RSNA 2026 in Chicago: plan the meeting you actually want to attend

A flight to Chicago is a substantial commitment when you are starting in Australia. It is worth knowing which parts of RSNA you need to experience in person before choosing the flights, the hotel nights or the registration package with the most reassuring name.

You might be travelling for education, to meet equipment suppliers, to discuss work with colleagues or to combine several of those aims. Your partner might be coming for Chicago rather than radiology. Those are different plans, and they do not all require the same badge.

RSNA 2026 runs at McCormick Place from 29 November to 3 December, but the Technical Exhibits finish on 2 December. Virtual access has its own boundaries, too: it does not mean every session is broadcast live. The details below were checked against RSNA’s current registration information on 21 October 2026.

Before looking at package prices, make a short list of what you want to come home having done. “Attend RSNA” is a booking category; “discuss a particular workflow with three suppliers and attend these two teaching sessions” is something you can build a day around.

Put activities that need your physical presence into the calendar first. A conversation with a supplier, an in-person workshop and a recorded presentation each ask something different of your time. The official meeting FAQ specifically excludes vendor workshops from on-demand viewing, so a vendor workshop must fit into your onsite plan if you want to attend it.

For other sessions, decide whether being there at the time matters to you, or whether an eligible recording would serve the purpose. This leaves more room for the encounters you cannot put on a replay list. It also reduces the temptation to favourite half the programme and discover that your carefully prepared schedule requires three versions of you.

RSNA’s current registration table separates four formats. Eligibility and price also depend on the registration category and membership package, so this is an access comparison rather than a universal price ranking.

The distinction between the middle two formats is particularly useful. An exhibits pass may suit a trip centred on industry conversations, but it does not become an education pass because the teaching room is in the same convention complex. If reviewing teaching sessions after returning home matters, In Person Only does not supply that broader education replay library. Its industry recordings serve a narrower purpose.

RSNA membership is a separate matter from having completed meeting registration. The FAQ says members must still register, regardless of membership package. Check your own account and category before treating an included registration benefit as a completed booking.

The published programme begins at 9 am on Sunday 29 November and finishes at 4 pm on Thursday 3 December, Chicago time. The technical halls are open from 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday to Wednesday. These are programme and exhibition hours, not a promise that your selected session runs throughout them.

That makes a Thursday-only exhibition visit a costly calendar mistake. You could arrive while the annual meeting is still running and have missed the part you flew over to see.

Match the intended visit to the calendar before deciding the stay:

Your flight and hotel choices can then follow the programme you actually intend to attend. A five-day event label alone is not enough to decide how many nights you need, particularly when international travel sits either side of the meeting.

This is worth settling before your travelling party assumes everyone can wander into McCormick Place together. The attendee FAQ does not offer an ordinary guest badge. An eligible spouse, family member or accompanying guest registers in the Other (Non-Physician/Non-Industry) category, which excludes people who belong in professional or industry categories.

For that category, the current published rates are US$730 for Technical Exhibits Only, US$1,120 for In Person Only and US$1,885 for In Person & Virtual Access. Those amounts are in US dollars, not Australian dollars, and are not a quote for a particular registration transaction. Check the current official table before paying.

A partner who wants to spend the day independently in Chicago and meet you afterwards has a different plan from one who wants meeting access. Decide that together rather than buying access simply because you are sharing the trip. If they do want to attend, choose the appropriate category and format for their own role and interests. Your badge is not transferable.

There is a separate use of the word “guest” on the exhibitor badge page. Exhibitors can send complimentary invitations to current or prospective customers for technical-exhibit access. Recipients still need to register, and those invitations are not intended for company representatives. They are not a general family-companion offer or a substitute for full educational access.

For families, the age rule is also specific: children under 16 cannot receive a badge or enter the sessions or exhibit halls. Camp RSNA is a separate childcare service, free to members and charged to non-members according to the organiser’s FAQ. That does not admit children to the meeting. Confirm its current age and reservation terms before relying on it; the linked service page did not supply those details at the 21 October check. A childcare enquiry remains separate from a booked, eligible place.

Virtual access is useful for more than avoiding a long flight. It can also help an onsite attendee revisit material or catch an eligible session missed while doing something else. The published access deadline is 26 February 2027 at noon US Central Time.

For 2026, only the six plenary sessions in the Arie Crown Theater are live-streamed. Other eligible sessions are available on demand; the organiser says recordings become available within three hours of their scheduled start. Use that replay option for eligible recorded sessions; vendor workshops are expressly excluded, and no live stream is promised for the other education rooms.

If you are planning to watch from Australia, a calendar reminder should use the actual session time and your own Australian time zone. If you are returning from Chicago, give the replay list some space in your diary before the access deadline. “Catch up when things settle down” is a familiar ambition, but not much of a calendar entry.

Flights, accommodation, ordinary meals and social-event purchases need their own budget. Specific benefits attached to a membership package, such as Full Access lounge refreshments, should not be read as general meals included with every registration.

Start registration through RSNA’s own website and keep the confirmation where you can find it. For your daily plan, Meeting Central lets you select sessions and view meeting information; save essential bookings and addresses offline as well. RSNA advertises Wi-Fi at McCormick Place, so there is no reason to budget as though the whole conference must be streamed over a mobile connection.

Outside the venue, you may still want maps or messages for a changed meeting point with your companion. A SIM Shop USA eSIM is one travel-data option for a compatible, unlocked phone.

Leave the replay list in the diary as well as the live appointments. That gives the recordings a chance of being watched, while your time in Chicago stays with the people and sessions that warranted the journey.