Hotel Reservations UPDATE...

We've been in touch with our travel agency, Travel Planners, numerous times today about the ongoing problems with their website. They're trying to fix the problems you've all been having, but they're also in the midst of processing phone reservations. We urge you to try again online, or call Travel Planners directly at 1-877-55-COMIC (1-877-552-6642) or 212-532-1660 if you cannot get through online.

Our Board of Directors expects an answer from them as to what went wrong, but that answer may not come today. And we can assure you: we're NOT moving to Vegas.

Comments

[Xiomara]

Not sure if this is the place for this, but well, I'm desperate. So... I need a room at the Marrriot Marina for the 24-25. Just one night. I have a resv. at the Holiday Inn on the Bay I can swap . The dates are 22-28. Just email me off list. Thanks!

[MoveCCtoVegas]

OMG move it to Vegas already.

Vegas has more Convention space, bigger halls than hall H, competent seuriry and travel planners, enough hotel rooms to satisfy everyone, and won't gouge you onthe rates like they do in San Diego. Las Vegas was BUILT for this type of convention. It's also cheaper and easier to get to than San Diego (especially for East Coasters).

There is NO good reason to keep it in San Diego. Show me someone from CCI who can justify keeping it in San Diego and i'll show you someone either drinking the kool-aid or on the take.

[\]

Why didn't I get an email telling me when reservations would be open? What a load of rubbish.

[Jimbo]

Good idea to bring up at the Comic con talkback panel...

[Linda]

The ship idea is outstanding...Doug, you the man!

[Mel]

Doug,
Genius IDEA!

[smokey ling]

Here's another for Doug, comic-con man of the year!!
I LOVE that idea and would gladly trade my (beyond walking distance) hotel for a room on the ship!!

This seems very reasonable and above all, doable, CCI...what do ya say??

[doug]

I just talked to a coworker about my idea and he said that's exactly what Jacksonville, Florida did ON THE RIVER when they hosted the Superbowl in 2005. Floating hotels. Apparently I'm not the first person to think of this. (go ahead. google "jacksonville superbowl cruise ships")

How much easier would it be for San Diego to do this? They already have cruise ship docking there. It's just a matter of finding ones that aren't heading out to sea that week.

Hell, I would figure that San Diego itself would be behind this in order to keep this large influx of cash in their city each year. Because now we've just hit a ceiling. It's either move to a new city with more hotel rooms, cut off the amount of people allowed to come to CCI, or float some hotels within shuttle/walking distance.

I don't know if I'm a genius. I just know I want a hassle-free Comic-Con experience and a place to rest my geeky head each year.

[CG]

Doug..... You Sir, are a GENIUS.

[doug]

A SOLUTION FOR THIS YEAR'S HOUSING ISSUES?
I know this will sound insane and impossible, but hear me out...

Notice how the convention center bumps up against a big body of water right out back? (go ahead, check google maps... i'll wait) And how there are lots of places to dock a big boat? There are these things called Cruise Ships that have hundreds of rooms in them that can accomodate thousands of people. Some cruise ships handle anywhere from 1500-3000 or more people in them at once. Plus, they have all sorts of amenities and staff right there on the boat.

Imagine CCI booking a cruise ship for a week THAT GOES NOWHERE except sits at the dock behind the convention center. The cruise company spends less money on fuel because they don't go anywhere. They can staff it mostly in the evenings since mostly everyone will be at the convention center during the day. This would work out for the cruise company in many ways, allowing the cost to be less for CCI, if in fact they'd spend any money at all. The cruise company could write it off as a charitable expense because CCI is non-profit (they're still non-profit, right?). They aren't using all of their boats all of the time. They can use this event for training staff before they send them out on real cruises. They can sell tons of food and alcohol and host ballroom rented parties (example: how awesome would the official DC or Marvel party be on a big cruise ship?). Plus, they get to advertise the fun of going on a cruise to a few thousand people all at once, possibly garnering a whole new set of people who might want to take a real cruise sometime in the future.

