Copyright CBS News
Securing a hotel room for San Diego Comic-Con has been a notoriously difficult exercise for several years. It might be even tougher for next year's event. The popular annual convention celebrating comic books, gaming, television and film has a new hotel reservation policy ahead of 2026, it announced this week. In previous years, the general sale has been a randomized waiting room where, once selected, patrons would fill out a hotel reservation request form and rank their preferred choice of hotels. The hotels could vary in distance from the San Diego Convention Center, with nearby rooms in the Gaslamp Quarter being the most coveted. While preferred hotels weren't guaranteed to those who filled out their lists, all deposits were refundable for a certain amount of time after placement, allowing for changes in plans. In 2026, that is no longer the case. The new policy also begins with a randomized virtual queue. But now, once patrons get to the front of the line, it'll be time to break out those credit cards. The new system is being referred to by SDCC as a "live-sale format," meaning that participants must book rooms in real-time while competing with others for their coveted locations. With the live-sale format comes a massive drawback — rooms aren't reserved until payments are processed. This is unlike other formats, like those used by massive live-event ticketing marketplaces, where simply putting your purchase in your online "shopping cart" secures your reservation for few minutes while you input payment methods and contact information. The new format means that participants need to "check out" their shopping carts before the reservation is theirs. "Please keep in mind that thousands of attendees will access the reservation system once the sale begins," the SDCC website reads. "Rooms will sell out quickly, and inventory is not reserved until the payment is processed." In addition to the new necessity to make split-second decisions on which rooms to book, participants have no leeway after the charges go through. All purchases are now non-refundable, marking a stark shift from previous years. "Because reservations will now be made in real time, a non-refundable deposit equal to two nights' room rate plus tax is required at the time of booking," the website says. "A non-refundable service and technology fee equal to 3% of each hotel deposit will also be charged to the credit card provided for each reservation." Those who miss out on the initial frenzy, the date of which will be announced later, can still try their luck in the lead-up to the July convention. As reservations are canceled, they'll go back onto the marketplace.
