Zerzhul is referring to the time last year that the very last badges were sold, which I think were single day badges for Monday only.
If you want all four days (usually as four single day badges, because 4-day combined badges vanish nearly instantly) or a single-day Saturday badge, you will probably need to be on the purchase site within at most 30 seconds of the tweet going out - maybe faster since it seems to get worse every year!
I can't confirm personally how quickly you needed to jump for 4-day combined badges last year, but probably within a few seconds. Maybe someone on the forum can clarify if they actually made it in before the 4-days sold out!!
This is pure speculation, but I would not be surprised if they don't even sell 4-days this year.
I have successfully bought badges online during the actual sale every year since 2007, but I have not been able to buy 4-days either of the past two years. That would mean they probably sold out in less than five minutes.
wow thank you all for this great info. i came here looking exactly this information because we desperately need tickets for this years pax.
i have been with my girlfriend for 8 years now and we are getting married this august. we have been bonding over penny arcade for years. we talked about it on our very first date and for years talked about going to pax for our honeymoon. the fact that she loved the idea is just one more way i knew she was the one. we never had money to go before but when it's your honeymoon it's a different story but when we started looking into the tickets and found out they sold out in less then an hour last year we started to panic. we really have no other back up idea for a honeymoon since this has been our dream vacation for all these years and this info makes me feel much better about our chances about getting to go.
i will be keeping an eye on everything here and maybe we will get to see some of you guys there!
Congrats man! We actually spent the year of our first anniversary going to different gaming conventions with PAX East being the first one. Best idea ever. You guys will have a blast.
Again thank you. Actually I just thought of one more question. Sorry for spamming them ^ ^;
Does the PAX registration system work properly on a mobile versus a desktop? Like have issues been reported in the past? Cause due to time differences I'll most likely be in class when they open it so I'll have to use my mobile to have a chance.
Actually, having both open is ideal for ticket buying - for some reason, hotels went on sale on mobile for East 2014 BEFORE the indicated time. There are two different queues for tickets and they move at different paces. I was on my phone while my boyfriend was online and I was able to purchase my ticket before him because the mobile line was shorter. Then again, you have to use that itsy bitsy screen so... trade offs
But yeah, you should be totally fine that way. On iphones, you can turn websites into icons so I dragged the PAX Prime homepage to my first row of buttons for ease of access. Have your hotel wishlist in a note in your phone and you'll be 100% for the mad rush!
Congrats man! We actually spent the year of our first anniversary going to different gaming conventions with PAX East being the first one. Best idea ever. You guys will have a blast.
thanks! we live in michigan and go to a lot of local and semi local conventions already but its more like a drive there for one day then drive home. this will be the first time we ever get a hotel and stay right by the convention to take in all that it has to offer. at least it will be the first time if we can manage to get the tickets. its just getting really stressful with the wedding planning and now needing to camp the website in the hopes of getting the tickets while having no clue what we want to do if we fail. if i can get them ill be walking on cloud 9 for weeks!
Again thank you. Actually I just thought of one more question. Sorry for spamming them ^ ^;
Does the PAX registration system work properly on a mobile versus a desktop? Like have issues been reported in the past? Cause due to time differences I'll most likely be in class when they open it so I'll have to use my mobile to have a chance.
Actually, having both open is ideal for ticket buying - for some reason, hotels went on sale on mobile for East 2014 BEFORE the indicated time. There are two different queues for tickets and they move at different paces. I was on my phone while my boyfriend was online and I was able to purchase my ticket before him because the mobile line was shorter. Then again, you have to use that itsy bitsy screen so... trade offs
But yeah, you should be totally fine that way. On iphones, you can turn websites into icons so I dragged the PAX Prime homepage to my first row of buttons for ease of access. Have your hotel wishlist in a note in your phone and you'll be 100% for the mad rush!
So you need to also know which hotel you want and get it and the plane, I assume, at that time too? I thought you did the hotels later.
Thanks for the reassurance. Hopefully they don't go on sale Wednesday because I realized I'd be in a Test. That would be an interesting conversation: "Sir can I stop the test to buy a ticket on my phone?...I know, but I promise I'm not cheating..." Also I'm apparently more worried about buying a ticket than a test..priorities seem in the right place.
