San Diego Comic Con: for some of us it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Though we haven’t even passed Thanksgiving yet, I’m here to remind you to think about July. San Diego Comic Con only has two badge sales each year, and we’re coming up on the second and final sale for San Diego Comic Con 2020: known as Open Registration. In fact, we are exactly 1 week away from logging into the Waiting Room and crossing our fingers for badges; Open Registration is set to take place Saturday November 16th, 2019. This is the sale that anyone with an eligible Member ID can try to get tickets for the show. There are a few key points to remember with how San Diego Comic Con does their ticketing system: everyone 13 or older needs their own Member ID account & each Member ID has to be eligible for the registration on it’s own. If you don’t already have a Member ID account you can Click Here to create one. In order to participate in the upcoming Open Registration you needed to create & confirm your Member ID before 10:30AM PST November 4th, 2019. Not sure if your account is eligible? There’s an easy way to check! Log into your Member ID account, and in the top right corner you want to see “OK CC’20 Attendee Open Reg” written in green. If your Member ID account shows this, congratulations! You get to join in on the Open Registration fun. If you haven’t made a Member ID yet, or your account was made after November 4th – you will have to wait for San Diego Comic Con 2021.

Image Credit: Unofficial SDCC Blog

Open Registration

For San Diego Comic Con 2020, the registration process is basically staying the same as it’s been for the last few years. Roughly 48 hours before the sale you’ll be emailed a unique code along with a link for the Expo Logic Waiting Room. Do not share your code with anyone else; each code is individual and they only good for one entry into the waiting room. If someone uses your code after you’ve already logged in – it will remove you. You can also find your code and link by logging into your Member ID account.

Pro Tip: On Friday November 15th, log into your Member ID account and either print out your code & the waiting room web address, or copy & paste it into a word document. That way Saturday morning you don’t have to stress about finding the email containing that information, or logging into your Member ID for it.

November 16th at 8am PST – the Expo Logic Waiting Room will open and it will remain open until 9am PST. You do not have to jump into the waiting room right at 8am, in fact logging in at 8am vs 8:55am will make no difference when it comes to the sales selection process. So do whatever works for you. If sitting around in the waiting room for an hour will stress you out, wait and log in closer to 9am. If the idea of cutting it close stresses you out, log in at 8am. I always suggest giving yourself a 5 minute window when it comes to logging in, that way if there’s any issues you can figure it out. Because once that waiting room closes at 9am PST – that’s it. If you aren’t in the waiting room before it closes, you will not be able to participate in the sale. After the waiting room closes, their system starts randomly selecting users to get pulled into the Sales Screen. Once you are pulled in, you will have 15 minutes to select your badges and complete the transaction. While in the waiting room – do not refresh your screen! There will be a Yellow Status Bar (YSB) that will keep you updated on when badge inventory is starting to run low. Keep in mind that the sale itself is still a lottery based process, not everyone will get a chance to purchase tickets. 

Each person who gets selected can buy for up to 3 eligible Member ID accounts. You’ll need to have their Member ID and last name in order to add them to the purchase. Remember that payment cannot be split on different cards, so if you’re buying for a friend you’ll have to cover the total cost and figure out getting paid back afterwards. Each badge also will have a $7.50 handling fee added to it, so if you are buying a total of 3, remember to factor that into your overall costs. Here’s a pricing breakdown for San Diego Comic Con 2020.

Image Credit: Comic-Con International

Pro Tip: If you plan to buy for family/friends (or are in a buying group) make sure to verify the spelling of the Member IDs and last names of the individuals you plan to buy for. With only 15 minutes to complete your transaction in the sales screen, you want everything to run as smoothly as possible.

Pro Tip: If you get pulled into a sales screen, take screenshots of EVERYTHING. Seriously, I know it sounds overkill, but just snap a photo of each step you do. Technology isn’t fool proof, mistakes can and DO happen. However; for those who can show they were in a sales screen, what days they had selected, the other Member IDs they were trying to buy for – Comic-Con International is wonderful at helping those individuals to fix the error and get them badges.

As you can see, each day is sold separately, but the only way you can purchase Preview Night is if you purchase Thursday-Sunday. Typically Preview Night sells out first (smallest amount of inventory), followed by Saturday, Friday, Thursday, then Sunday. But fear not, even if you can only get a Sunday badge – there is SO much to do at San Diego Comic Con that doesn’t require a badge.

May the odds be ever in your favor, and may the force be with you this Open Registration! If you have any questions about the Open Registration process, please feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to us on social media! We’d love to help out with any registration jitters!

San Diego Comic Con 2020 will take place at the San Diego Convention Center Wednesday July 22nd through Sunday July 26th, 2020.

What are your Registration day must haves? For me, it’s a big cup of coffee and my favorite band playing in the background! 

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