Surviving San Diego Comic-Con on a Budget [Updated]

Right off the bat, I want to say I love San Diego Comic-Con. What I don’t love however is what it does to my wallet.

Living in Phoenix, there really isn’t much I can do to avoid the cost of travel and lodging when it comes to Comic-Con. However, once I’m there and enjoying the con and everything the city has to offer, there are some decisions that can be made to help with the cost of the trip, and to keep my budget in check.

It seems everything in life is getting more expensive and hopefully some of these tips and suggestions can help with your bank account too.

Pre-Convention Planning

Nothing is worse that checking into your hotel and realizing your forgot your phone charger or the mouth guard that prevents you from grinding your teeth in your sleep. That’s $15 – $20 subtracted from your budget (that’s the cost of a cool pin or two!). Do yourself a favor and have a checklist to ensure you avoid these situations or you could bookmark our packing list and check off the items as you pack. If you’re real into organization, I know you’ll print it off! Don’t forget the sunscreen!

Getting Around

The most obvious solution here are the Comic-Con shuttles that run each day for the majority of the day. Utilize these as much as possible, even if you’re not truly going to your hotel or the convention center. Maybe you have plans to check out a restaurant — see if it’s next to a shuttle stop. Perhaps you wanna go explore more of San Diego but getting a ride share downtown is costly — why not take a shuttle to the Comic-Con Museum and then book a ride share?

For more information on the Comic-Con shuttles, click here.

Are you flying in for San Diego Comic-Con? My last several visits to San Diego (different times of the year for things besides Comic-Con), I have found it a bit cheaper to take an actual taxi to my hotel instead of a rideshare from the airport. It’s been a few dollars cheaper and there seems to always be a line of taxis ready to take you to your destination.

If you are staying close enough to the convention that there isn’t a shuttle for your hotel but maybe your feet are killing your from walking all day, consider utilizing the sponsored pedicabs in the Gaslamp district. Note that typically only the sponsored pedicabs (which are not there every year) are free — the regular pedicabs are overpriced and not always upfront with their cost, so use with caution.

Parking

Parking can quickly add up, especially at your hotel, which is why I fly into San Diego because the cost of parking at a hotel equals a round trip flight from Phoenix most of the time. If you do not need access to your car but also do not want to pay the cost of hotel parking (up to $50 – $60 a day) at hotels, consider looking into options such as short term parking at/near the San Diego International Airport. For example, parking at Terminal 1 on Wednesday, July 23 and exiting Sunday, July 27 costs $99. Even adding in an Uber from the airport to your hotel after you’ve parked, you’re still bound to save some money. Some of the private airport garages can be even cheaper than the actual airport and can be book for $14 – $18 a day.

Maybe you are staying elsewhere in San Diego and missed out on the Ace Parking lottery but you don’t need overnight parking. You can use a site like Spot Hero to find parking a decent price such as this example of parking at the Westin Gaslamp on Friday, July 25th for less than $22.

Food & Drink

I can easily say that my biggest cost at conventions is food. I don’t plan well and I just buy whatever is convenient. You can avoid my mistakes with a few smart decisions.

First, snacks! You are allowed to bring in your own snacks and drinks into the convention center and those can easily hold you over instead of buying a $7 pretzel that you’ll finish in three minutes. There are a few little convenient stores throughout the Gaslamp such as 7-11 (515 Fifth Ave, 711 Fourth Ave and 1007 Fifth Ave) that you can pick up some cheaper snacks. Grab your beverages outside of the convention center as well to save you some money.

There is also a Ralph’s grocery store on G St. where you can pick up some snacks and even some resealable bags to separate everything out into. If you have a Kroger owned grocery store near you (Fry’s, Fred Meyer, Smith’s, etc), you may already have their reward membership card which does work at Ralph’s. If you do not have one, signing up is easy (and free) but if you go thru a checkout lane with an actual cashier, they will typically scan a card for you if you don’t have one so you get any deals that may have on the items you are purchasing.

“Just snacks? I need a meal!” I hear you, I need meals too. If you’re like me and need time to have a proper meal during the con, you’ve got a few relatively inexpensive options. First is the Subway on K St. (approximately a 5 minute walk from the convention center), the fantastic Cine Cafe at 412 K St. as well as Chipotle on Broadway (approximately a 15 minute walk but there should be a shuttle stop near by). Alternatively, there a few “pizza by the slice” restaurants such as Gaslamp Pizza which usually have a slice with a drink for under $10.

After a long day on your feet at the convention, you just want to get back to your room and order something from DoorDash or Uber Eats right? Before you do that, you may want to check the restaurant’s own app as typically menu items are cheaper on the restaurant’s specific app compared to third party apps (and are usually still delivered by those same third party apps).

Lastly, the Convention Center announced a couple of years ago that they have water bottle refill stations throughout the convention center. Bring your own bottle for water throughout the day. If water isn’t going to cut it and you need something with flavor, I suggest checking out the Mio water enhancer which would run about $4 or so a bottle (which is small and will easily fit in a backpack or fanny pack).

Shopping at the Con

This category might be a little tougher to save some money but there are some things you can still try out. First up, if you find something you’d like to purchase that is mass produced (comics, figures, etc), maybe hold off buying it at the first place you find it. Take note of what booth you found it (perhaps use the notes feature on the official Comic-Con app) and for what price so that you can keep shopping other booths and perhaps find it for a few dollars cheaper.

The worst kept secret is scoring deals at the end of the day on Sunday. Exhibitors want to pack up their booth with as little as merchandise left as possible and many will be willing to sell at a discounted rate. If you find something Thursday that you think will last until Sunday, it could be worth waiting.

This last one is a very much another “your mileage may very” situation but if you’re buying multiple things from a single exhibitor, they may be willing to give you a small discount. This is less likely at more of your “corporate” exhibitors but independent exhibitors may have some flexibility.