Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta draws people from the state, the country and the world.
Like the popular Luminaria Tour, many people pack their RVs for vacation. These RV spots are hot ticket items. It’s so hot they burned thousands trying to get Wednesday.
This demand led to website traffic jams, with some comparing it to the Taylor Swift ticket debacle.
On Wednesday, thousands of people were refreshing and reopening tabs on their computers trying to get their coveted RV reservations.
I caught up with a couple about their experience this morning.
Susan Skelton said:
Susan and John Skelton are newcomers to the Balloon Fiesta trying to book an RV space. Both tried their luck on separate computers Wednesday morning.
“When I clicked on a bookmarked page, it would spin around in circles. When it timed out or I got an error message like what Susan mentioned, I would open another tab and start over. It took maybe 15 minutes before I was able to get through,” John said.
According to Balloon Fiesta officials, more than 60,000 people have requested over 2 million websites.
Skelton says it’s like playing the lottery, one of only about 1,700 spots.
“At the same time, someone else may be making the same choice. It all depends on the luck of the lottery as to who gets the credit card information first and how quickly each computer can process it,” says Susan. says Mr.
Balloon Fiesta’s Tom Garrity says things went smoothly with the RV in the end.
“The servers maintain their integrity. As expected, there was a lot of interest from guests wanting to reserve a space,” says Garrity.
For many, the odds were against them.
John says this is kind of like the Taylor Swift concert ticket situation in New Mexico.
“Maybe this is what the Taylor Swift people felt when they were trying to get tickets. rice field.
According to Garrity, if you’re on the waitlist to keep checking back regularly, you can accidentally double-book and end up with a vacancy.
“You know, I think we won the lottery, so maybe we’ll go buy some Mega Millions,” John said.
Balloon Fiesta officials say the park itself is limited in terms of adding RV space.
But last year, India’s Pueblo Cultural Center set up an RV area just for the Balloon Fiesta, they say.
It’s unclear if that will happen again, but officials say they know Duke City is always flocking to welcome Balloon Fiesta visitors.
