Apparently we'll be homeless for SDCC

26 MARCH 2015





So far every person I know has been rejected from the hotel sale. Self included. I got my submission in at 9:03 a.m. A friend who submitted at 9:02 got rejected. What is going on?

Sorry, but given the long delays other people experienced, and the huge number of people who got the bad form, I refuse to believe that all hotel rooms were gone by 9:03 a.m. I participate in this sale every year and I know what timeframe gets a room. Travel Planners has either screwed this up on a biblical level, or the sale was crashed by tons of outsiders.

How did everyone else do?

ETA 4:45 pm PST:  Okay. I had hoped this was something like TP accidentally sending a rejection email to everyone (at this point, nothing would surprise me.) However, I did just hear from someone who got a hotel - a downtown one. He doesn't know exactly when he got in but thinks it was about 5-6 minutes in. In other words, after me and another friend.

So my feeling is is that something is algorithmically, numerically, formulaically wrong. It could be an error that was already lurking in the system, or it could be that in their panic to help the people who got shafted on Tuesday, TP somehow reswizzled the whole queue. But that still wouldn't explain why so many of us are getting rejected across the board. I just cannot believe that every single hotel is full - on Hotel Circle, on Coronado, out by the airport, every hotel room. Remember, CCI added more hotel rooms this year, but the number of attendees stays the same. So something is rotten in Denmark.

I'm still hoping this is an email misfire.  Let's all keep each other posted.

ETA: 6:57 pm PST. All of the news I've collected so far has mostly been more of the same; a few people got hotels, but the majority got nothing.

If this is your first rodeo, you should know that this is somewhat unprecedented. Yes, there have always been people who failed to get the rooms they wanted, but by and large, most people got something. I've always maintained that everyone gets a room eventually because every year there are a few hotels with all 4 nights available long after hotel reservations open back up. I myself have always landed at one of my picks - and while it's true that I've led a somewhat charmed Comic-Con life in that I always somehow manage to get a Preview Night badge, I didn't get into the hotel sale significantly later than I have in  the last few years when I landed at the Marriott Marquis or Hyatt or Omni.

So what happened this year? I'm thinking we have three options:
1) A lot of outsiders flooded the system. Anyone with the link could have gotten in; that's why I didn't post the link on here. But I did see it shared online and anyone who wants to go to NerdHQ or just come down and take in the sights could have seized the opportunity for a discounted hotel room during Comic-Con.
2) There could be a bunch of people - randos, vendors, professionals - with one or two nights already in the system, blocking people looking for all 4 nights. Some companies might have extra people staying just through Thursday or Friday to help them set up. Others might have blocked rooms just for the weekend if they're sponsoring or attending a party. I am seeing a lot of people with Preview Night or 4-day badges who got nothing.
3) Travel Planners somehow severely effed up the process, either from the beginning or in trying to add in the people with the bad form who manually submitted their picks.

Unfortunately I don't see much of an easy fix. It's not like Travel Planners can cancel existing reservations or discern the badged peoples' reservations from the interlopers. Right now this is looking like one of the worst sale disasters ever - because unlike the days when an online sale simply crashed, there isn't going to be a do-over for this one.

44 comments:

  1. No rooms available. I sent bad form - filled out competely by 12:05 and second good form by 12:09. Thanks for trying - no room for you.

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  2. No word here yet. I remember looking at my clock by 9 03? Maybe sooner and being done. Maybe they are sending individual denials and redoing it? Who knows

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    1. In the past, they've sent rejections first and assignments later so you might be ok.

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  3. Has anybody gotten a you got a room email? Two more of my group haven't heard anything yet. One of them is sure she submitted by 12:03

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    1. I heard from 1 person who got an assignment - a good one. Everyone else I know has gotten a rejection.

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    1. This whole thing is so stressful

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    2. He got into a downtown Hilton - either Bayfront or Gaslamp, not sure which one.

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  5. It just seems so odd - that nothing on the whole shuttle route was available that quickly. This is so frustrating.

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    1. Yeah, something is wrong here. I've been through too many hotel sales to swallow that this is legit. On the other hand, I don't have any real confidence that it will be resolved or that we'll ever find out what happened.

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  6. I'm a first-timer and only got Sunday tickets. My wife and I split from our friend and his son to get 1 bedroom suites ( for 2 people) since we thought they were higher in number.

    I filled out the good form just before 9:02AM. Got the request received e-mail yesterday at 4:33PM. At 4PM today, I got confirmed for my 4th pick, the DoubleTree downtown which is a mile away from the Con for Friday to Monday.

    My friend filled his out around 9:03AM. Got his request received e-mail at 7:33PM. Today at 4:30PM, he got his number 1 choice of the Marquis for Saturday to Monday.

