NA Fanfest 2018 Debacle

[Patt]

Nope! Convention events typically offer "blocks" of hotel rooms at or near the event location, in this case the Rio in Las Vegas. Weirdly though, these went up for reservation way before tickets for the actual event went on sale. If you wanted a chance at reserving your accommodations for the event in this manner, you had to book well in advance of the ticket sales. It makes no sense.

[Awha]

Nope! Convention events typically offer "blocks" of hotel rooms at or near the event location, in this case the Rio in Las Vegas. Weirdly though, these went up for reservation way before tickets for the actual event went on sale. If you wanted a chance at reserving your accommodations for the event in this manner, you had to book well in advance of the ticket sales. It makes no sense.

Yeah I was just shocked since you mentioned you made your reservations weeks in advance so I figured they would at the very least offer some form of guarantee bundle since you are making a reservation at the venue the event is being held. Well I guess that is how I thought the partner ship worked. That is crazy.

[o0cacoto0o]

I don't get the idea of people getting a hotel room or even buying plane tickets prior to purchasing the fanfest ticket themselves. I waited and even though it would have screwed me over in needing to go to a different hotel, I wouldn't have to deal with cancellation fees (if any). I got lucky, and I'll admit it, in getting 2 tickets for fanfest, and the hotel room at the Rio with the discount. I am baffled at how this sold in 30 minutes. Last year it took 10 hours, luckily this time I was ready just in case, but this sucks for everyone who couldn't get a ticket.

Usually any time I went to conventions, they asked for your ticket confirmation number to reserve for the hotel. This way people with tickets would get priority.

[Renato]

I'm torn and kind of confused on the whole situation. I'm happy because I got my ticket and the whole process was extremely painless. I logged in about 15 minutes before the buying time and refreshed once it came around which took me to the buying page.

I waited on the queue screen for about 20 minutes and was taken to the log-in section. Since I already had my code copied, it took me less than the 12 minute limit to complete the whole transaction. No issues at all.

Like...I'm happy but it does suck for those who weren't able to get in and didn't have the same experience as I did. It's odd how some people are saying they were getting messages saying that they were sold out 10 minutes after they were queued but I waited 20 minutes and got in fine. Also some people are saying that they kept refreshing and also ran into issues but on the page, it literally says, DO NOT REFRESHbecause it's unnecessary and doing so too many times will either get you banned or kicked out from the buying all together.

I've also been told by some that they were told the tickets were sold out but if they refreshed enough, they were able to buy some. It all sounds a little jank.

[SinisterJoints]

I don't get the idea of people getting a hotel room or even buying plane tickets prior to purchasing the fanfest ticket themselves. I waited and even though it would have screwed me over in needing to go to a different hotel, I wouldn't have to deal with cancellation fees (if any). I got lucky, and I'll admit it, in getting 2 tickets for fanfest, and the hotel room at the Rio with the discount. I am baffled at how this sold in 30 minutes. Last year it took 10 hours, luckily this time I was ready just in case, but this sucks for everyone who couldn't get a ticket.

Usually any time I went to conventions, they asked for your ticket confirmation number to reserve for the hotel. This way people with tickets would get priority.

Simply put, the hotel where the fanfest is at was out of rooms a week after they announced WHEN the ticket sales were going up. That's why people book early, some don't want the inconvenience of travelling back and forth during fanfest when you can just wake up and go downstairs!

[Renato]

Simply put, the hotel where the fanfest is at was out of rooms a week after they announced WHEN the ticket sales were going up. That's why people book early, some don't want the inconvenience of travelling back and forth during fanfest when you can just wake up and go downstairs!

And it looks like the hotels/casinos around are charging an outrageous amount as well. The Gold Coast was asking for $339 for both nights not including taxes and resort fees. Same with The Palms.

I actually work at for Caesars and even with our discounts rooms look to be extremely high for that weekend. I checked the Rio earlier and they're asking for $239 a night plus tax with my employee discount. I ended up booking at Harrahs which is on the strip and out of the way but it's the cheapest option...For anyone expecting to go, just be reason to pay some cash for the rooms.

[o0cacoto0o]

I know they were sold out weeks in advance before tickets were sold, but why would one book a room before you know you got a ticket? If you didn't get a ticket now you must cancel and lose the deposit if they charged any, and then cancel the flight as well. That's what I'm asking. Sorry if my wording made it sound weird.

[Emstidor]

I know they were sold out weeks in advance before tickets were sold, but why would one book a room before you know you got a ticket? If you didn't get a ticket now you must cancel and lose the deposit if they charged any, and then cancel the flight as well. That's what I'm asking. Sorry if my wording made it sound weird.

? In my experience booking rooms I've never lost a deposit if I had to make a cancellation early enough (and this would definitely qualify as early enough).

I agree with you about airfare, but airline tickets aren't nearly at the same risk of selling out as hotel rooms are.

[Souljacker]

? In my experience booking rooms I've never lost a deposit if I had to make a cancellation early enough (and this would definitely qualify as early enough).

I agree with you about airfare, but airline tickets aren't nearly at the same risk of selling out as hotel rooms are.

Then you must not have booked many rooms in your lifetime. There are absolutely hotels that will penalize you for cancellation. Not every business is actually customer-friendly, especially in the USA.

[CmdrKatLangley]

I know they were sold out weeks in advance before tickets were sold, but why would one book a room before you know you got a ticket? If you didn't get a ticket now you must cancel and lose the deposit if they charged any, and then cancel the flight as well. That's what I'm asking. Sorry if my wording made it sound weird.

Hotel reservations can be cancelled up to 72 hours prior to your check in date and you will get the deposit back. It's in the terms of the reservation so it's not like people are out that cost, it just may take a few days for the refund to hit the bank.

Flight tickets are another matter.
-If the tickets are refundable, then yes, they can get a refund or use the tickets for another flight, typically without a fee but that is dependent upon the policies of the airline. With a change though you are likely to have any additional costs in fare. (i.e. you paid $200 for the ticket and the cost of the new ticket is $300. You have to pay the $100 difference. If it's less then you get a refund on that, typically. Again up to the airline's policies.)
-If the tickets are NON-refundable then the airline will only refund under certain circumstances that their policies allow. If you cannot obtain a refund, then you can usually change the ticket with a fee plus any difference in fair (see example above).