The Benefit Of Traveling With Your Amazon Fire TV Stick

In the olden days of traveling, if you wanted to watch a movie in your hotel, you'd have to either check the available TV channels and hope something good was on, or shell out to use the hotel's built-in, video-on-demand ordering system. Either way, it wasn't the optimal way to enjoy content on your vacation by far. 

These days, though, hotels (or at least the good ones) have upgraded their entertainment tech substantially, employing smart TVs compatible with your favorite streaming apps like Netflix or Max.

Even then, though, you still have to manually sign into every app you want to use, and nobody would blame you for being reluctant to do that on what is effectively a public TV. You don't want to accidentally forget to sign out, after all. However, there is a way to get quick access to all of your favorite streaming content without needing to expose your sensitive information if your streaming device of choice is an Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Because a Fire TV Stick is a completely self-contained device, it doesn't actually need your home TV to function. After all, all of the data on your Fire Stick, including your downloaded streaming apps and saved account credentials, are stored on the Stick itself. All it needs is a TV to act as a medium, and it can do its business as usual. 

Since most hotels these days feature digital, flat-screen TVs, that means there's probably an HDMI port on the TV in your hotel room somewhere. Just plug your Fire Stick into that port, plus a power outlet, and you're off to the races, same as when you're at home.

Unlike logging into a hotel's smart TV, using your own Fire Stick to watch content keeps all of your login credentials isolated, leaving no trace of your accounts or streaming usage on the hotel room TV. Plus, since it's your Fire Stick, it's already got all of your preferences loaded up, so you shouldn't need to do any particular tinkering to get the same kind of viewing you enjoy at home.

Of course, for hotels that have their own content delivery systems, using your own Fire Stick may constitute lost money for them. That's why some hotels employ methods to keep you from using your own devices like this. For instance, if the TV in your room has HDMI ports, they may be blocked or sealed to prevent you from connecting external devices.

Additionally, while most decent hotels have Wi-Fi, it may not be especially good. Your Fire Stick needs a steady internet connection to stream content, but if the connection is metered or just generally lousy, that'll be difficult. Hotel Wi-Fi might also have a Captive Portal that needs to be cleared for entry, which your Fire Stick may not be able to connect to. 

Even if you can connect your Fire Stick to the TV and the internet, the hotel might charge you to use their Wi-Fi, and nothing eats up Wi-Fi like streaming. You'd be better off cracking open the mini-bar if you're looking to waste money.

All that said, if you're going on a long trip and will be staying at multiple hotels, motels, or Airbnbs, it might still be worth bringing your Fire TV Stick along just for the heck of it. If it ends up not working, no harm no foul, but if you can get it working, you'll be glad you have all of your usual streaming options readily available when you're resting from the road.