Travel Guide

Receiving an Invitation

To receive an invitation to Sleepover you must:

  • Complete 30 verified hours of coding
  • Ship them to sleepover.hackclub.com

You must be between the ages of 13-18 and identify as a girl to attend Sleepover.

You must meet the requirements stated above by April 20th in order to receive an invitation. Invites will be sent on a rolling basis from now until the event — the earlier you meet these requirements, the earlier you can receive an invitation.

Getting to the Venue

Hack Club's Sleepover is hosted in Downtown Chicago. Attendees are expected to get to the venue on their own.

No one except attendees and HQ Adult Staff will be allowed to enter Sleepover.

For teens who require airport pickup, Hack Club Staff will be stationed at Chicago O'Hare and will accompany teenagers on Chicago Public Transit to the venue. More information on this coming soon for confirmed participants!

Due to safety reasons, we will only be able to share the venue's address with confirmed attendees.

Booking Travel

All participants are expected to book their own travel to Sleepover. Limited travel grants are available. If a participant qualifies for a travel grant they must ship a project at Sleepover (working demo link and public GitHub repository) to receive reimbursement, which will be done through HCB.

Arrival/Departure Times

Please book your travel to arrive in Chicago between 11:00am CST and 4:00pm CST on April 24th, 2026.

Please book your travel to leave Chicago after 4pm CST on April 26th, 2026. If you need to arrive at the venue later (e.g. lack of flights) or leave earlier, please let us know via [email protected].

If you're an international attendee and the only flight that works for you arrives on April 23rd, 2026, or leaves after April 26th, 2026, please email [email protected] before booking your flight so we can try to accommodate your needs. We are unable to accommodate early arrivals before 3pm if not previously negotiated with organizers.

You can book a flight before receiving the invitation at your own risk. If you arrive at the event and do not have an invitation or a signed waiver we are unable to let you into the hackathon. We are unable to reimburse any travel or refund feathers if you purchase a ticket and have not received an invitation to Sleepover or are unable to travel to Sleepover (i.e. denied visa/esta).

Travel Grants

Travel grants are an important resource for teenagers whose families otherwise wouldn't have the means to pay for a flight to Sleepover.

You may not apply for a travel grant if you live within 250 miles of Chicago. Check out gas.hackclub.com instead!

Travel Grants may only go towards you (the attendee). No one else!

How they work

Anyone who receives an invitation to Sleepover can apply for a travel grant. Here's what the application process will look like:

  • When you apply, you will be prompted to answer some short questions. The goal of these questions is for us to get to know you a bit and gain a better understanding of why you are applying.
  • We will review your application on a rolling basis.
  • If you qualify for a travel grant, we ask that you purchase your travel in advance. After Sleepover, we will send out a flight reimbursement form to those who have received travel grants.
  • You must ship a project during Sleepover to receive reimbursement for your travel!

Please only apply for a travel grant if you need it! We have a very limited amount.

The standard maximum of these grants is:

  • $300 USD for North America
  • $600 USD internationally

More feathers, more grants!! You can alternatively purchase more funds to be added to your travel grant in the shop. 1 feather will get you 5 dollars worth of flight grants, and you can stack them as long as you have the feathers.

Travelling Internationally

If you are a citizen of a country other than the United States, you may need to apply for an ESTA (Visa Waiver Program) or B1/B2 US visa based on your country of origin.

To request a visa invitation letter, check out visas.hackclub.com