There is no doubt, San Diego Comic-Con is only getting more popular. Almost daily, we get asked by a number of hopefuls new to the scene how they can get tickets to the annual geek pilgrimage, or what it is about SDCC which makes us love it so much.

As always, the official Comic-Con International website should be your first stop for the latest information on announcements, policies and important dates regarding the convention. But as a service to our new and regular readers, we decided to create a FAQ with answers to some of our most-asked questions.

If there are other questions you would like us to add to the FAQ, please let us know!

Last Updated: December 16, 2019

1. What is San Diego Comic-Con

[UPDATED] 2. When is San Diego Comic-Con?

[UPDATED] 3. What exactly is Preview Night?

[UPDATED] 4. How much does it cost to attend San Diego Comic-Con?

[UPDATED] 5. How do I get tickets to San Diego Comic-Con?

6. How many tickets are available?

[UPDATED] 7. How many tickets can I purchase?

[UPDATED] 8. What’s there to do at San Diego Comic-Con?

9. How do I know what the schedule at San Diego Comic-Con is?

10. Do I need tickets to experience everything at San Diego Comic-Con?

[UPDATED] 11. How do I pick up my tickets for San Diego Comic-Con?

[UPDATED] 12. What if I buy a ticket and decide I can’t/don’t want to go?

[UPDATED] 13. Where should I stay at San Diego Comic-Con?

[UPDATED] 14. How do I get to San Diego Comic-Con?

15. What is this about an expansion to the Convention Center?

16. Is San Diego Comic-Con All-Ages?

[UPDATED] 17. How can I get a free ticket to San Diego Comic-Con?

[UPDATED] 18. What are these “exclusives” I keep hearing about?

1. What is San Diego Comic-Con?

San Diego Comic-Con, commonly abbreviated as “SDCC” (not to be confused with SDCCC, the San Diego Convention Center Corp. which hosts the event) is the biggest “comics” convention in North America (and if you think New York Comic Con is larger, read about the differences in how the two conventions report attendees). We use the term “comics” in quotes because despite the name, SDCC has always been about so much more. Even when it started way back in 1970, the convention was devoted to comics, movies, and fantasy literature — its first logo even had a comic book, a movie projector, and an icon to represent books (or fantasy literature). Since then, it has grown to be a pop culture juggernaut, spanning even further to also encompass television, video games, horror, anime, and much more. Since the beginning of the decade, it has regularly attracted over 130,000 attendees annually. It is organized by Comic-Con International (CCI), a non-profit organization.

To see how SDCC compares with the other larger North American comics conventions in categories like ticket prices, types of panels and number of vendors, check out our handy infographic.

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2. When is San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

SDCC is held annually in the summer, with its specific dates dictated by the San Diego Convention Center. Typically the convention begins in mid to late-July, but it can and has occurred anytime between late June and early August. The convention spans four days, Thursday through Sunday, plus a Preview Night on Wednesday. The convention center, which houses the exhibit hall and the majority of panel programming, is open on Wednesday’s Preview Night from 6PM-9PM, 9:30AM- 7PM Thursday through Saturday, and 9:30AM-5PM on Sunday; however there are several events outside of the convention that spill out into the surrounding businesses and last until the early morning hours.

The dates for 2020’s San Diego Comic-Con are July 22-26, 2020.

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3. What exactly is Preview Night? [UPDATED]

Although the official start of the convention for the general public is Thursday, the convention actually opens for a limited audience on Wednesday evening, referred to as Preview Night, and is meant to give a smaller crowd a “preview” of what to expect on the exhibit floor. Generally starting at 6PM on Wednesday, Preview Night has grown to also include annual Warner Bros. Television pilot screenings in the convention center’s Ballroom 20, and is the unofficial kickoff to the annual convention.

2020’s Preview Night is on July 22, 2020.

