Invitation for military?

[AnonZak]

This will be my first time attending DEF CON and I was told by one of my friends who has attended every year that there is a way for active duty military to get a ticket in advance in order to submit for leave and know that you will actually be able to attend. Is there any truth to this, or is it just a "let's hope everything works out" kind of situation?

[TheCotMan]

This will be my first time attending DEF CON and I was told by one of my friends who has attended every year that there is a way for active duty military to get a ticket in advance in order to submit for leave and know that you will actually be able to attend. Is there any truth to this, or is it just a "let's hope everything works out" kind of situation?

I've not heard of this. Closest I've heard of early access to DEF CON badges has been for volunteers (like goons), and sometimes pre-sale at BlackHat, which charges for the badge, but still required picking up the DEF CON badge at the BlackHat conventon at a specific day and time, usually near the end of BlackHat around the time badges are being sold at DEF CON. I do not know how that works now. It may no longer be possible to buy or pre-buy DEFCON badges at BlackHat Las Vegas.

The last time I read of pre-sales of badges being mentioned was around 20 years ago at DEF CON 5 (example: https://defcon.org/html/defcon-5/defcon-5-pre.html ) : pre-sale has not really been a thing since then; too many problems and risks for problems.

FAQ

How much is admission DEF CON, and do you take credit cards? DEF CON 24 costs $240 USD cash. Do we take credit cards? Are you JOKING? No, we only accept cash - no checks, no money orders, no travelers checks. We don't want to be a target of any State or Federal fishing expeditions.

Can I pre-register for DEF CON?
No. We used to do this a long time ago, but found that managing the registration list, and preventing one 'Dr. Evil' from impersonating another 'Dr. Ev1l' too much of a hassle. Seeing how we would only take cash in the first place, and things becomes time consuming and easy to abuse. Cash at the door works every time.

[You should check the FAQ and/or the "current" DEF CON website for costs for admission, as they can change from one year to the next.]
Though there were exceptions on payment in the past, I do not think they are still available. (It had to do with some special people and payment by check in-person at DEF CON.) I think that was abandoned a long time ago, and I mean a long time ago.

For regular humans badges, just show up in-person, pay in cash, and get something that shows you paid to get into DEF CON. (Historically, one person can buy many "badges" so if you and a bunch of friends show up, you may be able to get away with just one person standing in line for badges with all of the cash.)

As best as i can recall, other than people being banned from DEF CON, people have not been turned away from being able to buy access to attend DEF CON.

Because there are often a great number of people, I suggest getting a hotel room in either of the hotels that has the convention centers that contain DEF CON, so that if any speaker room is full, you can go to your hotel room to see the talk you want to see on your hotel room TV. (Historically, DEF CON takes over several hotel channels and uses those to provide video and audio to speaker tracks.)

If you do find an option for military people, then please follow-up here with the information you find, so others wanting the same advantage can get it.

[AnonZak]

Thank you for the information! I'll check with my friend again and then just show up.