SDCC 2019: Hotel Sale Announced – date, venue changes, shuttle statuses and more

The final piece of the San Diego Comic-Con puzzle for attendees – the Hotel Sale, bittersweetly coined by long-time fans as ‘Hotelpocalypse‘ – has finally arrived, with details announced a full nine days after the close of WonderCon Anaheim… so far, so good, this is the general window of schedule for CCI in the past. However, attendees have only been given two days of preparation, as this year the Sale will take place smartly, this Thursday 11th March at 9am PT (12 Midday ET / 5pm GMT). Eep!!

Emails will be sent out to badge holders containing a link to a Waiting Room – because we all know how much CCI love their Waiting Rooms! – which will open at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT, an hour prior to the Hotel Sale starting proper at 9am. In much the same manner as the Online Badge Registration Sale, prospective attendees will then be selected in random order to select their requested rooms – forms are processed in the order of ‘the time at which a user was granted access to the form – NOT at the time at which the form was submitted’, so it’s fastest on the fingers in case someone else who’s also typing away nabs that coveted Downtown hotel room ahead of you.

This year, the pressure is most certainly on. The short two day wind-up to the Badge Sale also comes as thousands of pop culture fans, bloggers and panel guest attendees with crossover interest with Star Wars Celebration will be winging their way to Chicago for this years event, taking place this weekend. With the Hotel Sale taking place at 9am on the first day of SWC, these dedicated fans will have to decide to skip the opening hours of the show, purely to land those coveted rooms in San Diego.

And many, if not all, of those rooms come with a number of changes, including a price hike across the board and a number of Downtown hotels losing the Free Shuttle Service, most likely prompted by irate shuttle drivers fighting against stalled downtown traffic, caused by the closure of Harbour Drive for the duration of the convention. (That’s not the only change to the Free Shuttle Service this year, mind you: https://theconventioncollective.com/cci/sdcc-2019-shuttle-information-posted-times-changes-downtown-location-deletions-and-more)

There’s also a couple of hotels removed from the Sale for 2019, with The Bristol Hotel and Four Points By Sheraton (Downtown), The Dana On Mission Bay (Mission Bay) and the La Quinta Inn (Mission Valley) not participating this year. (Did you stay in any of these hotels in the past? Are attendees missing anything?? Comment below…)

It’s not all bad news, however, with a couple of new additions to the Hotel options: those feeling a little flush can try for the very swanky and very new InterContinental San Diego on North Harbor Drive on the Bayfront (opposite the B Street Pier) or if that’s a bit rich for your blood, there’s the slightly cheaper but none-less-fresh-and-funky Moxy San Diego Downtown Gaslamp, located on Sixth Avenue.

Here is the full list of hotels available in the Badge Sale, complete with Shuttle Service Status, Distance To Convention Center and our annual handy USD/GBP Conversion Guide to give non-Yanks an idea of how much these rooms are going for in proper money. (Please note: the Conversion Rate is sourced from xe.com and are priced at 0.764, 2pm 10th April 2019)

In the Waiting Room, attendees will be given the opportunity to review the Submission Form so they know where to click and where on the page theire desired hotels are located. The form is similar in layout to last years form, which can be found here: https://cci.onpeak.info.com/sample. (You can also check if your browser is compatible for the Sale at https://cci.onpeak.info.browserCheck)

All the information required about the Hotel Sale can be located on the Comic-Con International website in a handy PDF file, viewable and downloadable, here:
https://www.comic-con.org/sites/default/files/forms/CCI%202019%20Hotel%20List%20Final%20Version.pdf And we’ll be hosting an impromptu TALKIN’ CON: A CUP OF TEA WITH AN ENGLISHMAN IN SAN DIEGO at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT on Wednesday 10th April. Hope you can join us in our little prayer circle…!