It's great for CCI and San Diego because they give lodging to those that need it without having them travel from a dung heap hotel on the Mexico border and without having to build more hotels each year. Imagine just floating a hotel into place each year! And if that ship fills up, guess what? Get another one! Park it next to the first one. And when it's over, it floats away! I can see a few places where they'd be able to drop anchor, roll out the ramp, and shuttle a few people back and forth to the front door of the convention center (sure, the map on google is really old - Petco Park still isn't built - but there's more than enough space and lots bigger boats/battleships out there with enough room to maneuver). If you want to compare ship size, do a google maps search for Long Beach, CA, the permanent home to the Queen Mary II, which is bigger than the Titanic. If you do a comparison at 500ft or even 200ft, you can see how easily a ship smaller than the QMII would be able to get in there. Sure, there's all sort of permits to acquire, deals to be made, and money to be passed around, but it could work!

And who else wins? We do! And the city of San Diego wins too! Cruise ship rooms are comparable to regular hotel rooms in size, ameneties, and cost (or cheaper!). And because the convention stays in beautiful San Diego, everyone has enough rooms, and Travel Planners can run off a Windows 95 machine in your dad's garage for the next 10 years and no one will care because they can get a room without making death threats. The big change will be the fact that with more rooms available than ever, they'll actually have to cut off advance ticket sales at some point, because it will sell out months in advance due to no one steaming over not getting a room and giving up. And when the Comic-Con tickets sell out before the previous year ends, THAT will be when they start talking about moving it elsewhere...

I know it's probably to audacious to consider now ONLY FIVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT, but I would be the first to sign up if they rolled a cruise ship into the water behind the convention center (especially since all my attempts on 2/6 using 4 computers and 3 phone lines between 2 of us on both coasts amounted to nothing even after entering my credit card information in the few times I was able to get that far). But since its my idea, I want first pick of the best room on the ship. And I want a party in my honor (okay, proceeds from the door admission can go to the CBLDF) for coming up with this awesome idea.

C'mon CCI, it's crazy and desperate, but you have a lot of pissed and miserable people out here. Time to start wheeling and dealing with Carnival or somebody. I have no connections, but hell, I'll help if I can! Just do something to help people get a place to sleep between gawking at movie clips and buying comics and statues, but without the hassle of driving 10 miles out of town or not going at all. The joy is quickly being sucked out of this event even for me... and this is my mecca!

Hey, didn't the Love Boat have its 30th anniversary last year? That's gotta get us some pop culture points. Book the Love Boat! I want a gin and tonic served by Isaac!

Vegas is awesome, but it's not San Diego. Just do something. Please.

[Nate]

"Have you Vegas pushers ever priced San Diego hotels on dates other than comic-con? The rates are way, way lower"

If oyu look at the hotel for weekends around the comic Con weekend, the price at hotels are higher. The weekend before the con, the Best Western is $20 more, for instance.

The convention rates are typically lower at most conventions, because they know they can sell the entire thing out anyway.

Summer in San Diego can be quite expensive.

[Chris]

I'm not sure why everybody is so keen on moving it to Vegas (although, I wouldn't be unhappy if it did). Isn't the fact that San Diego is only a ride down on the highway from Los Angeles one of the reasons the film studios send all that they do (cast, crew and freebies) to the convention?

[Con-attender]

Have you Vegas pushers ever priced San Diego hotels on dates other than comic-con? The rates are way, way lower. It is the convention that is main factor in these prices, not the city. If Vegas had the Con, the hotels still might bump up the prices for the weekend of the show.

There are still a ton of hotels available. Heck, there are even hotels with the convention discount still available. I agree that the website was a mess and there needs to be changes. I'm just tired of everyone talking about moving to Vegas as if it would solve these problems. It wouldn't, and I would hate to see the show move to Las Vegas.

[Sherry]

NOT moving to Vegas? You say that as if Vegas is full of incompetents...like the kind folks at Travel Planners. There is one thing that we Vegans (I'm from Vegas) are good at, and that's holding a convention. We're nothing BUT a tourist mecca, and because of that, we know HOW to treat guests right when it comes to providing available hotel rooms. Plus, despite what you believe, it is a VERY RARE occurrence for you to have to pay $400-$800 per night for a hotel room here. You would only pay that rate if you were in some luxury suite at the Venetian or Bellagio. For instance, The Rio luxury suites, per night, cost less than $200, and sometimes $100, per night! Try getting that in San Diego...

[Jimbo]

Anyone else going to the Con Talk back about the hotel situation? I have a feeling that's one panel going to be heavily attended...