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4. How much does it cost to attend San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

SDCC offers a variety of tickets, or “badges”, depending on your preferred pricepoint and availability. Badge prices for 2020 increased slightly, with adult badges ranging from $69 for a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday badge or $47 for a Sunday badge. All four badges could be purchased for $254 and combined into a four-day badge. Prices for junior attendees (13-17 years old) are roughly half the adult prices, and attendees 12 and under are free with a paying adult.

If you’re interested in attending Preview Night to get an early start on your shopping, it is available only by first purchasing all four of the main daily badges, Thursday through Sunday. If that requirement is met, a Preview Night badge may also be purchased for an additional $50. This meant that in order to get a “Four-day with Preview Night” badge package, you’ll be spending $304 (up from $291 in 2019).

Here’s a handy graphic showing all the prices for 2020:

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5. How do I get tickets to San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

Scoring badges to SDCC is one of the most challenging, and controversial, tasks in one’s quest to attend the convention. For first-timers, it can also be a little confusing.

First, the basics. If you want a shot at purchasing a badge, you first need to create a Member ID. Creating this ID will not only allow you to take part in the badge purchase process, but it will also put you on the official mailing list where announcements regarding purchase dates are made. Simply put, no Member ID, no badge. The Member ID system also closes before badge sales without prior notification, so if you’re even considering attending the convention, create a Member ID before it’s too late.

Now, in regards to the purchase process itself, there are typically two sales that occur prior to every year’s SDCC: Returning Registration (formerly Preregistration) and Open Online Registration. A third badge sale, Badge Resales, occurred prior to 2014 – but it was done away with in 2014, and is unlikely to occur again anytime soon due to low numbers of returned badges.

Returning Registration is for previous year’s badge holders who want to attend SDCC the following year. These used to be made available onsite during the convention, but high demand created a frenzy with those wanting to return and forced CCI to move these sales online.

The 2020 Returning Registration was held on Saturday, October 12. Only general attendees – those who did not attend as volunteers, press, professional, staff, or any other type of special attendee – are eligible for this sale. Also new this year, you don’t need to validate your badge to be eligible for Returning Registration.

New for 2016, badges were equipped with RFID technology and physically mailed to US attendees to the address in your Member ID. For 2020, you have until May 13, 2020 to confirm your address with the USPS via the Comic-Con Member ID page. If the badge is lost or stolen, Comic-Con International can “deactivate” it remotely using the RFID, and issue you a new badge – however, you’ll need to pick up that new badge on-site. International attendees, and children under the age of 12 (who can register for free during the actual event), will still need to pick up their badges on-site in the Sails Pavilion.

Open Online Registration is for everyone who has a Member ID. That is, for new attendees as well as returning attendees who were not able to purchase a badge (or all the desired badge days) during Returning Registration. This is where the bulk of the tickets are made available to the public. For the past two years, badges during Open Online Registration have sold out in about 60 minutes. The 2020 Open Online Registration occurred on Saturday, November 16, 2020.

In both badge sales, only single day badges are offered, albeit in limited quantities. For anyone who purchases four single day badges (or four single plus a preview night), you will receive a single combined badge during on-site registration.

CCI uses a third-party ticket vendor, EXPO Logic (who acquired former operator EPIC Registration) for badge sale processing and fulfillment. Everyone who qualifies for Returning Registration or Open Registration receives a personal Registration Code, which can only be used on one device. The waiting room opens one hour prior to the actual sale, and when the time comes, the system sorts everyone in a randomized order to purchase their badges. You then have 15 minutes to complete the purchase, or your session will expire. Also, everyone is allowed to purchase badges for two additional qualified individuals – meaning, they qualify for registration on their own and have valid Member IDs – or three individuals total if someone in front of the line already purchased their badge for them.

Badge Resales are not guaranteed to happen, and no badge resale occurred since 2013 due to a lack of returned and cancelled badges. For those who do require a refund, a 10% badge processing fee will be kept by CCI.