Again thank you. Actually I just thought of one more question. Sorry for spamming them ^ ^;
Does the PAX registration system work properly on a mobile versus a desktop? Like have issues been reported in the past? Cause due to time differences I'll most likely be in class when they open it so I'll have to use my mobile to have a chance.
Actually, having both open is ideal for ticket buying - for some reason, hotels went on sale on mobile for East 2014 BEFORE the indicated time. There are two different queues for tickets and they move at different paces. I was on my phone while my boyfriend was online and I was able to purchase my ticket before him because the mobile line was shorter. Then again, you have to use that itsy bitsy screen so... trade offs
But yeah, you should be totally fine that way. On iphones, you can turn websites into icons so I dragged the PAX Prime homepage to my first row of buttons for ease of access. Have your hotel wishlist in a note in your phone and you'll be 100% for the mad rush!
So you need to also know which hotel you want and get it and the plane, I assume, at that time too? I thought you did the hotels later.
Thanks for the reassurance. Hopefully they don't go on sale Wednesday because I realized I'd be in a Test. That would be an interesting conversation: "Sir can I stop the test to buy a ticket on my phone?...I know, but I promise I'm not cheating..." Also I'm apparently more worried about buying a ticket than a test..priorities seem in the right place.
Hotel link typically goes live at the exact same time as tickets.
Get your tickets first (get in queue fast etc).
Then do the hotels while you wait for queue to pop because they go just as quickly for close locations (Hyatt and Sheraton).
Again thank you. Actually I just thought of one more question. Sorry for spamming them ^ ^;
Does the PAX registration system work properly on a mobile versus a desktop? Like have issues been reported in the past? Cause due to time differences I'll most likely be in class when they open it so I'll have to use my mobile to have a chance.
Actually, having both open is ideal for ticket buying - for some reason, hotels went on sale on mobile for East 2014 BEFORE the indicated time. There are two different queues for tickets and they move at different paces. I was on my phone while my boyfriend was online and I was able to purchase my ticket before him because the mobile line was shorter. Then again, you have to use that itsy bitsy screen so... trade offs
But yeah, you should be totally fine that way. On iphones, you can turn websites into icons so I dragged the PAX Prime homepage to my first row of buttons for ease of access. Have your hotel wishlist in a note in your phone and you'll be 100% for the mad rush!
So you need to also know which hotel you want and get it and the plane, I assume, at that time too? I thought you did the hotels later.
Thanks for the reassurance. Hopefully they don't go on sale Wednesday because I realized I'd be in a Test. That would be an interesting conversation: "Sir can I stop the test to buy a ticket on my phone?...I know, but I promise I'm not cheating..." Also I'm apparently more worried about buying a ticket than a test..priorities seem in the right place.
Hotel link typically goes live at the exact same time as tickets.
Get your tickets first (get in queue fast etc).
Then do the hotels while you wait for queue to pop because they go just as quickly for close locations (Hyatt and Sheraton).
Okay, I'm sorry and I know this is probably a really elementary thing, but what is "queue to pop?"
Because my only experience with this is from PAX South which was: Go to page, Buy Tickets, Done. It was fairly quick and painless.
Edit: Another question, if anyone is familiar with Samsung Androids, does switching pages in it stop applications, meaning if I was queued for tickets and then switched to another page, via adding a new page in the mobile browser would I be removed from the queue? I have noticed that if I'm watching or listening to something on one webpage and switch to another page it stops streaming, playing, etc. And don't want to be booted from the queue trying to book a hotel.
Sorry for all the concerns but I'm the type to worry over every possibility and don't always think of them at the same time.
"queue to pop" - when sales go live, and you go to the registration site, it first sends you to the (in)famous "queue page" where you wait ... and wait ... and potentially wait some more. However, you can't leave or go anywhere, because at any time your turn in the queue could come up and the page will "pop" to the actual sales page. From there you have some nominal amount of time to complete your sale before you're booted.
Three of the last four years, I've gone to PAX Prime, and I - with no scripts or any other tools (not that I won't use them this year), just lurking the site and paying attention to the signs, I have successfully bought passes from the opening sale each time. It is nerve-wracking, but a little research, a little awareness, and a desk job with good internet is all you really need. :biggrin:
"queue to pop" - when sales go live, and you go to the registration site, it first sends you to the (in)famous "queue page" where you wait ... and wait ... and potentially wait some more. However, you can't leave or go anywhere, because at any time your turn in the queue could come up and the page will "pop" to the actual sales page. From there you have some nominal amount of time to complete your sale before you're booted.
