Dear SAA Members and Friends,

The SUBCON26 Expression of Interest (EOI) has closed. The current EOI numbers are as follows:

Meet and Greet =202

Gala Dinner/Dance =230

SAA AGM = 114

Farewell BBQ =178

The EOI numbers far exceed our expectations. The good news is that all venues have sufficient capacity to accommodate the EOI numbers. Now, we just need to figure out how to get you to and from all venues.

To help us determine the requirement for bus transport could you please complete the SUBCON2026 Bus Survey here:form . The aim of this survey is to determine who needs bus transport, where you are staying or intend to stay and then use the resultant information to secure suitable bus transport by 01 June. FYI...The Mantra MacArthur hotel is considered part of the Canberra CBD area.

We hope to have a good understanding of the Bus requirement by our next SUBCON26 planning meeting on Tuesday 12 May. Therefore, it would be appreciated if you could complete the bus survey as soon as possible. Sorry for the short notice. If you miss the deadline please complete the form by 25 May.

If you have not booked your accommodation yet could you please complete the bus survey based on your anticipated pickup location on the survey pulldown menu. Only complete the form if you intend to use the bus service.

The venue locations are also listed on the pulldown menu ie: Hotels in the Kingston/Manuka area are close to the M and G and AGM venue (Eastlakes Footy club). The Mercure is located near Campbell close to the Australian War Memorial venue for the Saturday night Gala Dinner dance and Black Mountain Peninsula (BBQ) is closest to the CBD area and 15 minutes from Kingston. The CBD (Canberra City) area is central to all venue locations.

Only complete the form if you intend to use the bus service

Although the EOI process has shut, we may reopen the sign up process when we finalise attendance numbers in July. Thanks to you all for your interest and we look forward to hosting you here in Canberra in October.

Thanks for your assistance.

Kind Regards

Stan Nimmo

SAA ACT Branch Secretary.

Hotel information 

Dear Members and Friends,

Thanks again for signing up to SUBCON2026.

We have secured a flexible deal at the Mantra MacArthur Hotel which is reasonably priced. I recommend that you book as soon as possible. We think that the terms and conditions are very acceptable. However, hotel rates have dropped recently so there are other options available. Details are as follows.

The Mantra MacArthur hotel is located within a short distance of the Canberra CBD and approx 500 metres from the Ainslie footy club. The hotel is the refurbished Northbourne House building for those who know Canberra. The hotel is modern. It has a restaurant and bar. Underground Parking is available at $15 per day. Free on street parking is also available, especially on the weekend.

You have 2 options (Subcon dates Friday 23Oct to Monday 26 Oct)

1. A 10% discount that applies to all rooms and includes no up front payment and free cancellation up until the day before checking into the hotel. Also Breakfast is offered for $26 p/p reduced from $32. This deal offers a small King Studio for 137 p/n or a larger King Deluxe room for $155 p/n are examples of p/n costs but rooms in the hotel are offered under this flexible deal.

Pros: The 10% discount deal is worry free - no cancellation fee up until one day prior to check-in and no up front payment. Also a breakfast discount is offered if booked more than 1 day before arrival.

Cons. More expensive than the current online standard rate (not flexible).

2. Opt to go for the currently online advertised standard rate. These rooms are paid for at the time of booking and you pay a fee for cancelling your booking. Additionally, at the time of booking you will be offered a further 5% off the standard rate if you join the ACCOR club (free). At the moment that rate for club members is $101 p/n for the King Studio...So an excellent deal if you are willing to pay up front and take the cancellation risk.

Pros: Currently much cheaper especially if you join the Accor Club (free) to receive the 5% off the standard rate.

Cons: Pay up front, no free cancellation.

I suggest that you go to the link below to access the Accor online booking search engine. Enter Mantra MacArthur hotel, Your Dates of stay and number of guests/rooms. This will bring up the hotel's cheaper standard room rates...i.e. not the flexible rate.

To access the flexible 10% discount deal go to the link below

1. click on the ALL Accor live Limitless link below
2. Enter Mantra MacArthur Hotel, Dates of stay and number of Guests/Rooms
3. Click 'SPECIAL RATES' ...under CHOOSE RATE on the far right. Right click the arrow and chose PROMO Code
4. Enter ARGRP26 in the box below and click CONFIRM
The 10% discount rates will be shown for each room.
See below for details
I hope this is useful. It's been difficult to deal with hotels...you cannot negotiate with the manager anymore. This is the only deal that the SUBCON planning committee will negotiate. At the moment there are some very good deals online. We only ask that you choose to stay in the CBD or Kingston/Manuka area. This will help us provide a cost effective and efficient bus transport.
With regards to bus transport we will probably ask you to complete a survey on the website so that we can determine the number of attendees who would use the service. We had done some early modeling on 100 pax and bumped that up to 130 pax for our quotes! We got that wrong...now probably close to 190 needing bus transport to the Gala Dinner!
Regards
Stan Nimmo
SAA ACT Branch Secretary
HOW TO BOOK:
Book directly on our site: ALL - Accor Live Limitless | Hotels Stays & Exclusive Deals
Promo code: ARGRP26
Condition of sale: Room Only, No pre-payment required, cancel up to 1 day prior to arrival date.
Breakfast: can be booked for $32 per person on the day, or $26 per person more than 1 day prior to arrival.