There are other ways you can attend SDCC. You can get a complimentary (i.e., free) professional badge if you can qualify as a professional. From CCI’s website, this includes individuals “who are active in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, digital/webcomics, comic strips and animation, as well as genre-related illustrators and science fiction/fantasy authors and book editors. This includes: writers, artists, pencillers, inkers, colorists, letterers, and animators. Qualifying work must be provided to indicate a professional’s involvement in these projects.”. Librarians and educators are also welcome to apply. Applications for professional badges for SDCC 2020 were due by August 16, 2020 — and approved professionals have until May 6, 2020 to apply.

If you work for a website or media outlet, which can be anything from a blog all the way up to an anchor on television network news, you can try to be approved as press in order to get a complimentary press badge. To apply as press, applicants fill out the form on CCI’s website. Press applications for SDCC 2020 were due by November 1, 2020.

One of the more popular ways to get a free ticket is to become a San Diego Comic-Con volunteer. Volunteering has proven a very popular way for fans to attend the convention and help contribute to making it an awesome event for all of us. As a nonprofit organization, CCI depends on the contributions of its volunteer corps, over 3,000 in 2013. Per CCI’s website, if you are chosen to be a volunteer, you can pick any day for your 3-hour assignment, and in return you get a complimentary badge for that day! The best part is that you are free to enjoy the show when you’re not on assignment, and you get your own exclusive Comic-Con volunteer t-shirt. Volunteers are legacy, in that if you were one last year you get first dibs for the next year.

Volunteer registration for 2020 is full.

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6. How many tickets are available?

This is hard to say, because CCI does not publish the number available for each badge type. But as we stated previously, the general attendance numbers state there are 130,000 attendees (badge holders) annually.

Wondering how difficult it really is to score a badge to Comic-Con? We offer some rough estimates in this handy infographic.

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7. How many tickets can I purchase? [UPDATED]

The 2020 Returning Registration policy allows you to purchase up to three badges, as long as everyone you are purchasing for had a valid Member ID and is eligible for Returning Registration on their own. In Open Registration, you could also purchase up to three badges, but users only need a valid Member ID (and to not have already purchased all four days with Preview Night in Returning Registration).

The policy in the past has always been flexible in that, if someone was ahead in the queue and was able to purchase a badge for you, you could use your spot in line to purchase three badges for people other than yourself (again, so long as each person is eligible on their own). So, a couple of different combinations were allowed – either yourself and two others, or three people other than yourself. Either way, the buddy system is your friend.

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8. What’s there to do at San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

The better question is, what’s there not to do at San Diego Comic-Con? If you enjoy anything entertainment-related – games, movies, television, even nightlife – you’ll find plenty of it in San Diego during SDCC.

Officially, San Diego Comic-Con offers thousands of hours of programming, otherwise known as “panels”. These panels take place in the many rooms inside, and now in venues surrounding, the San Diego Convention Center, and get the most media attention due to the many celebrity appearances and newsworthy surprise announcements that take place during them.

Also inside the Convention Center is the Exhibit Hall, hosting nearly a half million square feet of space housing booths from big Hollywood studios all the way down to mom-and pop comic vendors. For 2019, over 730 exhibitors were listed as being in attendance. Many of the big exhibitors sell exclusive merchandise you can’t find anywhere else but at SDCC, hand out free swag to attendees, host celebrity signings, and many other events which attract a crowd.

You can find a copy of the 2019 Exhibit Hall map by clicking here.

CCI also hosts other events at and around the Convention Center during SDCC, such as the annual Eisner awards, the Independent Film Festival, the San Diego International Children’s Film Festival, the annual Masquerade, and more.

In addition, many companies will host their own events in the areas surrounding the Convention Center, commonly referred to as “offsite events“, which take place during and after Convention Center hours, making SDCC an event that goes all-day and all-night.

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9. How do I know what the schedule at San Diego Comic-Con is?