Three of the last four years, I've gone to PAX Prime, and I - with no scripts or any other tools (not that I won't use them this year), just lurking the site and paying attention to the signs, I have successfully bought passes from the opening sale each time. It is nerve-wracking, but a little research, a little awareness, and a desk job with good internet is all you really need. :biggrin:
So when doing this on my phone I shouldn't try to go to a new page to get the hotel because I might miss the queue pop is what I'm taking from this. Thank you for the information. And out of curiosity, does the actual sales page tell you what tickets are sold out or could you try to buy a 4-day pass only to find it soldout and no longer in the queue?
When you get to the actual sales page, you'll be able to see what's still available. Theoretically, they could sell out of passes before you get out of queue, but if you're able to get in near the launch, you should be fine in that regard. If it says 4-days are available on your sales page, I believe you're golden.
Okay so here's a question. What payment options are available to purchase tickets. I currently do not have a credit card, and will be using prepaid credit cards for everything(since I'm from a small city in the western part of Canada). My question is: Can you use Paypal to pay for tickets? Any recommendations on what payment option to use? Any tips for a Canadian heading to Pax Prime? Thanks
Just a nerd into anything Nintendo, anime, MCU, Star Wars, and board games/card games.
Also a computer scientist and a streamer.
Okay so here's a question. What payment options are available to purchase tickets. I currently do not have a credit card, and will be using prepaid credit cards for everything(since I'm from a small city in the western part of Canada). My question is: Can you use Paypal to pay for tickets? Any recommendations on what payment option to use? Any tips for a Canadian heading to Pax Prime? Thanks
Payment for tickets is Credit/Debit card only, no Paypal. As long as you get a Visa or Mastercard, any reputable prepaid card will be fine. In the US, you can get a debit card linked to your Paypal account (if you keep money in it), you could try that.
For us canadians, is it better to get the tickets sent to us or pick them up at will call? Pros and cons to either??
(Also all of you guys rock for answering all these questions)
Will call might be your better shot. There was someone on here (sorry forgetting who it was) that finally got their badges after one year. So their 2013 badges arrived the day after PAX 2014.
For us canadians, is it better to get the tickets sent to us or pick them up at will call? Pros and cons to either??
(Also all of you guys rock for answering all these questions)
Will call might be your better shot. There was someone on here (sorry forgetting who it was) that finally got their badges after one year. So their 2013 badges arrived the day after PAX 2014.
I'm buying for a group this year so will call might be the better option rather than risk forgetting the badges at home. Plus the badges get mailed out in random waves so there's a possibility that I might be on a flight to Seattle before my badges even arrive.
Yeah will call is looking like the way to go.
With pax east over, the roller coaster of waiting for tickets to go on sale is just starting for some.Last years roller coaster started in this thread and then went to this thread , if you have the time you might want to check it out, it was a fun,painful and long ride. I hope this years roller coaster isn't as long
For us canadians, is it better to get the tickets sent to us or pick them up at will call? Pros and cons to either??
(Also all of you guys rock for answering all these questions)
Speaking as a Canadian who's been to this rodeo a bunch of times before, don't do will call. My group did it the first couple of years, but it eventually turned into at least an hour of waiting, so we haven't done it since. It's worth the international shipping to know that you have badges in hand before you leave.
My strategy is to put the badges in my PAX day bag as soon as they get here. That way I know I'm not going to forget them unless something goes terribly wrong.
for international shipping is it just like one standard fee or is there an express option and junk? How much does shipping kinda run. Im in Alberta if that helps/you know
I didn't even realize we (canadians) had the option to do will call I thought we had to have them shipped out. Saying that if you are unlucky and something happens to your pax badges in the mail are you allowed to get in to Pax or is there someone / something that happens (ie they see you legit purchased them etc) or are you SoL?
as for the last year thread I thought we maxed one out on top of the 25 page one, could be wrong though.
anyways, hope everyone who wants to go gets in!
