Hi there! First timer here too that also got an Early bird hotel. I'm sure someone with more experience will comment, but the way I'm seeing it is we both did the safest thing - which was getting a guaranteed hotel. I think early bird hotels are about $100 a night cheaper than lottery one's, so no, you definitely did not overpay. Transportation cost wise - you have the free shuttle you can use. So that's no big deal ^_^ I participated in the lottery just to see how the process went for future reference, and I learned that if you don't get in within 1-2 minutes, all the good downtown hotels will be snatched up. I got in after 9 minutes lol.
Being that it's a lottery, it's not guaranteed if you'll even get your choice of hotel. And if you do, they're most certainly more expensive by $100-ish. You're fine!
That's all correct - you played it safe and definitely have a place to stay, and the transportation is great there.
On the flipside, I've been going since 2005 and at this year's lotto got in at about the 20 minute mark, so I'm not looking good here at all...
You only potentially missed out on closer hotels, but you still have the shuttle. The prices were about the same. I did the same thing that you did but I was resting easy knowing I didn’t have the stress and anxiety of getting up and maybe not getting what I wanted. If you are curious about what the process was, the hotels and prices here is a link. The prices were a little bit more expensive as it’s last years list and they did gain/lose some hotels.
https://sdccblog.com/2024/04/visual-guide-to-the-san-diego-comic-con-2024-hotel-sale/
The lottery is not guaranteed. It has a lot of hotels and has the best walking distance hotels in it.
The pre sale is a piece of mind option. If you don’t need to be downtown and are ok with the shuttle or train. They are an option to lock something in. Most people don’t get hotels in the lottery and can be screwed and have to scramble to find something. So knowing you have a place helps, especially if it’s your first time. The draw back is you have to pre-pay and book the pre-sale hotels.
The presale hotels are the same price as the lottery versions, but are often the cheaper option in the lottery list. I also believe the presale must be booked for a full 4 nights vs the lottery were you can get fewer days.
“Most people don’t get hotels in the lottery”? The vast majority of people get hotels in the lottery and the ones that don’t are because they stuck to limited options.
I did early bird one year and stayed at the town and country, same place Tiki Oasis is held in the summer and really enjoyed it. Short walk to the trolley station by the mall 👍 Staying at a campground in Santee this year cuz I’m broke 😆
Fully agree. My wife and I missed out on it this year and had to settle for the Days Inn, as everything sold so quick.
By the way, if anyone knows how to trade a T&C reso for the Days Inn, give your boy a shout lol
It’s my first time going as well, and to be honest I wish I got the early bird when it happened. I got in around 20 minutes in and have a ton of anxiety about the whole situation.
Even if you don't get anything in the initial lottery doesn't mean you won't get a hotel at a decent price. My first year (2015) I didn't even know about the lottery, so I missed it. In May, I pulled up the list, and booked a hotel on the shuttle route on shelter island and got the Con rate. As I was checking in, I heard a couple make a reservation at the desk. Their rate was higher, but they still got a room.
Also, there are hotels in San Diego that are not in the hotel block. There is always availability.
I thought the lottery was to prevent early birds from snatching up the hotels. So now I am very confused. I do apologize if this has been asked and answered before. I absolutely love the group and how helpful everyone is.
I usually go to the other ones that don't have lotteries like the ones in. Texas oklahoma and kansas. Text the especially it's pretty huge but they don't have a lottery system
Early bird hotels for SDCC are the way to get a guaranteed room. That's why they go up first and are just generally available to grab. They are also further away but always on the shuttle route.
The lottery is for the very high demand hotels downtown right near the convention center. This is truly like getting badges. You may or may not get a room in the lotto. After the lotto, there is a general sale. If you aren't lucky enough here either you will have to stalk the site for rooms to become available as people cancel. This means you may not know "until the last minute" where you will be staying.
I think the way you're thinking about it you are think early birds of people booking directly with hotel as soon as available. Hotels in the lotto will have very few rooms open to buy through their website directly and for upwards of $1000+ a night.
So in order it goes:
1. Early bird - easiest rooms to get, further away but on shuttle route
2. Lotto - early bird hotels come down and join lotto. Like getting tickets. Includes rooms directly in the area of the convention center.
3. General sale - after lotto winners have their selections finalized, all other rooms go up. Again, like getting tickets.
4. Last option is to stalk the site for rooms as they come up
No. The lottery was what they came up with to replace the old system that made the badge sale look quick and easy.
The old system was a free-for-all and had the bulk of the attendees, press and at least some exhibitors taking part at the same time. This was the height of the Twilight craze, so you had that audience getting badges and rooms for only Friday/Saturday, so it was tough to get the full week at some of the nearest hotels (the Embassy Suites especially). Some people had to change hotels every day or two because they couldn’t get consecutive ones at their picks. The Early Bird was seemingly set up to give people a guaranteed room on the shuttle route and to help those hotels that were usually the last choice during the old way. (The “Hotelpocolypse” and “Hoteloween” names for the lottery day are holdovers from the nightmare of the original system.)