[Marc]

Add me to the list of folks who think that hotels should be assigned based upon when you purchase the four day pass - this would provide an incentive/reward for purchasing the pass at the prior years convention.

[Chris]

Man, I'm just getting pushed to a hotel further and further away every year.

Two years ago, we were able to stay at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, right down the street. Last year, we had to book at the Sofia, eight blocks away. This year? The Sheraton Suites... 14 blocks away.

Well, at least it's on the shuttle route. Maybe something better will open up eventually but I'm not holding my breath.

[CSmith]

I got the same email from Eric Ihle also. I have a common first and last name so OF COURSE the chances that more than one of us showing up in the hotel reservations are likely. This is why most reputable (and I do emphasize "reputable") organizations cross-reference names with say, an address, credit card number or phone number. But leave it to Travel Planners to add to the stress of this whole process. Thank you so much, CCI and TP, for making sure that service and competence is a priority!

[Misa]

What the HECK!!

I just got an e-mail from Travel Planners saying they were going to cancel my hotel rooms because I have 3 different reservations under one name.

I have 3 different reservations at 3 different hotels because I couldn't get 6 days at the same hotel -- I had to split it between 3 hotels (I posted about this a couple of days ago). Now they are going to cancel it?

I am so incredibly angry and frustrated.

[Joy]

Out of 7 people and 3 computers, I was the only one to get through. And now I have to deal with TP because someone out there in hotel land has the same name as my roomie so they are telling me I have more then one reservation and they are going to cancel my room. I'm sorry there is more then one "John Smith!"

CCI needs to find someone else to handle the rooms. It's clear that TP has no idea what they are doing. Also, the Hotels in SD know that CC happens every year. Why don't they offer more rooms blocks? I think it's because they are greedy and want people to book with them at 400 plus a night.

[disgruntled]

I got that email as well.Thing is i DO have two rooms - im in charge of handling the trip arrangements so i had to get 2 rooms for our party of 7.... since there is no way to book 2 rooms at once i had to go in with 2 different browsers and get them separate. They were really pressuring me to cancel one, even though the two rooms have different names in each room.I pretty much warned them that if they cancel it, they will be hearing from our legal department... we will see what happens.

Also i posted before and now its gone.... WTH?

[Nate]

So, I got an email today from an Eric Ihle at Travel Planners saying that I had two reservations and that one would be cancelled on February 13th. I only HAVE one reservation. After waiting 30 minutes on hold, I talked to a customer service rep there who mentioned that there was in fact a lot of emails sent out in error.

This is the SECOND YEAR in a row now, after promises that they were going to do whatever they had to after last year, to make the reservation system smoother.

Luckily, I do have a room, and I feel immeasurably bad for those that did not get a reservation. I was in the same boat last year.

Do not let them go easily on this. Something has to be done to resolve this issue, or else it will jsut continue to get worse as each year goes on. Move the con, find a better system for reservations, SOMETHING. Completely inexcusible.

[Disappointed]

If I did my job like this I would've been fired after the first mistake... but TP? nope they keep getting re-hired, it's totally absurd and uncalled for! Break away from TP NOW!

[Linda]

This is a direct plea to Comic-con: What kind of contract signed in blood do you have with "Travel Planners"?

If someone is incompetent and incapable to do the job you are paying them for,(and harms your business in the long run...) then you fire them and find someone who can actually do the job correctly and painlessly!

How about Orbitz or Priceline or Expedia or any other number of COMPETENT, proven companies out there?

Why do you constantly go with Travel Planners when you know they cannot deal with the heavy load?

This is my 3RD year of trying, and my only successful year in getting a room (I'm still in shock I actually got through)

In the future, PLEASE consider people who want to book 4 days or more, people who buy the pre-view and full passes beforehand, people who have to book a flight to get to San Diego in the first place...the system has to be improved or it's just going to collapse in on itself.

[James]

For those of you having trouble getting a room, here's a tip for next year's con.

Around October of this year, go to the website of the hotel you want to stay at and book a room with them directly. Yes, you'll have to pay more but at least you'll have a room.

That's what I did for this years con and now I have a room. I didn't have to go through the stress of wondering if I'd get a room through Travel Planners. To me, that's worth paying extra for.