How to get to ANY convention for $199.95 or less!

[Taren]

Going to a furcon is NOT costly, contrary to what people say. You can go to Anthrocon (or any furcon, really) for $200.

Lets just say that the hotel room costs $110 a night.
Multiply by three nights, which totals up to $330.
Divide that by four (assuming you are rooming with 3 other people).
That comes out to about 82 dollars for a hotel room for three nights! Can't beat that! (:

Add 50 dollars to register yourself. Preregistering cuts the cost of registration by 15 dollars or so, on average! Lets just say that you chose not to register on site, rather then preregister, which brings the total to 132 dollars. 25 dollars which is more then enough for food for yourself. If you really want to cut it close, buy a bunch of ramen, which would only cost 3 dollars all together for the whole convention. Also, if you pool money with roommates (everyone putting in 4 bucks for a pizza), keeps things cheap as well. Lets say that you bring 25 dollars for food, because you don't feel like pooling money or eating ramen all convention, which would bring the grand total up to 157 dollars.

Now here is the one thing that breaks near all wallets: Transportation. The bottom line is this - Flying will cost a ton. Lets scratch the idea of flying, cause that's WAY too much. The best options are driving, train, or taking a bus. No matter what, if you are living in Washington, and want to go to Pittsburgh for Anthrocon, you will have to drive a ways. There is no way around it. A bus may not be as pleasant, but it will be cheaper and less stressful. Unless you live 1,800 miles or so away, I would suggest driving. Drive with friends! Find some furs that you will be passing by on your way to the convention and carpool (or be a carpool-e)! Driving with friends, not only is funner, but it is much cheaper! Have everyone split the cost for gas, which (for me) is like 20 dollars, which is a fair amount, bringing the total to 177 dollars. Add 3 dollars for tolls and such, also factor in taxes, bringing the grand total to 200 dollars. The only problem with driving a LONG distance is that you will need a place to sleep. I would suggest finding furs online that will be on your route and sleep at a fur's house for a night!

Lets go over this again...
Hotel room (3 nights) = $82
Registration (on site) = $50
Food and Drinks = $25
Gas = $20
Tolls = $3
Taxes = $20
------
Grand Total = $200

200 dollars is not that much. Roll your pennies (like I do!), ask for money for Christmas and birthdays instead of gifts, and you can easily go to a con (if work and parents are permitting). (: Now I know that this could be nitpicked to death, but I'm just making a point that going to a convention doesn't cost as much as many make it out to be.

Hope I helped!

~Taren

[Ante]

I was planning on going to Anthrocon for less. Mooching, of course.

[Abe]

Most of those stats sound like fairly good estimates to me. The only one I might disagree with is transportation.

With the current gas prices and with the people who may have to travel fairly far, gas would cost more than that. That's also dependant on whether you can find a lot of people to carpool with or if you need to get a bus or train ticket.

I was gonna disagree with you on the food, but then I realized that forgot about ramen and other snacks you could bring. '>

[Atticis]

Even if you fly it wont be too much more than that.
Standby is a wonderful thing!
25 bucks for whatever flight you want, you wait till the plane boards and if there are any open seats....and there prolly will be....you get on.
Its how i got home from AC this year, and the flight was booked solid and there were 2 others on standby infront of me. I ended up getting on as well as 2 others behind me and there was still at least one empty seat left!

[Arbutus]

Mmm, I definitely wouldn't depend on standby to get there or back... it seems like it's a matter of luck whether or not you actually get to take a seat on the plane and go home, and particularly if you have to work the next day, that's not an option. Plus, I've never heard of standby before, but I have heard of bumping, which is when they overbook a flight (airlines do this routinely) and then have to kick off a few passengers because they don't have enough space on the plane... so all in all, I don't know if I'd really trust standby to get me there or back with any speed.

I thought you needed boarding passes to get past the security checkpoints? How do you get to the gates without them?

Yeah, echoing Abe, the only thing I would take issue with is transportation, because most furs live a great deal farther away from their nearest con than Northeastern furs do.

