Tom Spurgeon's Tips for Attending Comic-Con, Part 1

First Things First: Stay Safe

Before every other consideration comes taking care of your personal safety. Never lose sight of keeping yourself and those around you free from harm and discomfort. Comic-Con itself is a wonderful place, and San Diego is one of North America's finest and most genteel cities. It's still a convention in the heart of a major metropolis, with all this entails. Never forget that. Do anything the local police officers around you suggest is best, and that includes security within the convention itself. They're there to help. Keep your wits about you. Don't do anything you wouldn't do at home.

Remember Most Airlines Charge For Luggage Now

Double-check your airline's website for their luggage fees. This can be a killer for Comic-Con because you may be taking stuff there to do business, or taking stuff home having done some collection-related buying. Even if it's bad news, it's better to be prepared than to find out you've hit a bag limit and have no cash available to you.

If You Still Don’t Have a Room, Make That a Priority

Everyone reading this with a chance of attending this year's Comic-Con likely has badges secured. The very next thing you need to do is figure out where you're staying. The later it gets, the more difficult this becomes. Reach out to friends who may need a roommate. Check the Comic-Con's hotel page once a day for openings or rooms newly available: such openings aren’t as common as they used to be, but they still happen. One strategy I've used is to get a series of one-day reservations rather than a four-day one, even using different hotels. You may have more deposits to pay, but it's a great way to experience hotels that might not be open for a lengthier stay. Fridays and Saturdays are the toughest to find, so snap those up.

Plan for the Cost Of Getting to Your Hotel

Fewer Comic-Con hotels than ever offer airport shuttle service. That means a cab, which can cost $15-$20 each way. Arriving by rail may also require a short ride in a cab, depending on where you're staying in proximity to the train station. If you have a car, lucky you! But parking at your hotel may cost up to $25 a day (check your hotel’s website). Plan for these expenses. That way, if you're able to convince the person in the taxi line at the airport to share a ride with you, or if your hotel is close enough to the train station to walk, those savings fall to you.

Check In at Your Hotel as Soon as You’re Able

It doesn’t happen frequently, but it is not unheard of for a Comic-Con hotel to book more rooms than it can handle. As a result, a few guests may have to be sent to another location—almost always further away! It is perfectly legal for a hotel to do so. Having this happen to you isn't the end of the world, but it's certainly another travel hassle. Get your room secured as close to the check-in time as you’re able, (usually mid-afternoon), and you reduce your chances of being the odd guest out. If you have any special requests, like a room on a higher floor, it's also easier for a hotel to accommodate you if you're on time.

Join Your Hotel’s Points Program

Most hotels have a rewards program. Not only might you eventually earn a free night if you’re at the same hotel at several Comic-Cons, joining a hotel's program can qualify you for perks. You may have a different line at the front desk when checking in, for instance—a godsend on a busy weekend. You may get a slightly better room or a choice of a higher floor. If you're in the points program and something goes awry, you may have better access to a manager. Being in the points program also gives hotels a natural way to make things up to you with a few strokes of a computer keyboard.

Scout Your Location in Advance

If you're staying in a hotel, find its website online and glean as much information as you can about the rooms, the restaurants, its pool, its gym—anything it has to offer. Then find the street address and search the immediate environs. It sounds silly, but spending 15 minutes in advance finding out what your hotel has in-house and what's within easy walking distance can save you a ton of time on Comic-Con weekend, and may even suggest a fun thing to do while you're in San Diego that's not convention-related.

Find the Nearest Grocery Store

Don’t be shy about eating in. Many professionals and con-goers who have been attending the show for decades now that take multiple meals back in their room. It's a great way to save some money, and also find a quiet moment in all the convention craziness. The Ralphs at G Street and First Avenue has been a key location for con-goers for years and ably serves the Broadway hotels and those closest to the Convention Center—it’s even on the shuttle route. [In the past few years, two other grocery stores have opened downtown, although they’re not as close to the Convention Center as Ralphs: There’s an Albertson’s at 14th and Market St., and the East Village Grocery Outlet at 10th and Market, plus a Smart and Final on G Street and 15th. Most drug stores (CVS, Rite Aid) carry food items. Smaller specialty stores like Krisp at 1076 Seventh Avenue, north of Broadway, have natural foods and are worth seeking out, even if it takes a little bit of a walk.]

Go to the Show Cash in Hand

There are cash machines at the Convention Center, but not a lot of them and there’s always a line. Fill your wallet before you go to the show. There are ATMs in most of the major hotels, near the bank buildings along Broadway, and in various public locations. A lot of booths will accept credit cards, but not all of them. If you're at the show and the ATM line is long, do the mental math and consider a walk to a nearby hotel.

Park Early

If you’re driving to the Convention Center from an outlying hotel or on a day trip, parking can be tough. Go early in the day—by noon, parking near the show requires a minor miracle. That said, I had an easy time a few years ago parking my car in the public garages in the Gaslamp Quarter; they filled up briskly, but there was definitely space available each morning. Hit the garages and parking lots further east for a better chance at an open space. [Check the Comic-Con website for pre-sale parking in some of those locations. Some spots may still be available.]

Don’t Pay for Parking More Than Once

Double-check to see if where you’re parking is actually all-day or for a limited number of hours but claims to be "all day." Some of the open-air lots only take you into the late afternoon, a bummer if you want to stay at Comic-Con until evening. Also, there’s a scam in parking garages where people with doctored T-shirts or made-up badges will solicit money from people parking cars—if there’s an automated system, always use that.