People Upset With Not Getting Tickets To Skies Holiday Pop Up Bar

Winter Skies holiday pop-up bar is back high atop the Sheraton Kansas City Crown Center for another season of cheer and happiness. However, some folks trying to get a reservation for one of the nights it's operating are getting a little frustrated.

The frustration stems from the standpoint that you can be on the Eventbrite website at the exact time reservations go on sale and come away feeling like you didn't get a real chance at purchasing a reservation for the night you'd like to go to Skies. I get the frustration too.

I wanted to go to Skies last winter, but my wife's health problems made that impossible. So I would like to score a couple of reservations for this year's event. That said, I've been at my computer, all ready to go, clicking in right at the time the reservations go on sale, only to hit the purchase screen 30 seconds later to find it's sold out. It's like I didn't even have a prayer of scoring tickets.

Now, that's part of the allure of the event. It's not something everyone who wants to do will get to do. There's a little bit of exclusivity and luck involved in the process of getting a reservation. That said, the problems start when people feel there's no chance of scoring a reservation when they take the time to be there when the reservations go on sale.

That's led to some frustration from those trying to get the reservation. I even made a crack on the Skies Facebook page that it might just be easier, and perhaps cheaper (no not really), to book a hotel room at the Sheraton with a really good view. Bring your own cocktails and play some music off your phone and there you have it, your own holiday experience high above Kansas City.

Other frustrated reservation seekers venting on the Skies Facebook Page have floated a variety of theories, from tickets being non-existent and the event being sold out on purpose to bots buying up all the tickets. To another person speculating that you have to be some sort of VIP to get in.

The Skies Facebook Page manager did reach out to answer some of the questions people had been leaving. They wrote:

"Thank you for reaching out with your concerns. We get that ticket availability can be a big deal and we don't take it lightly.
Just to set the record straight, we're not holding back tickets to amp up demand. We're honored by the huge interest and support from everyone.

To clear up any confusion, we don't pre-sell tickets and we're on the lookout for bots to keep things fair for everyone. The heavy traffic to our ticketing site shows real excitement for Winter Skies."

I don't believe the fix is in. I don't believe there's any kind of motivation to keep people from enjoying the Skies Winter Pop-Up. I think it's a very popular destination that has a strong dose of nostalgia, along with a little bit of elegance that isn't overdone which makes it an experience people want to have. Throw in some great coverage from television stations and radio stations, and many more people want to experience it than they have tables available.

Let's not forget at this point, they've only put tickets on sale for four days. They're promising plenty more nights when Skies will be open for the holidays. Let's not forget too, that some folks will stop trying to get tickets, while others will have their reservations and they won't be trying anymore either. With the demand, this doesn't mean getting a reservation will be any easier, but maybe it will be.

So I'm going to keep trying for that reservation. If it works out, great. If not, I'm certain the money I'd spend at Skies can be put to good use making fun holiday memories somewhere else.