Paul ....
I have never rented a movie but simple logic tells me that you would have to be able to watch a fully downloaded movie on the iPad while in Airplane mode. I look at it this way ... movie rentals would be a perfect way for iPad users to pass the time away on airline flights and Apple never leaves any dollar on the table if there is a way to get that dollar into their coffers. Why wouldn't they let downloaded rentals be viewed in Airplane mode. An authorization issue???? Methinks not.
If you download the movie directly on the iPad, the authorization takes place in the iTunes store when you rent the movie. That is the way that I read this from Apple.
Copied for the article in Limnos' first post.
Movie Rentalson iPad
SD movie rentals are in a widescreen format and have a resolution of up to 480p.
HD movie rentals have a resolution of up to 1080p1 on iPad.
- Movies rented on iPad cannot be transferred to other devices and can only be viewed on iPad.
- An Internet connection to the iTunes Store is required to authorize playback of movie rentals.
Note: HD movie rentals do not come with an iPhone and iPod-compatible SD version.
For more information about movie rental expiration and viewing limits, see the iTunes Store Movie Rentals FAQ.
I mean stop and think about it - Apple makes money through these remntals and there is no way that you can watch a movie on a filght in Airplane mode? That is sort of counterproductive for a compnay trying to earn a profit. I would think that movies rentals on airplane flights would be an Apple Match made in heaven ... no pun intended.
Stevepug2 and Blondie needs help found a way to watch a rental in airplane mode in this discussion.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2439219?start=0&tstart=0