Oh my goodness
Oh my Dayum
Oh my goodness
They goin' Ham
If you do not receive your badges before you have to leave for PAX, email [email protected] to get sorted out. That's obviously waaaaaay out from now though, considering nobody even has badges ordered
for international shipping is it just like one standard fee or is there an express option and junk? How much does shipping kinda run. Im in Alberta if that helps/you know
IIRC, there is just one international shipping option, and it is kind of pricey, but it is tracked. They used DHL or FedEx last year (I think that they have used both in past), but the package is not signature guaranteed, so they will drop it at your door if no one is home. Make sure to plan accordingly. I was away for the weekend a few years ago when badges came, so they would have sat there for a couple of days. (Fortunately my in-laws were feeding the cats, so brought it in for us).
for international shipping is it just like one standard fee or is there an express option and junk? How much does shipping kinda run. Im in Alberta if that helps/you know
Forgot to mention, according to my spreadsheets, shipping to BC was US$25 per package in 2013 and US$27 last year. It will probably go up again.
For us canadians, is it better to get the tickets sent to us or pick them up at will call? Pros and cons to either??
(Also all of you guys rock for answering all these questions)
Speaking as a Canadian who's been to this rodeo a bunch of times before, don't do will call. My group did it the first couple of years, but it eventually turned into at least an hour of waiting, so we haven't done it since. It's worth the international shipping to know that you have badges in hand before you leave.
My strategy is to put the badges in my PAX day bag as soon as they get here. That way I know I'm not going to forget them unless something goes terribly wrong.
Perhaps this is a difference in strategy, but I disagree completely.
I've been to PAX Prime since 08, and I've done will call every time with the exception of 09 where I had a media badge.
Will Call is open for a ton of hours, and I think the busiest it's ever been for me was about a 35 minute wait. If you are a lunatic and go right when it opens then yes you'll wait longer because the hype is real. In the past I've quite literally walked up to the window, got my badges, and walked away. Nobody in the line at all.
I prefer to know that my badges are there for pickup, as opposed to hoping they ship in time for me to leave with them. In the event they dont show up now you are dealing with getting that sorted out, as opposed to waiting maybe an hour in line (as you said)?
So I turned my page monitor back on today. Set it to check every hour instead of 30 seconds for changes on the pax pages. Anyone else starting up their tools again?
So I turned my page monitor back on today. Set it to check every hour instead of 30 seconds for changes on the pax pages. Anyone else starting up their tools again?
This year I'm strictly helping friends get tickets and hotel. I have to attend a wedding instead of PAX. #sadpanda
So I turned my page monitor back on today. Set it to check every hour instead of 30 seconds for changes on the pax pages. Anyone else starting up their tools again?
This year I'm strictly helping friends get tickets and hotel. I have to attend a wedding instead of PAX. #sadpanda
We need a sad panda icon on here. Sorry you can't go this year.
♥ Prime '12, '13, '14, '15, '19 ..♥ East '12
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I3izzyNonofficial member of the F5 brigadeFG, ORRegistered Userregular
So I turned my page monitor back on today. Set it to check every hour instead of 30 seconds for changes on the pax pages. Anyone else starting up their tools again?
No need for me to start the page monitor yet. We will should see news about PAX DEV go up first. Besides they are all still recovering from PAX east. I will give it a week or two till I start mine up again.
No need for me to start the page monitor yet. We will should see news about PAX DEV go up first. Besides they are all still recovering from PAX east. I will give it a week or two till I start mine up again.
Sound advice. I figured the recovery would be a little while yet. Don't want to get into my F5 panic mode just yet.
Only a bit longer until the great F5ing of 2015. Last year I stalked the page everyday. The one day I decided to relax on my F5ing they went on sale. Thankfully I was able to snag tickets. I'm ready for this year.... I think.... First day of PAX will be my Birthday so I am beyond excited for this year!
I think there was likely a minute or two of lag time (which theoretically could hurt your chances, I guess), but I thought setting up twitter to send a text alert whenever @official_pax tweeted something, once PAX East was over, worked well for me last year. Generally, the only time that account gets "spammy" is during a PAX event, hence waiting 'till PAX East is over (which it is).
Directions for setting up text alerts for a specific twitter account can be found halfway down this page:
So I turned my page monitor back on today. Set it to check every hour instead of 30 seconds for changes on the pax pages. Anyone else starting up their tools again?
