rent movies online.

If you’re deciding where to rent movies online, the availability of Blu-ray at no additional cost and the “Guaranteed In-Stock” policies are two more good reasons to choose Blockbuster over Netflix.

Click here to try Netflix FREE for 1 whole month! Get unlimited DVDs by mail or watch 1000s of Movies and TV shows instantly on your TV, PC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, iPhone, Ipad and more. Never pay a late fee again.

Click here to try BLOCKBUSTER Online® FREE for 2 weeks