“We have 55 shipping centers throughout the U.S., including Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, Hawaii. Previously, if the movie you wanted was not in stock locally, we sent it from another shipping center. Since this DVD was shipped from farther away, it took longer to arrive and you could end up without a DVD for a few days. This was especially inconvenient for our members on 1-disc plans.

Now,

if your first choice is not available in your local shipping center, we immediately send the next locally available movie in your Queue, and whenever possible, we also send your first choice from another part of the country.

We want you to receive DVDs as quickly as possible, so we’re taking this extra step to ensure you have another movie to enjoy as a complimentary extra DVD rental if your first choice will be delayed.

This change took effect Dec 11, 2008 and applies to all Netflix members.”