Not yet starting anything up yet, but reworking my "check showclix constantly and call my desk at work" tool to work with Prime. If we see anything before at least another few weeks (maybe more considering how early PAX East was this year), I would be INCREDIBLY surprised. Luckily I only need to grab 1 or 2 badges this time instead of 10.
This will be my first PAX and I too live in Canada. I'm in Whitehorse Yukon and I am prepared to camp the PAX site until badges go on sale but my huge fear is that since I'm in a small town in Northern Canada, that I won't receive my badges in time. I have not seen the checkout page for purchasing badges is there like a faster shipping option available? Also, what is the "will call" option you guys have been talking about? Thanks
This will be my first PAX and I too live in Canada. I'm in Whitehorse Yukon and I am prepared to camp the PAX site until badges go on sale but my huge fear is that since I'm in a small town in Northern Canada, that I won't receive my badges in time. I have not seen the checkout page for purchasing badges is there like a faster shipping option available? Also, what is the "will call" option you guys have been talking about? Thanks
I was in Small Town Alberta, not as remote obviously but they got here WAY in advance...like 3 weeks. I doubt you'll have a problem.
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If you want all four days (usually as four single day badges, because 4-day combined badges vanish nearly instantly) or a single-day Saturday badge, you will probably need to be on the purchase site within at most 30 seconds of the tweet going out - maybe faster since it seems to get worse every year!
I can't confirm personally how quickly you needed to jump for 4-day combined badges last year, but probably within a few seconds. Maybe someone on the forum can clarify if they actually made it in before the 4-days sold out!!
I have successfully bought badges online during the actual sale every year since 2007, but I have not been able to buy 4-days either of the past two years. That would mean they probably sold out in less than five minutes.
SE++ Forum Battle Archive
Congrats man! We actually spent the year of our first anniversary going to different gaming conventions with PAX East being the first one. Best idea ever. You guys will have a blast.
Actually, having both open is ideal for ticket buying - for some reason, hotels went on sale on mobile for East 2014 BEFORE the indicated time. There are two different queues for tickets and they move at different paces. I was on my phone while my boyfriend was online and I was able to purchase my ticket before him because the mobile line was shorter. Then again, you have to use that itsy bitsy screen so... trade offs
But yeah, you should be totally fine that way. On iphones, you can turn websites into icons so I dragged the PAX Prime homepage to my first row of buttons for ease of access. Have your hotel wishlist in a note in your phone and you'll be 100% for the mad rush!
thanks! we live in michigan and go to a lot of local and semi local conventions already but its more like a drive there for one day then drive home. this will be the first time we ever get a hotel and stay right by the convention to take in all that it has to offer. at least it will be the first time if we can manage to get the tickets. its just getting really stressful with the wedding planning and now needing to camp the website in the hopes of getting the tickets while having no clue what we want to do if we fail. if i can get them ill be walking on cloud 9 for weeks!
So you need to also know which hotel you want and get it and the plane, I assume, at that time too? I thought you did the hotels later.
Thanks for the reassurance. Hopefully they don't go on sale Wednesday because I realized I'd be in a Test. That would be an interesting conversation: "Sir can I stop the test to buy a ticket on my phone?...I know, but I promise I'm not cheating..." Also I'm apparently more worried about buying a ticket than a test..priorities seem in the right place.
Hotel link typically goes live at the exact same time as tickets.
Get your tickets first (get in queue fast etc).
Then do the hotels while you wait for queue to pop because they go just as quickly for close locations (Hyatt and Sheraton).
Okay, I'm sorry and I know this is probably a really elementary thing, but what is "queue to pop?"
Because my only experience with this is from PAX South which was: Go to page, Buy Tickets, Done. It was fairly quick and painless.
Edit: Another question, if anyone is familiar with Samsung Androids, does switching pages in it stop applications, meaning if I was queued for tickets and then switched to another page, via adding a new page in the mobile browser would I be removed from the queue? I have noticed that if I'm watching or listening to something on one webpage and switch to another page it stops streaming, playing, etc. And don't want to be booted from the queue trying to book a hotel.
Sorry for all the concerns but I'm the type to worry over every possibility and don't always think of them at the same time.