    Maybe the number of days mattered or the two Hiltons and Hampton Inn I picked were way too popular and had less rooms. Looks like we were way luckier in the hotel sale than the badge sale.

    This is the most stressful and uncertain trip planning I have ever gone through. Now I need to book flights and wonder if it's worth it to go through it again next year.

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    1. The days requested can indeed play a role. It'd be interesting to see if Preview Night/4 day badge people are getting rejected in higher numbers.

      The whole process is just awful. You hit the nail on the head - a lot of people wonder if it's worth it.

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    2. Congrats! I have a 4 day pass plus preview so this is really going to suck if Im homeless haha. No word here yet I submitted by 9 02-3? Emailed yesterday 5 13pm pacific time and no word yet.

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  7. This is the first year in 15 yrs of going to the SDCC that I haven't gotten a room. Lame.

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  8. We got Thursday and Sunday badges. So put in for room from Wed night to Thursday. So far out of 3 of us all requesting different hotels I am the only one to hear anything and it was a reject.

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  9. Will the wait listed get first crack before things get posted on April 8th?

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    1. They should but at this point I don't feel safe saying anything.

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  10. Ok well the other two in my group just got emails offering them Town & Country. Not exactly downtown but at this point - it is better than nothing.

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    1. Still nothing here. Not sure if that's Good or bad.

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    2. It's a roof over your head. Can you stay with them?

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    3. I'm guessing it's a good sign. I think they sent the rejections out first.

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  11. Yes we will stay together at town and country. Will still try for something closer if things open up but this is a better ending than I was expecting after my rejections. This process is way worse than badge day. They should just combine this and badge day - get it over all at once.

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    1. That's actually not a bad idea, though I'm sure it's beyond their technical sophistication. It'd be great if after you got your badge, you went to another screen where you clicked your hotel picks and boom, it's done.

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  12. My group just got confirmation for two rooms Downtown for all days.

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    1. It's a good thing you're anonymous or I'd have to ambush you and commandeer your room. What timestamp did you have, do you know?

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  13. Thanks for posting this - it's good to know I'm not alone and get some details.

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    1. You're not alone - there are many angry and stunned attendees in the same boat. However, I'm dubious that we'll ever find out why this went so badly. There's no transparency with CCI sales.

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  14. Can someone help me out...

    I got a reservation @ the Kona Kai which was not one of my 6 choices. Since I marked book me into any hotel available, I'm supposed to be waitlisted for my original choices, so my question is... Should I pay the deposit, or how does the waiting list work? Thanks

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    1. So I got my reservation too. They put me up at the Wyndham which was not one of my six but it's still down town so no complaints here. You want to put down your deposit because up until April 15th it's refundable in full. But jeez man 10 30? Come on travel planners

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    2. Pay the deposit - you have a few weeks to get it back while you look for something better.

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    3. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep posted to let you know how this whole hotelpocalypse turns out...

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  15. I got the bad form. Didn't know it was a bad form, but couldn't figure out how to choose more than 1 hotel. By the time I figured out I could choose 6 hotels by using the control button and submitted my form it was like 9:06 or 9:07. Needless to say, I did not get any hotel room.

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    1. Thank you, Valerie. It helps to have this forum to vent! I feel bad for your situation too, which is even more shocking since you got your form in so quickly and still got no room.

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  16. Got one for Kona Kai and I cancelled since I asked for DT or nothing. The room is too expensive for the distance. Two others on my team got rejections and submitted before me on the bad form so I think there was no logic to this

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    1. Yikes. I hope you get something better when the system opens back up.

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  17. Very sorry to hear that you didn't get a room, Valerie. I submitted with the "good" form at 9:02 and was shocked to get my 1st choice, the Omni, for Thurs-Sun. Husband submitted at 9:03 with a mix of downtown hotels and got nothing. Weirdness throughout the process: I got one of the emails to re-submit my 6 choices on Tues pm even though I had no problems with the form, and my reservation confirmation started with a "you got this hotel because you picked "place me into any downtown hotel'", even though the Omni was my #1, and I did not pick the "downtown only" option. After getting shut out last year with "downtown only" and paying a ridiculous price for the Residence Inn, I made sure to pick a waitlisted option, and my request confirmation showed "any available hotel". Anyway, best of luck to all of you in finding reasonably-priced accommodations!

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    1. Thank you. All the little inconsistencies you listed just convinced me this process was hopelessly mismanaged.
      Congrats on your first choice, though!

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    2. I have a feeling even though their system was working it super glitched out. I got the Wyndham, which seems pretty good, about a mile from the convention center I'm assuming right along the routes and a 15ish minute walk from the heart of down town. I'm just happy to have a hotel. I did select the "place me in any downtown hotel" option, and the Wyndham was not one of my six.

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    3. I'm just glad you got a downtown hotel. You're on the shuttle route and you're still in the heart of the action so you'll be fine.

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