10 APRIL 2014
Hotel email assignments are going out. Did you get yours? Did your heart leap in your chest and the words HOWARD JOHNSON EXPRESS flash before your eyes before you scrolled down and read your real hotel? Because that's how it went for me. (Didn't get my first choice, Marriott, for which I blame them for making me go back and start both email addresses with a capital letter; however I did land at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, so no complaints.)
If you didn't get your email yet, don't panic. I can't stress this enough: the order of email arrival does not correspond to your likelihood of getting one of your choices. Just accept the weirdness that is CCI email delivery, and stay positive.
If you got your hotel and absolutely hate it: don't lose hope. I'll be posting options for you later today or tomorrow. I would suggest going ahead and making your deposit, which you can get back.
If CCI and Travel Planners were open to crowdsourcing our genius, I know some enterprising nerd mind could invent an app allowing people to swap rooms. Or just invent a better system period. But I do have to give props to CCI for speeding up and calming down this process. After years of technical tsunamis, they have really stepped up their game.
I know the system isn't perfect; I know many of you are disappointed right now. Lotteries are our way of life going forward, and until the convention center expands AND new hotels are built OR the Con moves, this is our lot. But at least we've evolved out of the crashes and freezes that used to slaughter so many of us.
i got my first choice! Doubletree Downtown San Diego
ReplyDeleteOf course you did, you 50 second whiz.
DeleteI'm at bsyside, is that bad?
ReplyDeleteHoliday Inn or Best Western? Neither are bad, although Best Western is considerably closer.
DeleteWOOT! San Diego Marriott Gaslamp! First choice -- I went through the registration process is about 1m 40s-50s.
ReplyDeleteCongrats! To the speedy go the spoils.
DeleteI didn't get an email yesterday April 10. :-(
ReplyDeleteI did have a Hotel Reservations Request email on April 8.
I logged onto the link exactly at 9:00, but it did take me about 6 minutes to complete. I had no idea the whole deal would be over in 14 minutes.
So what now? Will they send me a "Too bad" email? Do I sit tight and wait? They say the hotel reservation system will reopen on April 23. Do you have any thoughts about that?
Sit tight and wait. Emails tend to trickle out, rather than releasing in one swoop. If you've gotten nothing by tomorrow noon, call Travel Planners.
DeleteIf you submitted at 9:06, you probably won't get a downtown hotel, but you could still easily be on the shuttle route. Just wait and see. Once the hotel system reopens on April 23, you'll be able to look at all of the hotels and see exactly what nights they have open, and change your reservation accordingly.