Three of the last four years, I've gone to PAX Prime, and I - with no scripts or any other tools (not that I won't use them this year), just lurking the site and paying attention to the signs, I have successfully bought passes from the opening sale each time. It is nerve-wracking, but a little research, a little awareness, and a desk job with good internet is all you really need. :biggrin:
So when doing this on my phone I shouldn't try to go to a new page to get the hotel because I might miss the queue pop is what I'm taking from this. Thank you for the information. And out of curiosity, does the actual sales page tell you what tickets are sold out or could you try to buy a 4-day pass only to find it soldout and no longer in the queue?
Just a nerd into anything Nintendo, anime, MCU, Star Wars, and board games/card games.
Also a computer scientist and a streamer.
Payment for tickets is Credit/Debit card only, no Paypal. As long as you get a Visa or Mastercard, any reputable prepaid card will be fine. In the US, you can get a debit card linked to your Paypal account (if you keep money in it), you could try that.
Just a nerd into anything Nintendo, anime, MCU, Star Wars, and board games/card games.
Also a computer scientist and a streamer.
No you will need to pay with a CC online at the time you order.
(Also all of you guys rock for answering all these questions)
Will call might be your better shot. There was someone on here (sorry forgetting who it was) that finally got their badges after one year. So their 2013 badges arrived the day after PAX 2014.
I'm buying for a group this year so will call might be the better option rather than risk forgetting the badges at home. Plus the badges get mailed out in random waves so there's a possibility that I might be on a flight to Seattle before my badges even arrive.
Yeah will call is looking like the way to go.
...made it 25 pages. Oh well. Still, good luck to the F5 Warriors...
Speaking as a Canadian who's been to this rodeo a bunch of times before, don't do will call. My group did it the first couple of years, but it eventually turned into at least an hour of waiting, so we haven't done it since. It's worth the international shipping to know that you have badges in hand before you leave.
My strategy is to put the badges in my PAX day bag as soon as they get here. That way I know I'm not going to forget them unless something goes terribly wrong.
as for the last year thread I thought we maxed one out on top of the 25 page one, could be wrong though.
anyways, hope everyone who wants to go gets in!
Oh my Dayum
Oh my goodness
They goin' Ham
IIRC, there is just one international shipping option, and it is kind of pricey, but it is tracked. They used DHL or FedEx last year (I think that they have used both in past), but the package is not signature guaranteed, so they will drop it at your door if no one is home. Make sure to plan accordingly. I was away for the weekend a few years ago when badges came, so they would have sat there for a couple of days. (Fortunately my in-laws were feeding the cats, so brought it in for us).
Forgot to mention, according to my spreadsheets, shipping to BC was US$25 per package in 2013 and US$27 last year. It will probably go up again.
It's been a few years, so I'm not sure.
*sits down*
Good morning, lurkers! Nice to see you all again!
Perhaps this is a difference in strategy, but I disagree completely.
I've been to PAX Prime since 08, and I've done will call every time with the exception of 09 where I had a media badge.
Will Call is open for a ton of hours, and I think the busiest it's ever been for me was about a 35 minute wait. If you are a lunatic and go right when it opens then yes you'll wait longer because the hype is real. In the past I've quite literally walked up to the window, got my badges, and walked away. Nobody in the line at all.
I prefer to know that my badges are there for pickup, as opposed to hoping they ship in time for me to leave with them. In the event they dont show up now you are dealing with getting that sorted out, as opposed to waiting maybe an hour in line (as you said)?
Difference of opinions I guess.
This year I'm strictly helping friends get tickets and hotel. I have to attend a wedding instead of PAX. #sadpanda
We need a sad panda icon on here. Sorry you can't go this year.
No need for me to start the page monitor yet. We will should see news about PAX DEV go up first. Besides they are all still recovering from PAX east. I will give it a week or two till I start mine up again.
Sound advice. I figured the recovery would be a little while yet. Don't want to get into my F5 panic mode just yet.
Directions for setting up text alerts for a specific twitter account can be found halfway down this page:
https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169920-receiving-sms-notifications-for-tweets-and-interactions
Not yet starting anything up yet, but reworking my "check showclix constantly and call my desk at work" tool to work with Prime. If we see anything before at least another few weeks (maybe more considering how early PAX East was this year), I would be INCREDIBLY surprised. Luckily I only need to grab 1 or 2 badges this time instead of 10.
I was in Small Town Alberta, not as remote obviously but they got here WAY in advance...like 3 weeks. I doubt you'll have a problem.