Two price points in one registration file
SPIE Photonics West 2027 runs Saturday 30 January to Thursday 4 February 2027 at Moscone North, Moscone South and Moscone West in San Francisco. SPIE counts 24,000 attendees and more than 1,400 exhibitors for the week.
The registration page carries two published price points. Fees increase $170 after 15 January 2027. Student member fees increase by $110 on the same date.
The January 15 step, counted
15 January 2027 is a Friday.
The published ladder reads $980 for an SPIE member and $1,170 for a non-member, and it applies to the speaker or author, program committee, session chair and non-author attendee lines. A Student registration reads $570 for an SPIE Student Member against $1,170 for a non-member. Booth staff with an exhibiting company register free, and an exhibition visitor registers free.
Membership bought during check-out carries the member rate on the same registration.
Multiply the step by the group. Four registrations that cross the date carry $680 more. Ten carry $1,700.
The student line, and who qualifies
The student rate carries $600 off one badge against the non-member figure, and $6,000 across ten. SPIE limits the rate to undergraduate and graduate students who have not received a PhD or an MD, and it states that post-docs may not join SPIE as Student Members. Courses are priced separately, and course prices rise 15 percent after the early-bird deadline.
The refund window closes on the same date
SPIE charges a $75 service charge for processing a refund on a conference or course registration. Requests for refunds or course transfers must reach SPIE by 15 January 2027, and every registration fee is forfeited after that date. Membership dues and special events are not refundable.
The room side runs through one bureau
ConferenceDirect is SPIE's official housing bureau for Photonics West 2027. The housing website closes on Monday 25 January 2027, and the bureau states that hotel closing dates may vary by hotel. The block's selectable nights run Saturday 23 January to Tuesday 9 February 2027.
The cancellation term is flat. The bureau states that it will charge a $50 cancellation fee for room cancellations made at any time, that cancellations made directly with the hotel incur the same fee, and that the charge appears on a card statement as CONFDIRECT*SPIEPW27. A valid credit card guarantees each reservation. No published date on the attendee route releases a room at no cost.
Housing questions go to the bureau at spie@conferencedirect.com, on 888 408 8195 toll-free and on 801 512 2163, staffed Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern. SPIE names ConferenceDirect as its official housing provider and carries a warning about third-party booking emails.
Where the ask goes
One request through hotelhaggle goes to 50 or more hotels in the destination. Submission is free and carries no obligation. The platform states that responses typically arrive inside 24 to 72 hours, that the rate is never marked up, and that the guest pays the hotel directly. The platform measures its own result at 15 to 40 percent below rack rates. Its how-it-works page states that most hotels offer group rates at 10 or more rooms per night, and that some offer discounts from as few as 5 rooms depending on season and availability.
The San Francisco directory reads 562 hotels available in its header and 408 available options in a line further down the same page.
Four terms before signing
Collect the nightly rate for the nights that fall inside 30 January to 4 February, quoted as one block with one figure per night. Collect the cancellation term restated on the confirmation, with the bureau's $50 fee named. Collect the release date on unbooked rooms. Collect the parking and breakfast terms.
Then set the badge count against the room dates. Fix the room terms before 25 January 2027 and the registration count before 15 January 2027.
