#how to fly to anime conventinos

[jojostory]

Artist Alley Tips: Flying to Conventions

Wanting grow your art business might mean you’re looking into travelling for shows! I did this for the first time at Anime Central in 2017. Read under the cut for my experience!

Choosing an Airline

Make sure to choose an airline that fits your travel needs! For example, Southwest is a favorite of many artists because they have free checked baggage. However, they also have an unusual boarding system (at least, I thought so) where the order in which you board depends on your check-in time and people get to choose whichever seat they want. If you really need an aisle or window seat, you might need a different airline.

Another thing to consider is whether you’re enrolled in an rewards program (say, for your credit card or airline miles) that allows you to get plane tickets more cheaply.

Choosing a Hotel & Roommates

Consider cost v.s. convenience! Hotels further from the convention venue tend to be cheaper (and Airbnbs are often even cheaper than that!). But honestly, I find it super tiring to lug myself between the convention center and a hotel that’s far away every day, even if there’s a shuttle (which can be unpredictable). I prefer to stay in a nearby convention hotel if I can find roommates to stay with!

Keep an eye out for “party hotels” that tend to attract people who like to stay up late and be loud -- and think about whether you want to be in one or not. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s a good way to tell whether a hotel is one or not without just asking friends you have that have attended the convention before.

Places to find roommates: the convention’s website forums, Artist Alley Network International, through artist friends

Wherever you find your roommates, make sure to communicate beforehand and set expectations about rough times you’ll be sleeping and awake, noise, partying, etc.

Map out routes from your hotel to the airport beforehand! The hotel might have a free or cheap shuttle from the airport that you’ll definitely want to take advantage of. If not, check if Lyft or Uber is in the area (it tends to be cheaper than a taxi, but slower since you have to wait for your car to come pick you up).

What I Take With Me

(Caveat: I often travel to cons alone, so I limit the luggage I carry with me so I can actually manage by myself!)

Large luggage. For my first out-of-state con, I needed luggage that would be durable enough to survive being checked onto a flight but that was roomy enough to hold everything I needed. I also looked for a bag with an 80-20 split rather than a 50-50 split, making it easier to pack big items (like print boxes) in the suitcase. Finally, I wanted something with a lock, so I could keep merch secured at night after con hours. I ended up going with this Samsonite suitcase (affiliate link) and I love it!

Small luggage. I’m kind of a small person, so I can’t handle multiple huge pieces of luggage at once. I took my regular suitcase and filled about half of it with clothes/toiletries/other travel necessities and the other half with more merch.

Photography stand. This doesn’t fit in a luggage, I have to take this as a carry-on. (Read more about how to use photograph stands in your artist alley setup here!) For a while, I used the bag that the stand came with, but it started falling apart so I eventually bought a skinny golf club case (affiliate link) that has worked really well so far (and I can carry it cross-body so my hands are free to push my suitcases along!)

One backpack. Carry-on item, to hold stuff like laptop, phone charger, 3DS, Switch, and snacks!

One purse. Essentials like airline ticket, ID, wallet, and keys go in a cross body purse so I can get through the airport with as little stress as possible!

Packing Strategy & Tips

Like I mentioned above, using a 80-20 split luggage makes things so much easier! 

In the 80% half your your suitcase, place heavy, large or tall-ish items first and pack them tightly as your can, tetris-style. Then, fit in more flexible things (like bags of charms) in the spaces in between (but make sure your merch won’t get crushed when your stand your suitcase upright).

In the 20% half of your suitcases, place flatter/softer items (like tablecloths, signage and display prints, art portfolios, etc.

Buy a luggage scale. I have this one (affiliate link), which I really like because it’s USB-rechargeable. For most airlines, the weight of each suitcase you check must be under 50 lbs. or you have to pay an overweight baggage fee! As I pack my suitcase, I take a couple times to check how close to the weight limit I am. If my large suitcase is too heavy, I’ll move a few things to my small suitcase or to my backpack. Make sure to take the luggage scale with you -- so you can check if your suitcase is under the weight limit on your way back, too. I do check both suitcases since I need to take my photography stand as a carry-on.

Estimate how much stock you’ll need and only take that much. If you have 30 copies of a print and you think you’ll only sell about 10, just take 10! This is a good way to reduce weight.

Reduce hard, rigid containers as much as possible. For example, I carry all my charms in large plastic bags, so I can kind of fit them in nooks and crannies in places in my luggage. Of course, rigid containers are definitely necessary to protect more fragile items like prints!

Practice packing a few days before hand! This way you’ll know if there are items that can’t fit or are too heavy -- and will give you time to figure out different containers or other ways to adjust before the day of travel.

On the Day Of Travel

Double-check you’ve packed everything!

Get to the airport early!

Check in your baggage. If you’ve practiced packing beforehand, you hopefully won’t run into overweight baggage issues.

Get to your gate! Get a snack and relax now that you’re not carrying your suitcases anymore :) Keep an ear open to see if the flight is full. If so, you might want to ask the gate attendants if it’s OK to gate-check or tag your photography stand because it might not fit in the overhead bins if they’re full. You’ll only want to do this if you have a carrying case for your photography stand that is hard and will protect your stand!

Settle in on the plane. If you are bringing your photography stand, wait for people to put their suitcases in the overhead bins near you. Then, you can shove your photography stand on top! This is usually not a problem unless you’re on a very small plane with small overhead bins.

Once you’ve landed, you hopefully know how you’re going to get to the hotel you picked out. If you do have to take a taxi, make sure you don’t take a flat-rate taxi (unless the convention center is extremely far away). It’s usually cheaper to take a fare taxi for shorter rides.

Other Considerations 

Simplify your merch! Being able to offer a variety of items is great, but it also takes up a lot of space. In general (but especially for out-of-state conventions), my strategy is to bring lots of copies of items I’m confident are going to be successful. If I want to experiment with new items, I usually do that through my online store or through local cons. 

Don’t buy more suitcases! Rather than buying more suitcases (and attempting to carry them all and pay more for checked baggage) I try to rotate out old merch so that I only bring things that I can fit in the bags I have.

Bring a friend! If you have a friend who is going to the convention too, see if they’re willing to travel with you! With extra hands and eyes, you can help take care of each others’ luggage and figure out how to get to places together. 

Phew, you made it! Now go out and kick butt! I hope this post was helpful, and if you have any tips or thoughts you’d like to see added here, let me know!