TitanCon Belfast - Sat 24 Sept 2011

[smegma]

The main cost you can expect is getting yourself there and staying in a hotel. See our Hotels page for details on that. Accommodation costs can be offset by sharing a room with a friend.

TitanCon is a very reasonably priced convention at just £10 GBP, that's $16.31 US (at current exchange rate). For that you get access to the convention itself, all the discussion panels, the exhibition centre, any and all events including the Saturday evening party.

We are still working on plans for Sunday 25 September, it is taking a while to get those hammered out, but if we can pull it off then Game of Thrones fans will definitely not want to miss it. I can tell you that the Sunday thing will be a separate event not included in the TitanCon membership and could well cost quite a lot more than £10 but don't worry it won't break the bank.

Other than that you'll need money for food, drinks, any books/toys/games/t-shirts/jewellery/posters/direwolf puppies that you wish to buy from the dealers room.

Please let me know if you have any further questions and hope to see you there :)

[please note there will not be any real direwolf puppies for sale, sorry]

No real direwolves? Pffft, I definitely won't be going then!

But seriously, that's so cheap! I would also be visiting some friends and family while I'm there, but I figure if this is a big deal...maybe it would be worthwhile to stop by - and at those prices, I can't justify saying no.

Worth looking at the price of airline tickets also just to see what you are getting yourself into. That's likely to be the big cost item for you. Continental fly direct to Belfast from the US, so that would be the most convenient for you. But if that looks expensive, you can look at flights to Dublin also. Dublin Airport is 2 to 2.5 hours away by bus but it can sometimes be a lot cheaper because there are more services from the US.

Thanks - that's not a very far drive!

Depends in part of the county you're leaving from - if you're going from a metro area that has direct or one-change flights, and you book early, you could get a coach seat RT for under $1k or less. You have time to build up some frequent flier miles, or if you have a family member who racks up a lot of points because they are always traveling for work, etc., but rarely have time to 'spend' them, you could ask for some help, maybe work out that she 'buys' you a ticket, you give her proper consideration, and bring her home a lovely thank you gift.

What you've got in your favor is that late September is going in to a lower level season of travel/to from the USA/Ireland until the winter holidays (and forgive me if I presume that you live in the USA, your profile does not mention where you live), and the planes will have some empty seats. They've gotten 'way too efficient with figuring out how many planes to fly to any city in any given month, so there's fewer last minute deals and fewer frequent flier seats to be had, but bargains can be found.

Most importantly, you should decide how much time you want to be in Ireland, be flexible with the dates - flying on Tuesday and Wednesdays are often cheaper - as well as the length of time you stay, arriving/departing two days early or three days later than your target dates , even figuring in your daily expenses, (and a few splurges), might be a big saver. For best savings and planning out your trip, you should start putting together your plans and getting the international travel dates fixed and the tickets bought and paid for. You can fill in the blanks later.

Hi Parris, thanks for the info (I actually live in Chicago and attend George's Alma mater!). So thankfully there are plenty of flight choices, and I myself have some frequent flier miles to burn. I've begun checking out cash pricing versus using my miles, and it seems like there are some good options to keep costs down. I don't have a set date, but I will definitely keep in mind flexibility with my trip. I will also follow your advice to get the ticket early - not only because of price (although that's key!), but also to make sure I commit to traveling before I talk myself out of it. :)

Whoa, am I really doing this? It must be the recent single-hood that I've encountered, making me a little more eager to come out of my comfort zone. But not only that, I appreciate the ASOIAF community, and I look forward to experiencing what I hope will be a great event.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

I'm petty much a cert for coming back over this Sept; I'm just waiting for a few things here and there to drop into place so I can see what I need in terms of travel as I've applied for a few jobs that (if I got one of them) would take me out of Yorkshire; little point in booking a plane from Leeds/Bradford if I got a job, moved, and was suddenly living in London.

[Adz of CCAA]

I just bought a membership. :)

Hope that I'll find some money somewhere by September, so that I can actually make it. ;)

I know it's a bit early yet but if someone is interested in sharing a Hotel room in Belfast... I'd be interested.

[Giant of Lannister]

**** PURE SPECULATION WARNING ****

With that said - now that we have Season 2 confirmed - and hugely strong likliehood that Filming will be in and around Belfast at the time of Titancon .... I'm wondering what the chances are that we could have a few Cast members pop along :dunno:

[theMountainGoat]

Giant - perhaps you missed the announcement that Kristian Nairn is definitely going to be there. Hodor? Hodor!

I've also got two more names ready to announce real soon and you better believe I'm working on getting more :)

BTW have I mentioned that membership to TitanCon costs just £10? Buy yours now before it's too late! www.titancon.com

[Giant of Lannister]

Oh aye .... knew that Kristian was going to be there ... Just concerned that someone as small, unassuming & shy as Kristian was likely to be largely overlooked and would be in need of some peer group support from his fellow actors. ;)

£10 to attend Titancon you say ??? Bargain, says I !!!

[theMountainGoat]

Excellent, sounds like we've sold you on the idea!

A pity then that you've already bought your membership - but I know there are other people reading this topic who have not got theirs yet, so what are ya waiting for?

[Pebble thats Stubby]

Oh aye .... knew that Kristian was going to be there ... Just concerned that someone as small, unassuming & shy as Kristian was likely to be largely overlooked and would be in need of some peer group support from his fellow actors. ;)

£10 to attend Titancon you say ??? Bargain, says I !!!