The official San Diego Comic-Con programming schedule is announced exactly two weeks before SDCC by CCI (with Wednesday and Thursday events being announced two Thursdays prior, Friday events announced two Fridays prior, etc.). Closer to the event, CCI will also post an Autograph schedule, for various signings held by CCI (note that this is not ALL autographs, as individual booths mostly run their own autograph sessions, and each booth has their own procedures). This means that when you purchase a ticket, you won’t know exactly what the schedule is going to be, or who is going to attend.

In addition to the official schedule, many of the exhibitor booths in the convention center may have their own autograph or giveaway schedules. That information is released by each individual company, and the best way to keep track of those announcements is by following us, The San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog, because no one else is crazy enough to try to track all the different companies.

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10. Do I need tickets to experience everything at San Diego Comic-Con?

In the past, folks generally did not require a badge to participate in an offsite event. But in recent years, it seems even SDCC outgrew the convention center and its normal surrounding venues and started occupying other hotels and spaces in the area, such as the nearby Horton Grand Theatre, both of which required a SDCC badge for entry.

Although there were still plenty of awesome events in the neighboring businesses and venues that were open to the public last year, the trend seems like events where SDCC badges are required will continue for the foreseeable future.

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11. How do I pick up my tickets for San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

Let’s say you are one of the lucky ones, and you were able to score a badge for San Diego Comic-Con (congratulations, by the way). What next?

Beginning in 2016, Comic-Con International now mails badges individually to U.S. attendees, to the address listed in your Member ID (unlike last year, you won’t need to enter a mailing address during check-out). You have until May 13, 2020 to confirm the address in your Member ID is correct.

The one exception to this is for those who entered an international mailing address Comic-Con International won’t be mailing badges internationally, so those impacted attendees will either need to pick them up on-site in the Sails Pavilion or to enter a domestic shipping address. Children 12 and under will also still register for free on-site, as always.

On-site badge pick-up will take place at the convention center for 2020. Badge hours for 2020 haven’t been announced yet, but here were the 2019 hours:

All attendees will also pick up lanyards, souvenir programs, the WB bag, and more in Sails Pavilion.

Badges are equipped with RFID technology. That means that if your badge is lost or stolen, you can inform CCI, and they will deactivate the badge remotely. From there, they’ll issue you a new badge – which you can pick up onsite. They won’t mail the badge twice.

RFID scanners are designated with a sign, and located at entrances and exits to the convention center, Hall H, and the Indigo Ballroom. You need to tap both in and out.

New for 2018, Comic-Con International and the San Diego Convention Center have expanded the badge-required areas in front of the convention center. If this continues, you’ll need your badge in order to walk along the sidewalk in front of the convention center. Harbor Drive in front of the convention center will be closed to through traffic and will be where the shuttle buses now pick up and drop off. The RFID scanners haven’t moved, but there will be security personnel present “eyeballing” pedestrians to make sure they have a badge. Be prepared to be stopped by them if you’re picking up your badge onsite, so have your paperwork ready.

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12. What if I buy a ticket and decide I can’t/don’t want to go? [UPDATED]

You might be asking, why would anyone want to go through all this trouble to score one of the toughest tickets in town, only to decide not to go? We’d joke, but sometimes circumstances are no laughing matter — a change in financial status, an illness or death in the family, and other personal situations take precedence. If you find yourself in a circumstance where you need to return your badge, CCI offers a Cancellation/Return policy where you can submit your refund request online. There is, however, a deadline when refund requests need to be submitted by — for 2020, this is May 13, 2020. There is also a 10% handling fee that will be applied to all refunds made by the deadline.

It is important to note that SDCC badges are non-transferrable, meaning you can’t give yours to a friend if you can’t use it; or worse, if you try to sell your badge to someone else. If you get caught, you may be banned from the convention for life.

