San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Preregistration Tips

by Violet

As previously reported, Preregistration for San Diego Comic-Con 2016 will take place tomorrow, November 14, at 9:00am PT! Read on for some tips that will help get you through the sale.

1. Confirm eligibility.  Preregistration is only open to those who purchased SDCC 2015 badges, attended SDCC 2015, and verified their SDCC 2015 badge ID number by the September 15 deadline. If you are eligible, when you log into your Comic-Con Member ID account, you will see the green “OK CCI’16 Attendee Prereg” check mark appear in the upper right corner, and within the “Registration Info” tab. If this does not apply to you, then you will have to wait until Open Online Registration, which will take place in early 2016. If you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for a Comic-Con Member ID, as you’ll need this in order to participate in the Open Online Registration!
2. Test your browser settings. To ensure that your browser settings are compatible with the EPIC waiting room, click here.
3. Turn off your computer’s power save mode. While in the waiting room, you might be sitting at your computer for a significant amount of time without doing anything. You don’t want your computer to power down during this time!
4. Work as a team and work out the details ahead of time. You can buy badges for up to three people, which includes yourself and two other people, but only if they are also eligible for Preregistration. You’ll have a better chance of getting a badge if you team up with other people. Make sure you have everyone’s last names and Member IDs. If it so happens that someone else buys your badge before you get into a registration session, you will be able to purchase for three other eligible attendees.
5. Free up funds on your credit card. You can only use one credit card to make the purchase, so make sure you have enough money available to cover the cost of all the badges you’ll be buying. See badge pricing below:
   
6. Locate your registration code and the link to the waiting room, and enter the waiting room sometime after 8:00am and before 9:00am PT. You will need your registration code in order to enter the waiting room. Your code and the link can be found in the two emails that Comic-Con International sent to you earlier this week (check your spam folder if you can’t find them!), or you can also log into your CCI Member ID account and click on the “Registration Info” tab. Arriving early to the waiting room does not give you priority over those that arrive later, as it is all random. Just make sure you log in before 9:00am PT, or else you will be not be able to enter the waiting room. Note that your personal registration code will only authorize one device and one browser.
7. Be ready to wait, but also ready to spring into action.  You could be sitting at your computer for an hour or more, staring at the spinning blue circle, waiting for your turn at a registration session. Therefore, you might want to use the restroom before 9:00am, and have any food or beverages already at your computer so you don’t have to get up while the sale is going on. You could be selected for a registration session at any time, for which you will have 15 minutes to complete the transaction.
8. DO NOT REFRESH. DO NOT USE THE “BACK” BUTTON. This could severely interrupt your registration session and cause you to lose out on your badges.
9. Take screen shots!  If you make it into a registration session, take screen shots of your progress in case something goes wrong. A couple of years ago, we were in the process of buying 4-day + Preview Night badges, when we encountered a white screen. We sent screen shots to CCI, proving that we had been in a registration session, and they took care of us.
10. Badges will be mailed, but only to a United States address. CCI is using RFID technology for SDCC 2016 badges, so they will be mailing out badges instead of requiring you to pick them up on site. However, this only applies if the address that you enter during purchase is a United States address. All of the badges that you purchase during your registration session will be sent to the same address. If you are an international attendee and enter an international address, you will have to pick up your badge on site. But if you are an international attendee and have a U.S. address that you can send it to, you may enter that U.S. address and have your badges mailed there.
11. Don’t despair. Not everyone who participates in Preregistration will be able to purchase a badge. However, if you find yourself shut out of Preregistration, or if you don’t get all of the days that you wanted, you will have another chance to purchase SDCC 2016 badges in Open Online Registration, which will take place in early 2016.
12. Review Comic-Con’s website and their Toucan Blog for more information.  Comic-Con’s website has more information about 2016 Preregistration, and they have put together a detailed walk through of the Preregistration process, complete with visuals. Also be sure to check out the Toucan Blog for Preregistration FAQs and for tech information.

Will you be participating in San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Preregistration? Do you have any tips to add? Let us know in the comments below!