First time attendee any tips or suggestions?

gamingoodz

Hello there I have always wanted to go to a gaming convention like pax but never really got around to it. Some friends and I plan to travel to Pax East 2015 and it will be all of our first times there. I'm not really sure what to do as far as hotels and how to get a badge.

How early should I book a hotel?
When do badges go on sale?
How much money do you think someone should bring?
Etc, Etc.

If anyone has any tips for a first timer going to Pax East please let me know as I could really use the info, Its a pretty long trip to get there for us and I want to make sure we are prepared.
There will be at least 2 of us but maybe

I really appreciate any info and I can't wait to finally go to Pax.

Thanks!

zerzhul

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/182534/help-the-first-time-to-pax-east-thread-what-did-you-learn-this-year

and

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/178918/pax-east-2014-information-faq-read-this-first-then-ask-questions-here

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/182511/how-much-should-i-save-up-for-pax-east-next-year#latest

Will likely answer most of your questions.

In general, I'd poke around some of the threads for this past year and see if you can find the info you want.

Start looking here after PAX Prime 2014 ends for updated information for PAX East 2015

Also you might want to take a look at our rules http://forums.penny-arcade.com/rules since making one's first post a new thread is generally not recommended.

rascrush

tickets generally go on sale some time between september-october i believe. The hotel is generally around the same time. Wait for the on peak hotels inless you want to be safe and book a back up cause on peak is a lot cheaper. As far as money to bring I would say 700-800 is a fair amount to bring and honestly you prob wont spend that much but that would be a safe amount this past year including hotel and ticket i think i spent around 900-1000 total. With a friend it will be a lot more fun I think I found myself kinda be weirded out the 1st time i walked into pax being all by myself. This was not a issue at the parties or the pokecrawl at all though. Prob because there was alchohal in my body lol. All in all I would say

1. make sure you hit at least 1 party this was honestly my fav part of the whole weekend
2. be open talk to random people it will make it a lot better. This is something I myself have to do better then I did this time.

Megan_Gwynn

Really helpful, I hope to make it my first time as well so thanks.

InscrutableGamer

When do tickets go on sale? What is the meaning of life? Who is John Galt?
Follow @Official_PAX and they shall be your guide. Hotels, as I recall, can be booked alongside your tickets, but since I have no need for hotels, I cannot say for sure.

As for spending money, it really depends on what you personally plan to buy or spend at the convention. Personally I don't tend to spend a lot, but if you like loading up on merch, bring more than what you think you'll need.

Also, I am a native of the greater Boston area, so if you've got any questions about the area/transit/non-PAX attractions feel free to message me - happy to help! (That goes for anybody casually browsing about this post)

flashe

All good advice above^! Also check to see if someone will be running/leading a Magical Mystery Tour (MMT) of Boston if you arrive in a few days before. Great way to see the city, if you are so incline, meet new ppl, and get other advice as well.

cardkid123

Tickets are already set to go on sale some time this month. If you haven't already heard, getting tickets is probably the most difficult part of this trip, the second probably being getting a hotel. With tickets, they will usually sell out in a matter of a couple hours. If you haven't already, follow the pax Twitter and act immediately.

As far as hotels go, you have the option to book through pax at a discounted rate but much like tickets, the popular or close hotels fill up fast so you will have to act fast on that too. Usually by now the closest 3 hotels will be booked as far as regular rate rooms go.

After you get those two things out of the way though, it's smooth sailing from there. Just my 2 cents after last year. This will be my second year of pax.

InscrutableGamer

cardkid123 wrote: »

Tickets are already set to go on sale some time this month. If you haven't already heard, getting tickets is probably the most difficult part of this trip, the second probably being getting a hotel. With tickets, they will usually sell out in a matter of a couple hours. If you haven't already, follow the pax Twitter and act immediately.

As far as hotels go, you have the option to book through pax at a discounted rate but much like tickets, the popular or close hotels fill up fast so you will have to act fast on that too. Usually by now the closest 3 hotels will be booked as far as regular rate rooms go.

After you get those two things out of the way though, it's smooth sailing from there. Just my 2 cents after last year. This will be my second year of pax.

The reason the closest hotels are already filled up/booked is because PA (or rather, Reed Expo) books blocks of rooms WELL in advance because those are the rooms you can get while buying your tickets.

cardkid123

InscrutableGamer wrote: »

cardkid123 wrote: »

Tickets are already set to go on sale some time this month. If you haven't already heard, getting tickets is probably the most difficult part of this trip, the second probably being getting a hotel. With tickets, they will usually sell out in a matter of a couple hours. If you haven't already, follow the pax Twitter and act immediately.

As far as hotels go, you have the option to book through pax at a discounted rate but much like tickets, the popular or close hotels fill up fast so you will have to act fast on that too. Usually by now the closest 3 hotels will be booked as far as regular rate rooms go.

After you get those two things out of the way though, it's smooth sailing from there. Just my 2 cents after last year. This will be my second year of pax.

The reason the closest hotels are already filled up/booked is because PA (or rather, Reed Expo) books blocks of rooms WELL in advance because those are the rooms you can get while buying your tickets.

Yes I know that, but that doesn't mean they book all the rooms. If you are trying to get a room at the Westin, you would probably have a good shot at getting the cancelations off onpeak, but if you are trying to get like 2 rooms, checking with the hotel often for the full price would probably be more realistic.