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13. Where should I stay at San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

The hardest part of Comic-Con may be getting a ticket to attend at all, but securing a hotel is a very close second. CCI books a large block of rooms at hotels (62,922 “hotel room nights” to be exact, according to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation) not only in the Gaslamp (the downtown area that’s closest to the convention center), but also as far out as Mission Valley and other areas around San Diego, at a reduced con rate — both with pros and cons depending on your needs. They then offer these hotels to attendees in two different hotel sales — the first of which is called the Early Bird Hotel Sale, which launched in January 2019 for the 2019 con. In years past, this hasn’t included any hotels in the Gaslamp, only hotels located further out.

For 2019, the Early Bird Hotel Sale started on January 9, 2019 and was available through April 20.

This is followed by the General Comic-Con Hotel Reservations (or what we (un)affectionally dub, Hotelpocalypse). CCI uses a third-party vendor, onPeak (formerly Travel Planners), to run the reservations.

The process changed for 2017. Now, you are directed to enter a waiting room, similar to badge sales. You have one hour in which to enter the waiting room. Following that, you are randomly selected to enter the form (which was similar to previous years) to fill out a list of your preferences and requirements (and we recommend checking out our guide to familiarize yourself with the process). The questionnaire ranges from number of guests in the room, nights you’ll be staying, to hotel preference. You rank exactly six hotels in the order you want them, for both downtown and Mission Valley/airport areas — though you don’t have to choose hotels in both areas. In the event that none of your hotel preferences wind up being available, you can choose if you wanted onPeak to slot you in the closest available hotel, or if you were only willing to accept hotels on your list. Hotel submissions are processed in the order of the timestamp in which you gained access to the form (supposedly, anyway).

The General Hotel Sale took place on April 11, 2019. You can find details about that sale, as well as 2019 hotel prices, here.

If you aren’t lucky enough to secure the hotel you want through onPeak, all hope is not lost. Almost every hotel still has rooms available at non-convention rates, though they’re significantly higher. You can also try other routes, like searching for roommates through social media, or there’s always camping out on the sidewalk (really, some people do this). A few of the hotel rooms also open up a few weeks later, as people release rooms.

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14. How do I get to San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

Once you’re in San Diego, there are several different ways to make it to the actual convention. The city offers great public transportation, which includes the MTS Trolley. There’s a stop on the Green Line located directly across from the convention center (Stop: Convention Center Station), so if you’re staying at a hotel near a trolley stop, this is a great option for getting around. However, if you’re trying to get to the convention center from the airport, there is no trolley station there — instead, you’ll have to use the bus, or, our recommendation, book a Super Shuttle, of which you can find annual discount codes online.

For those driving to SDCC, CCI offers paid parking at various lots around the convention center. They pre-sell parking passes through a third party vendor called Ace Parking, with prices ranging from $25-$40 depending on how close the lot is to the convention. This is much cheaper than what rates at non-Ace lots will be during the con, and you won’t have to worry about your lot being full.

Parking passes have moved to a lottery-based system. Attendees who were selected to buy parking were put into Groups, with set time frames to purchase. All remaining inventory went back on sale to the general public on June 9, 2019.

Perhaps the easiest way to get around during Comic-Con, though, is by using the Comic-Con Shuttle Service. Starting on Wednesday afternoon, the shuttle buses offer over 40 stops all over the city including downtown, Mission Valley, and hotels near the airport on Shelter Island and Harbor Island. They run most hours a day all the way through Sunday evening. Lines for the bus can get long, though, so you may have to wait — but no experience at SDCC is complete without a line.

You can find a copy of the 2019 Shuttle Service schedule by clicking here.

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15. What is this about an expansion to the Convention Center?

The city of San Diego had planned an expansion project of the Convention Center, but the project has recently hit some major setbacks (even as it’s gotten some good news as well).

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16. Is San Diego Comic-Con All-Ages?

Yes it is. As stated above, attendees 12 and under are free with a paying adult, and don’t require a member ID. Accompanying adults just need to register their child at the badge pick-up desk onsite.