[Taren]

How do you know where I live? :O

[Misha]

Quote

Gas = $20

LOL

Hmm lets have a look for the costs for me


Flight = (min) $1200
Airport Taxes = $300
Travel Insurance = $100
Taxi to airport = $20
Taxi to hotel = $20 (just a guess)
Hotel room (3 nights) = $82
Registration (on site) = $50
Food and Drinks = $25

------
Grand Total = $1797 USD

That , in Aussie dollers is $2,348.59 AUD


In conclusion

.....not gunna happen for a while.....

[Arbutus]

Quote (Taren @ Sep. 04 2005, 1:54 am)

How do you know where I live? :O

You told me when I first came... and you also mentioned it in your signature until not too long ago. But I can take the reference out of my post if you want.

[Shabbernigdo]

I was able to get to and from MFM last year for 250.00.

Only bad part was havin to share a room and one of the guys i had to share with snored so loud it sound like he was runnin a chain saw like 10 feet away.

Cons souldent cost much as long as you can control the impulse buying.

[Sporty Fox]

I've found your costs to be pretty accurate for both of the cons I've attended this year (Morphicon and AC) Taren.  I ate very well at AC- muffins, granola bars, and OJ for breakfast; sandwich and salad for lunch; deer roast, salad, and potato salad for dinner- and still ate for 4 days on $30.
  By sharing the hotel room I kept costs down and met a couple of real nice furs, the only thing I wasn't able to keep costs down on was transportation and if I'd really needed to I could have done that by rearranging my schedule slightly and carpooling.

The biggest expence is secondary spending money, but I don't go to the cons to buy stuff (so many marked things up bigtime for AC anyway) so this isn't a problem for me.

[Taren]

Quote (Sporty Fox @ Sep. 04 2005, 8:18 am)

The biggest expence is secondary spending money, but I don't go to the cons to buy stuff (so many marked things up bigtime for AC anyway) so this isn't a problem for me.

Same with me. After going to 2 Anthrocons, all together I bought a tail, 4 DVDs, 4 pictures, a few shirts, and some cheap dollar key chains and stuff.

I don't go to cons to buy things. I go to have fun.

[Seelas]

Eh, your estimate for gas sounds quite off. I'd imagine it would take about twice that much at least just to fill up my tank once, and where I live I would need to refuel multiple times. Also, when I do go to a convention, I would like to be eating at restaurants a lot, so I would probably be paying a lot more there. I imagine I'd be blowing about 400 bucks.

[Taren]

Quote (Seelas @ Sep. 04 2005, 12:31 pm)

Eh, your estimate for gas sounds quite off. I'd imagine it would take about twice that much at least just to fill up my tank once, and where I live I would need to refuel multiple times. Also, when I do go to a convention, I would like to be eating at restaurants a lot, so I would probably be paying a lot more there. I imagine I'd be blowing about 400 bucks.

Again, this is splitting gas 4 ways. Also gas varies from place to place, and distance.

As for food, if you want fine dining, you will have to pay more. Poor people like me cannot afford to eat at T.G.I.Fridays, so we are stuck with the dollar McDonalds burger. Also, bringing food is a good, cheap alternative!

[Misha]

My place to pittsburg is 339 miles.  If I was lucky enough to find other furs who'd be willing to split the costs with me (I only know 2 michigan furs, and one lives almost 200 miles north of me), gas would still be way more then that.

339 miles is about one tank on my van.  It currently costs $65 to fill my tank.  So lets say the total cost for gas is $130 (Not including gas spent driving around town or getting lost like I have a habbit of doing, ask Mono).

Divided two ways, that's $65 each
Divided three ways, $43
Divided four ways, $32

And considering I live a lot closer then a lot of other furs, you can see where gas can get more expensive.

[Procyon]

While I've never been in a financial squeeze to make a convention myself, I know plenty of furs who have, and I may as well point out a couple other things:

- Often you can have the registration fee waived by offering to volunteer during the convention.  I know AC and FC both have this policy and I suspect other cons do as well.
- You can bunk up way more than 4 to a room if necessary.  Packing in 8 is not out of the question (just hope you like your roommates, and that the hotel doesn't find out.)  This can easily cut the cost to $15/night or less.
- You don't have to stay for the whole convention.
- There are almost always more furs in your area than you realize.  Use the IFPL and/or do some LJ sleuthing by following chains of furry-souding names until you run into somebody listed in your area.  This can help find roommates and ridemates, and maybe even new friends.  (This I do know from experience! )  Also take a look at the convention message boards.
- Remember that unless someone at home is providing food for you and not making you pay for it, you have to pay for food whether you're at home or on the road, so factor that in when you're gauging just how expensive the con is actually going to be.

