NYCC 2023: Just how much would it take to go to New York Comic Con?

New York Comic Con 2023 is almost here, and Team Popverse is collectively prepping to travel across the country to attend, which is the kind of thing that made us wonder: how much does it actually cost to do NYCC? Just as we did for San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, we did some math to work out the answer to that question. Here’s the cost of going to the biggest con in North America.

NYCC 2023 badges & tickets

So, how much does it cost to just get into the show itself? Well, it depends what kinds of tickets you’d want, as there’s a wide variety of options available:

NYCC 2023 VIP Ticket

The VIP option guarantees access to all panel rooms, including reserved seating in the Empire and Main Stages; it also offers first access to purchase tickets for separately ticketed events, and to any exhibitor exclusive reservations, as well as first access to the show floor, and a NYCC Swag Bag. (There are more benefits, including access to a private catered lounge, which really shouldn’t be overlooked; I just don’t want to fill the entire article with the benefits to this pass, is all.) This one costs $553.25 for the full four-day event.

NYCC 2023 4-Day ticket

Not into the exclusive access or guaranteed entry into panel rooms? Then pick up the 4-Day pass, for $233.25.

NYCC 2023 Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Single Day tickets

An individual day pass costs $73.25. For those doing the math, that would cost $293.00 for all four days.

NYCC 2023 Sunday Kids ticket

Available only on Sunday, the kids’ ticket costs just $28.25.

NYCC 2023 lodging

Even without the convention, New York City is a destination for a lot of people, which means that finding somewhere to stay can be a challenge — but, on the plus side, NYC is filled with places to stay; a recent estimate claimed that there were somewhere in the region of 130,000 hotel rooms in the city, and that’s saying nothing of the approximately 40,000 AirBnB listings in New York, or other short-term rental options. All of which is to say: if you want to, you’ll probably be able to find somewhere to stay, although it might not be in the price range or the area you’re looking for, necessarily.

Let’s talk about price, though; the average hotel room nightly rate in NYC is apparently around $175 nightly, although it should be noted that includes some hotels that will require some legwork to get to the show itself. A timely search on Kayak suggests that “recommended” hotels will come in at closer to $600 nightly during the convention, notably.

NYCC 2023 travel

As with our guide to how much it costs to do San Diego Comic-Con, this is the point where it had to be said that it’s almost impossible to estimate the cost of travel given the variety of starting points for the trip. At time of writing, the cheapest return flight from Los Angeles to JFK for the dates of the convention costs $334; from Chicago to JFK, it’s $132. Even Dallas to JFK isn’t that expensive, with the cheapest flights currently costing somewhere in the region of $154.

Of course, if they were coming from Anchorage, Alaska, it would be $695 at the very cheapest, and from Salt Lake City (well, Ogden, Utah, the closest airport), it’d be $251. Even Seattle would cost somewhere in the region of $339, the cheapest rate at time of writing.

Once you get to JFK, you’d still have to make it into the city; let’s assume you take a cab, which is a flat fee: $70. If you want to take a subway car instead of a taxi cab, that’s just the cost of an AirTrain and a subway tide, which will cost anywhere between $11.15 and $19.00, according to the airport’s website.

NYCC 2023 costs: So what’s the damage?

Let’s imagine that out hypothetical attendee came from Seattle, and bought themselves a 4-Day pass. That would work out at a cost of around $1342.25. ($233.25 ticket cost, return airfare at $339, 4 nights at a hotel at $175 per night, and a $70 cab fare from the airport, because we’re not taking the train with all this luggage.)

NYCC 2023 : Is that it?

Of course, all of the above is ignoring things like, for example, the fact that any NYCC attendee is going to want to eat during the four-day show. (Trust us; we’ve tried to go without, and it really doesn’t work out.) There’s also any additional travel to-and-from the show each day, which could mount up depending on where in the city someone is staying, and any additional costs incurred at the show itself with all the merchandise and artwork and toys and everything else that is available only at the show. It’s a financial commitment, attending New York Comic Con, it’s true — but it’s one that’s definitely worth it for those who can afford it.

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Popverse will be providing wall-to-wall coverage of New York Comic Con 2023, with an all-star crew of writers, editors, and video producers there all four days (and nights), as well as in advance of the show. You can follow along to this coverage as well as the panels we're streaming with our NYCC Popverse coverage guide.