Comic-Con International prides itself with booking family programming on the schedule, as well as family-friendly booths on the exhibit floor like Hasbro, LEGO and Nintendo. And Sundays are generally regarded as Family Day, with several panels and events tailored for the kids. For example, 2017’s Sunday family panels included panels like Marvel’s Spider-Man, and much more.

Granted, some of the programming, booths and cosplay can be a little, well, mature, so for the times when you want to go see the cast of The Walking Dead but don’t want to take Junior, Comic-Con International also offers on-site day care for children six months through 12 years of age. For a fee, the day care staff keeps kids entertained with snacks and activities while the parents are free to attend the more “adult” festivities.

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17. How can I get a free ticket to San Diego Comic-Con? [UPDATED]

Buying a ticket to SDCC might be a near-impossible task, but there are also a few ways you can attend for free. You can get a complimentary (i.e., free) professional badge if you can qualify. Applications for both Professionals for 2020 is now over.

If you work for a website or media outlet, which can be anything from a blog all the way up to an anchor on television network news, you can qualify for a complimentary press badge, but only if your application is accepted by CCI. To apply as press, you can find more information on CCI’s website about how to apply — though the deadline for 2020 was November 1, 2019.

One of the more popular ways to get a free ticket is to become a San Diego Comic-Con volunteer. Volunteering has proven a very popular way for fans to attend the convention and help contribute to making it an awesome event for all of us. As a nonprofit organization, CCI depends on the contributions of its volunteer corps, over 3,000 in 2013. Per CCI’s website, if you are chosen to be a volunteer, you can pick any day for your 3-hour assignment, and in return you get a complimentary badge for that day! The best part is that you are free enjoy the show when you’re not on assignment, and you get your own exclusive Comic-Con volunteer t-shirt. Volunteers are legacy, in that if you were one last year you get first dibs for the next year.

Volunteer Registration for 2020 is full.

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18. What are these “exclusives” I keep hearing about? [UPDATED]

Many companies – whether it be comics, toys or collectibles – manufacture and sell merchandise you can buy only at San Diego Comic-Con. These are commonly referred to as “exclusives”. They are generally limited in nature, meaning only a small quantity are produced, and can range from comic variants (issues with different covers from what was available in retail), to figures with variant coloring, to molds and statues which aren’t available anywhere else. The packaging of these items — the boxes these exclusives come in — can be an “exclusive” of their own, with new artwork or special display and window packaging than what is available at retail.

There’s a bit of a debate as to what constitutes an “exclusive” nowadays, as many are available online as a pre-order before Comic-Con, but also available to those who aren’t even attending SDCC at all. These are commonly referred to as “convention exclusives”, a general term used for product available in conjunction with Comic-Con but also available to the general public, or sometimes available at San Diego Comic-Con and other conventions, but not to the general public. Confused already? The main thing that signifies something as an “exclusive” product, however, is generally that no matter which retail model it follows, it still retains its limited nature and special packaging. Some companies also put up remaining quantities online, but only after Comic-Con. This depends on the manufacturer and their policies, which are usually stated when the product is announced.

Exclusives can be purchased at the manufacturer’s booth on the exhibit floor. However, some exclusive companies — including Funko, Hasbro, LEGO, UCC Distributing, and a few others — are part of the “Online Exclusives Portal”. This means that in order to gain access to their inventory, you need to sign up and win an online lottery for select timeslots. Even then, some companies (like Hasbro) do allow non-lottery winners access on either select days or times. You can view 2019 policies by company, and learn more about the Portal, here.

Exclusives are also one of the most popular aspects of the convention, with professional collectors and fans alike scrambling to pick up a limited-issue comic or statue, to display that one-of-a-kind keepsake from their Comic-Con experience.

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For anything else, and to receive continual updates about San Diego Comic-Con 2020, we recommend you follow the San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog via social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Youtube, and on tumblr.

Do you have any other questions? Let us know in the comments!