Admittedly, if you live in Nebraska or something you're going to have a tough time, and if you live on the West coast it's hard to attend a convention out East and vice versa.  But aside from travel costs (which are always going to be specific to your area) it's quite easy to attend a convention for super-cheap if you really want to.

[Taren]

Quote (Procyon @ Sep. 05 2005, 5:58 am)

While I've never been in a financial squeeze to make a convention myself, I know plenty of furs who have, and I may as well point out a couple other things: - Often you can have the registration fee waived by offering to volunteer during the convention.  I know AC and FC both have this policy and I suspect other cons do as well. - You can bunk up way more than 4 to a room if necessary.  Packing in 8 is not out of the question (just hope you like your roommates, and that the hotel doesn't find out.)  This can easily cut the cost to $15/night or less. - You don't have to stay for the whole convention. - There are almost always more furs in your area than you realize.  Use the IFPL and/or do some LJ sleuthing by following chains of furry-souding names until you run into somebody listed in your area.  This can help find roommates and ridemates, and maybe even new friends.  (This I do know from experience! )  Also take a look at the convention message boards. - Remember that unless someone at home is providing food for you and not making you pay for it, you have to pay for food whether you're at home or on the road, so factor that in when you're gauging just how expensive the con is actually going to be. Admittedly, if you live in Nebraska or something you're going to have a tough time, and if you live on the West coast it's hard to attend a convention out East and vice versa.  But aside from travel costs (which are always going to be specific to your area) it's quite easy to attend a convention for super-cheap if you really want to.

You bring up a good point about volunteering. I know Anthrocon gives free registration to those who volunteerr X ammount of hours.

I agree with your whole post! (: Good job!

[Taren]

This topic gets el bump! Does anyone else have anything to add?

[Wotan]

I have one word to say in response:  Feral!

[Taren]

Quote (Wotan @ Sep. 26 2005, 12:44 am)

I have one word to say in response:  Feral!

LOL! I have to agree there!

[RebelKat]

I'll add something.

Lots of furs would LIKE to go to cons, but haven't the means to pay fopr stuffs like hotel registrations and stuffs because they require a credit card.
If you REALLY want to go, you MUST network with other furs. PLAN AHEAD!! THIS is the key to keeping costs low. How do you think we all got to FWA last year? 2 caravans, and 2 hotel rooms paid for in advance, with only a promise of repayment for furs to occupy.
We were able to keep costs so low, we spent more money on stuff at the con.

For those of you wanting to do FWA this year (which was the best con EVER last year) yu NEED to get into the FWA thread and make your plans NOW! The more furs who go, the easier it'll be on all of us.

Oh, and by the way-- I spent more than $200 round trip on gas for MFM! (Thank you Jimmy Lapine for ridesharing on the way up!'>  '>

too bad your theory is flawed becuase the price depends on your distance from the con.

[Taren]

Also, if you have friends who work at travel agencies, local hotels, and so forth, that can cut down costs.

[Yip]

For me to be able to go to AC, travel is a big problem.  I live near the west coast AND I have my classes to think about. Even though AC happened to fall during a break this year, the travel issue still stopped me from going.  Why? First, like you said flying is expencive (especially for longer flights like that), second carpooling, trains, buses and the like are out because for that distance that would have added several days to the trip thus making me not get back for the next term anyways.

So it's not just a matter of money, but time as well.
(also it would probably help if I actually had friends in the area that were going, but I don't)

----

On another note, I did manage to get though 5 days of FC with a food bill of only a little over $5. (not counting the snacks I brought with me.)  I'm not sure that's the healthiest way to do it though, because I didn't eat a whole lot while I was there.  And I am very very greatful for the one night in the game room that they had free pizza.

[Taren]

Does anyone else have any tips? (: