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How soon do you guys book hotels?
My husband and I are in the Seattle area, but just far away enough that it's a hassle to get home. It also means we can't stay late, or get drinks after. I realized this year I was missing so much of what PAX has to offer by going home at 7:00! So we're contemplating getting a hotel just Sunday-Monday (maybe Saturday-Monday?), going to panels, drinking, and then checking out Monday and going to PAX. The great thing about booking through Booking.com is that I can still cancel our reservation until August 29, 2019, and I won't need to actually pay until we check in.
The reason I'm asking now is because I'm a little afraid that the hotels will book up by the time the badges are on sale, so I want to try and book as early as possible to avoid anxiety and stress. I noticed that some places, like the Hilton, said they were already booked for August 31 - September 2. Would this October be too early, or too late to book a hotel? I am 95% sure we will get badges (my family of 5 has a great communication system down after 7 years of getting badges), so that's not really a concern of mine.
The reason I'm asking now is because I'm a little afraid that the hotels will book up by the time the badges are on sale, so I want to try and book as early as possible to avoid anxiety and stress. I noticed that some places, like the Hilton, said they were already booked for August 31 - September 2. Would this October be too early, or too late to book a hotel? I am 95% sure we will get badges (my family of 5 has a great communication system down after 7 years of getting badges), so that's not really a concern of mine.
[ ] Badges [ ] time off [ ] cosplay
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If you are planning on booking entirely outside the pax hotel system, as long as it's refundable I would book as soon as possible. That's what I tend to do for PAX South, where I book at a hotel that isn't in the PAX block of hotels.
This is super helpful, thank you! I knew that PAX gave PAX-goers special rates at the time badges are released, but I don't think I can handle that kind of pressure, between buying the badges and getting a hotel
I managed to find a pretty good rate for a nearby hotel just using Booking.com, so I'm thinking I'll jump on that sooner rather than later. I just especially want to make sure that I can cancel it with no fees, because there is another thread saying that the PAX weekend could be moved around.
Edit: On this note, does anyone have any sites they recommend? The more I look into Booking.com, the more angry people I see because they couldn't cancel their reservation without fees, despite being told there would not be any
[ ] Badges [ ] time off [ ] cosplay
I was thinking about doing this for one particular hotel, but for some reason it says it's "booked" that entire weekend. However, when I go onto Expedia, it's available. I think I'll just check with the hotel about their cancellation policy, and call Expedia.
[ ] Badges [ ] time off [ ] cosplay
For events like this, I usually book directly with the hotel way ahead of time but also check 3d party sites few days ahead in case I can find cheaper rates (I usually don't).
Tuesday: I decide to book a hotel for next year, and start looking around.
Wednesday: looking through Booking.com/Expedia, I find that the Hotel Theodore was around $207/night for Saturday-Monday of next year's PAX (assuming it's still Labor Day). But, I hesitate to book it right away because 1) I need to clear some money on my credit card and 2) needed to speak to my husband about which days exactly.
Thursday (yesterday): Now that we have the dates set, I figure I can try to book the hotel room. BIG NOPE. The room in Hotel Theodore have jumped $150+ overnight per night to $365. So I called them, and they quoted me $419 a night for that weekend! So a $200/night jump. I passed up that chance immediately.
Friday (today): I checked again, and the hotel is still $365/night for that weekend on Expedia, so my assumption is that the hotel is still charging $419/night through the phone.
I've read that hotel prices increase and decrease as the week goes, so I'm going to check back on Sunday and see if they've lowered. If not, I'll just have to book the hotel when we get our badges. I'm just kicking myself though; if I had booked the hotel on Wednesday, I could have avoided all of this additional stress.
edited for clarity
[ ] Badges [ ] time off [ ] cosplay
Same thing – I book directly with some hotel as soon as the rooms become available (generally just under a year in advance) and just make sure I have a refundable rate, so at least that way I have something reserved if all else fails. As the event gets closer, I check hotel rates every so often to see if I can get a better rate/better hotel, and if so, I make a new reservation and cancel the old one, and I've usually been able to get it down to a rate withing spitting distance of the OnPeak rates by the time the hotel blocks go up.
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