Registration comes before the room
TRB states the order. Registration is required to secure a guest room within the TRB hotel block. Registration is also required for every attendee, including session speakers, poster presenters, and anyone who attends a session or workshop or visits the exhibits. Meeting registration and the hotel reservation must both be secured with a valid credit card, and TRB accepts American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.
A planner who books a hotel first and registers later works against the sequence the organizer publishes. The block closes on a fixed date or on sell-out, whichever lands first.
The sequence, in order
1. Register and pay. Early Bird pricing closes November 18, 2026, a Wednesday. General registration is $1,225 in that window, one-day registration $735, TRB Student Affiliate $310, Non-Member Student $435 and Young Professional $675.
2. Wait for the confirmation email. TRB states that an attendee without a confirmation email inside 24 hours is not registered, and the fix is a call to the TRB Registration Bureau.
3. Book the room through the TRB Housing Bureau. The negotiated rate is the federal per diem, $203 a night. The card guarantees the reservation. TRB describes the arrangement as book now and pay later, and the card covers the guarantee alone.
4. Watch December 21. Reservations are accepted through December 21, 2026, a Monday, or until the TRB room block sells out, whichever happens first. The sell-out clause carries the real deadline, so the date is a ceiling.
5. Hold still from December 22 through 28. No change and no cancellation can be made in that window, by the housing bureau or by the hotels.
6. From December 29, talk to the hotel. Changes and cancellations go to the confirmed property directly.
Two deadlines twelve days apart
Registration refunds close on Wednesday, December 9, 2026. A written request to TRB@spargoinc.com by that date returns the fee minus a $50 cancellation fee, and TRB grants no refunds for requests that arrive after it. The room block stays open twelve days longer, through December 21. A request that arrives after December 9 returns nothing on the meeting fee.
The fee steps as the year turns. Advance registration runs November 19 through January 7 at $1,520 for general registration, which is $295 above Early Bird. Onsite registration starts January 8 at $1,570, which is $345 above Early Bird and $50 above Advance. A planner who registers in the last twelve days of the block pays the Advance price and holds no refund window.
What the block buys
TRB negotiated the federal per diem of $203 a night across its hotel list, and it calls the guaranteed rate the first benefit of booking through the bureau. Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi comes with the reservation. The card holds the room and the charge comes later. Fellow attendees stay in the same properties, which is the reason TRB gives for the networking value. TRB also states that block participation helps keep registration fees low. Taxi fares between the Convention Center and the TRB hotels run approximately $5 to $15.
The change rules in full
Before December 22, 2026, changes and cancellations go in writing to the TRB Housing Bureau at TRBHousing@spargoinc.com. From December 22 through 28, 2026, neither the bureau nor the hotels accept a change or a cancellation. From December 29, 2026, the confirmed hotel takes the request.
A cancellation inside 48 hours of arrival, or a no-show, puts one night of room and tax on the card that guaranteed the arrival. Some hotels charge an early departure fee when a guest changes the departure date after check-in, and TRB’s advice is to confirm the departure date at check-in.
Two offices, two addresses
Cancelling the hotel reservation does not cancel the meeting registration. The housing bureau at TRBHousing@spargoinc.com handles rooms. The registration bureau at TRB@spargoinc.com handles the meeting fee. A message to one does not reach the other, and a planner chasing both has to write twice.
Two products sit outside the sequence. The Expo Only Day Pass costs $100, goes on sale online January 8, 2027 and onsite January 10, and excludes sessions, workshops, committee meetings and the TRB hotel block. Badge reprints cost $50, and TRB does not permit badge sharing.
Where the room puts you
The 106th Annual Meeting runs January 10 to 14, 2027, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Allen Y. Lew Place NW, and the Marriott Marquis, 901 Massachusetts Avenue NW. The Convention Center carries entrances on either side of L Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW, plus a corner entrance at M and 7th Streets adjacent to the Metro. The nearest station is Mt Vernon Square/7th St–Convention Center, on the Green and Yellow lines.
Union Station sits 1.2 miles and 10 minutes out. Ronald Reagan Washington National is 5 miles and 20 minutes away, Dulles is 29 miles and 50 minutes, and BWI is 32 miles and 60 minutes.
The sequence to run
Register by November 18 at $1,225 and keep the confirmation email. Book the room through the housing bureau that same week and let the card sit as a guarantee. Put any change in writing before December 22. From December 29, call the hotel. Confirm the departure date at check-in. Note the December 9 refund cutoff when you pick the registration date, and treat December 21 as the last day the $203 rate holds through the block.