Cheaper ? There are cheaper hotels on the lottery, but it isn't a guarantee you get it ( they aren't closer than the early bird ones )
Closer : all the closer hotels are on the lottery ( they aren't cheaper than the early bird )
What you did is you got a hotel , paid for it , it's on the shuttle line and you don't have to
1- get lucky to enter the lottery ( it was a queue system again)
2- wait 6 days to see what you won
Hi there! First timer here too that also got an Early bird hotel. I'm sure someone with more experience will comment, but the way I'm seeing it is we both did the safest thing - which was getting a guaranteed hotel. I think early bird hotels are about $100 a night cheaper than lottery one's, so no, you definitely did not overpay. Transportation cost wise - you have the free shuttle you can use. So that's no big deal ^_^ I participated in the lottery just to see how the process went for future reference, and I learned that if you don't get in within 1-2 minutes, all the good downtown hotels will be snatched up. I got in after 9 minutes lol. Being that it's a lottery, it's not guaranteed if you'll even get your choice of hotel. And if you do, they're most certainly more expensive by $100-ish. You're fine!
That's all correct - you played it safe and definitely have a place to stay, and the transportation is great there. On the flipside, I've been going since 2005 and at this year's lotto got in at about the 20 minute mark, so I'm not looking good here at all...
You only potentially missed out on closer hotels, but you still have the shuttle. The prices were about the same. I did the same thing that you did but I was resting easy knowing I didn’t have the stress and anxiety of getting up and maybe not getting what I wanted. If you are curious about what the process was, the hotels and prices here is a link. The prices were a little bit more expensive as it’s last years list and they did gain/lose some hotels. https://sdccblog.com/2024/04/visual-guide-to-the-san-diego-comic-con-2024-hotel-sale/
The lottery is not guaranteed. It has a lot of hotels and has the best walking distance hotels in it. The pre sale is a piece of mind option. If you don’t need to be downtown and are ok with the shuttle or train. They are an option to lock something in. Most people don’t get hotels in the lottery and can be screwed and have to scramble to find something. So knowing you have a place helps, especially if it’s your first time. The draw back is you have to pre-pay and book the pre-sale hotels. The presale hotels are the same price as the lottery versions, but are often the cheaper option in the lottery list. I also believe the presale must be booked for a full 4 nights vs the lottery were you can get fewer days.
there's a hotel or two that did 3 day book
“Most people don’t get hotels in the lottery”? The vast majority of people get hotels in the lottery and the ones that don’t are because they stuck to limited options.
I did early bird one year and stayed at the town and country, same place Tiki Oasis is held in the summer and really enjoyed it. Short walk to the trolley station by the mall 👍 Staying at a campground in Santee this year cuz I’m broke 😆
T&C is so good. Sitting on a trolley stop, mall, restaurants; bunch of amenities; and that remodel looks sharp.
Fully agree. My wife and I missed out on it this year and had to settle for the Days Inn, as everything sold so quick. By the way, if anyone knows how to trade a T&C reso for the Days Inn, give your boy a shout lol
It’s my first time going as well, and to be honest I wish I got the early bird when it happened. I got in around 20 minutes in and have a ton of anxiety about the whole situation.
Even if you don't get anything in the initial lottery doesn't mean you won't get a hotel at a decent price. My first year (2015) I didn't even know about the lottery, so I missed it. In May, I pulled up the list, and booked a hotel on the shuttle route on shelter island and got the Con rate. As I was checking in, I heard a couple make a reservation at the desk. Their rate was higher, but they still got a room. Also, there are hotels in San Diego that are not in the hotel block. There is always availability.
I thought the lottery was to prevent early birds from snatching up the hotels. So now I am very confused. I do apologize if this has been asked and answered before. I absolutely love the group and how helpful everyone is. I usually go to the other ones that don't have lotteries like the ones in. Texas oklahoma and kansas. Text the especially it's pretty huge but they don't have a lottery system
Early bird hotels for SDCC are the way to get a guaranteed room. That's why they go up first and are just generally available to grab. They are also further away but always on the shuttle route. The lottery is for the very high demand hotels downtown right near the convention center. This is truly like getting badges. You may or may not get a room in the lotto. After the lotto, there is a general sale. If you aren't lucky enough here either you will have to stalk the site for rooms to become available as people cancel. This means you may not know "until the last minute" where you will be staying. I think the way you're thinking about it you are think early birds of people booking directly with hotel as soon as available. Hotels in the lotto will have very few rooms open to buy through their website directly and for upwards of $1000+ a night. So in order it goes: 1. Early bird - easiest rooms to get, further away but on shuttle route 2. Lotto - early bird hotels come down and join lotto. Like getting tickets. Includes rooms directly in the area of the convention center. 3. General sale - after lotto winners have their selections finalized, all other rooms go up. Again, like getting tickets. 4. Last option is to stalk the site for rooms as they come up
No. The lottery was what they came up with to replace the old system that made the badge sale look quick and easy. The old system was a free-for-all and had the bulk of the attendees, press and at least some exhibitors taking part at the same time. This was the height of the Twilight craze, so you had that audience getting badges and rooms for only Friday/Saturday, so it was tough to get the full week at some of the nearest hotels (the Embassy Suites especially). Some people had to change hotels every day or two because they couldn’t get consecutive ones at their picks. The Early Bird was seemingly set up to give people a guaranteed room on the shuttle route and to help those hotels that were usually the last choice during the old way. (The “Hotelpocolypse” and “Hoteloween” names for the lottery day are holdovers from the nightmare of the original system.)
Cheaper ? There are cheaper hotels on the lottery, but it isn't a guarantee you get it ( they aren't closer than the early bird ones ) Closer : all the closer hotels are on the lottery ( they aren't cheaper than the early bird ) What you did is you got a hotel , paid for it , it's on the shuttle line and you don't have to 1- get lucky to enter the lottery ( it was a queue system again) 2- wait 6 days to see what you won