QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
This section is constantly being updated as of July 2022. If you do not see your questions answered here, CONTACT US!
SO WHAT IS THIS BUSINESS ABOUT?
ConExpress Tours is a Startup company made up of people who are passionate about attending comics, anime, and game conventions and are on a mission to provide travel accommodation packages that help the average convention goer to save on Hotels, arrange Transport, and have more fun meeting people with optional Group Meals and event Meetups.
We are not affiliated with any convention organizations but are simply offering services to help those that attend them.
HOW EXACTLY DO YOU HELP CON ATTENDEES TRAVEL?
Our travel packages are designed to address three common challenges for con attendees; finding a roommate to save on hotel room costs if you are attending a con by yourself, make it easy for a group of friends to be roomed together while paying separately, and to provide an easier way to meet new people with social activities like group meals and after parties.
HOW DO YOU HELP FIND ROOMMATES?
If you're traveling to a convention by youself, as it happens to many of us when venturing out of our home State, you will often have to pay full price on your hotel room. When attending our tour for a specific convention, we can split your hotel room cost by assigning you with a roommate of the same sex and age group as you with our PEER-MATCHING option.
HOW DOES YOUR PEER-MATCHING WORK?
Each attendee opting in for the PEER-MATCHING option is required to submit a copy of a government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license or a valid passport. This is both to verify that an attendee is who they claim to be and give us the official SEX and DATE OF BIRTH information we need to match you with someone similar. Age groups are divided between or as close to as possible to the range of 18-20, 21-24, 25-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59+. You will receive confirmation on who you will be roomed in with for your final approval prior to actual event dates.
CAN I SELF-IDENTIFY DIFFERENTLY FROM MY ID?
ConExpress Tours respects the special needs of those in the Trans community who may want to identify as the opposite gender of the Sex designation in their driver's license or passport, but our Peer-Matching system is currently limited to relying on the security of a government-issued ID as a measure of safely distinguishing Male tour attendees from the Female tour attendees. We are only able to assist you in this matter currently by asking prior-reserved attendees discreetly if they would be willing to make an exception for you and/or to match you with other self-identifying attendees, as the purpose of Peer-Matching is to accommodate the mutual consent of individual strangers to become roommates. We do not have the authority to force anyone nor would we ever want to pressure or discourage potential tour attendees that they might be placed in a rooming arrangement they do not consent to.
WHAT IF YOU CAN'T FIND ME A MATCH?
Our tours for each convention has very limited spots available (for now), so we can not guarantee that the ratio of tour attendees will allow us to find everyone signing up with a proper match. For your own safety and comfort, as well as for the other attendees, we would have to put you on a waiting list or proceed to cancel your reservaton and refund your payment.
Considering that this is our first year to launch our business and will no doubt have a steep learning curve in dealing with the challenges we are taking on, we ask you to understand that our mission is to accommodate everyone interested as much as possible with the limited resources we currently have.
Of course, if successfull in 2022, then surely our tours for 2023 will allow us to invest in many more hotel rooms and service venues to offer. So even if you miss us this year, be sure to sign up on our social media to get updates for next year!
WHAT IF I DON'T LIKE MY ROOMMATE(S) DURING THE STAY?
It's important to remember that you are not spending the majority of your time in the hotel room for the weekend as most of your activity will be spent throughout being active at the convention. With that said, we encourage all attendees with PEER MATCHING option to be extra courteous and considerate to their assigned roommate(s). You don't have to become the best of friends, but you should each do your part to foster a civil and smooth stay together.
Once the hotel is completely booked, there will be no option to switch you with a different room. With the exception of any behavior that would be in direct violation of our hotel safety rules outlined in our Terms of Service form, such as but not limited to, anything that qualifies as harassment or criminal, we would not be able to remove an attendee from their hotel room.
However, our team will always be ready to listen to any concerns you may have to report and implement whatever possible resolution we may have at our disposal to aid you in having a better experience.
WHAT MAKES GROUP MATCHING DIFFERENT?
If you reserve for GROUP Matching, you will need 3 other friends or acquaintances that you personally know and trust to also reserve for the Tour in order to qualify for the group rate pricing. Once you've made your own reservation, you will provide us the names of your group members in order for us to match you with their reservations. This is ideal for those who are experienced with "room-packing" and do not want the hassle of collecting payments from roommates and to share host responsibilities equally.
DOES GROUP MATCHING ALSO REQUIRE A VALID PHOTO ID?
Yes. All hotel options, SOLO, PEER, and GROUP Matching requires a copy of your government-issued ID during the Terms of Service form agreement submission. By opting in for GROUP Matching, you guarantee both to ConExpress Tours and to yourself that you personally know and trust the individuals rooming in with your group.
WHAT IF I CAN'T OR I REFUSE TO PROVIDE A VALID PHOTO ID?
All reservations require a copy of a government-issued ID or will be cancelled. This ID will also need to match during hotel check-in or you will be denied access to a hotel room. You are required to agree to this and all other requirements when submitting our Terms of Service form.
WHAT IF I DON'T AGREE WITH EVERYTHING IN YOUR TERMS OF SERVICE?
Please contact us for any spcific questions or issues you may want clarification with. Otherwise, your reservation is not final without filling out and submitting the Terms of Service form in full agreement.
DO WE NEED TO SUBMIT THE TERMS OF SERVICE EVEN FOR SOLO?
Yes. All hotel options, whether SOLO, PEER or GROUP Matching will require the Terms of Service agreement form to be submitted.
DO YOU REQUIRE PAYMENT FOR ANY RESERVATION?
Yes. In order to save your spot in our very limited space for each tour, we require a deposit of $100 for Solo hotel options and $50 for Peer or Group matching. The full payment is due within 60 days of the Tour dates in order to finalize the reservation.
HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO CANCEL A RESERVATION?
All reservations are final within 30 days of the convention date. No refunds for no shows.
HOW DO WE KNOW YOU'RE NOT A SCAM?
ConExpress Tours, under parent Future Gadget Lab LLC, is a real company based in New Jersey. We are insured and are operating under strict guidelines of the travel industry. You can also confirm the availability of our spaces reserved. For example, our tour for Holiday Matsuri is accommodated at the Holiday INN Resort Orlando Suites Waterpark, you can call them to verify our hotel block for this tour at: (407) 387-5437.
If you do not see your questions answered here, please CONTACT US!