I expect you to be there.

and if Kristian is feeling all small and shy then I'll only be to happy to let him hide in my shaddow. :lol:

[Wyvernwood]

Anyone know if there are still spaces at TitanCon ?

Would love to go, probably along with OH too.

[theMountainGoat]

YES!

In fact we have a few hundred spaces left to fill so what the hell are you people waiting for?

Some big announcements about guests and programming coming very soon.

Also let's put this point to bed about Game of Thrones cast members being at TitanCon. I have spoken to a whole bunch of them over the last few weeks and everyone is excited about the possibility of being at TitanCon and meeting the fans. They absolutely will be there if they can and we just need to wait for HBO to sort out their filming schedule for this year and then we will know who is going to be in Belfast around that time.

Things are coming together now and this really is going to be a great convention that you all need to be at!

We can also now confirm that there WILL be an event for Game of Thrones fans on Sunday 25 September. This is separate to the main convention and will cost extra but you will kick yourselves if you miss it so make sure you can be around for the whole of Sunday even if that means booking the Monday off work.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

Well I finally got off my arse and paid for a membership, just need to sort hotels and flights out. Flights can be done with my airmiles and hotel wise I think I'm going to be back in the Days Inn; though atm they don't have the £29 advance purchase offer so I'm going to hold out and see if it goes back up (I'm being quoted £41.50 a night atm, which is still good, but if I can get it cheaper, even better!).

I'm also willing to volunteer if you need anything doing/setting up/whatever.

Edit: apparently the £39 is the advanced purchase rate. Guess they've upped it from £29. Wonder if it'll go back down? The £29 was a special summer rate that has expired. I wonder if it might be worth a group of us getting together and trying to get a group rate and seee if it's any cheaper. All that said, £160 for 4 nights is still good.

[theMountainGoat]

Thanks for the info Sam, now I'm wishing I had made my booking earlier too and I have even less excuse than you having put the website together. It is dangerous to think ah there is plenty of time yet.

Time is fast disappearing and people should not delay. We've got announcements coming - there are a few already up on the website that I haven't had time to mention here or anywhere else yet. Maybe later tonight I'll get around to it.

Also thank you for volunteering, we need all the help we can get. If anyone else can spare some time before, during or after the convention it would be very greatly appreciated.

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

No worries. Days Inn do do a group rate for 10 or more people booking at the same time. It doesn't say online what the group rate is. If we can't get 10 or more people together to try and lower the rates I'll just hold out a couple of weeks or so and see if the special offer comes back in.

And no worries 'bout the volunteering. Always glad to help. I'll actually be compos mentis this time, rather than being so spaced out by a 4am wakeup call that I couldn't even figure out keycard slot = lights on! :lol:

And can't wait for the announcements. I spotted Miltos as a guest when I was roaming around the site which is awesome news!

[Drew Hurley]

Hey all, long time lurker here.

Just a heads up that I have introduced many of my friends to the greatness of A Song of Ice and Fire. After nagging them the show got them in, with me buying them all the books too! :D

On to point, my wife and I are looking to travel up from Wales and bring 4 of them with us, pics of the Moots are certainly a swaying point and I think I can get them all there if there's a few more cast members :D Definitely if you get Peter Dinklage!

Otherwise it may just be me and the wife. I hope to speak with you all more soon!

[theMountainGoat]

We are hoping that we can get a handful of the big name cast members as guests but unfortunately we can't make any promises about that at this time.

I would certainly hate to make an announcement about someone and then it turns out they could not be there for whatever reason, we don't want to disappoint anyone so we will be careful up until we know for sure who is going to be around, available and willing to meet up with us crazy fans.

[Drew Hurley]

Regardless you have me at least! I've been a big book fan for years but never really gotten into the fan scene, about time I remedied that! :D

[SamanthaofHodorsfield]

You definitely should. I was a BwB newbie at the Moot and was made to feel very welcome, though much amusement was had over my epic blonde moments. XD

[Adz of CCAA]

No worries. Days Inn do do a group rate for 10 or more people booking at the same time. It doesn't say online what the group rate is. If we can't get 10 or more people together to try and lower the rates I'll just hold out a couple of weeks or so and see if the special offer comes back in.

I want to book a room at the Days Inn, too. I'm still not sure how many nights I'll stay but it will probably be 5 nights.

Does anyone know how much it costs to go to Belfast from Dublin Airport? Preferably by bus. It'll probably be cheaper for me to fly to Dublin and go by bus instead of flying to Belfast with a stop over at some London airport. (Also, I'd prefer the one flight to Dublin as I'm not a flying person)

I was also contemplating staying in Dublin after Belfast for a day or two before flying home again. Although I'm not sure what I would do there all by myself. ;)

[Pebble thats Stubby]

I want to book a room at the Days Inn, too. I'm still not sure how many nights I'll stay but it will probably be 5 nights.

Does anyone know how much it costs to go to Belfast from Dublin Airport? Preferably by bus. It'll probably be cheaper for me to fly to Dublin and go by bus instead of flying to Belfast with a stop over at some London airport. (Also, I'd prefer the one flight to Dublin as I'm not a flying person)

I was also contemplating staying in Dublin after Belfast for a day or two before flying home again. Although I'm not sure what I would do there all by myself. ;)

Well there's this great Walk (you get to climb the stair of Cirith Ungul and everything). I'm sure you could talk Peader in taking you. Although you may remember it nearly killed me...... :leaving:

[LugaJetboyGirl]

(you get to climb the stair of Cirith Ungul and everything).

This is NOT an exaggeration.