Newport Folk Fest - Using Lyte

This year was the first I was unable to get tickets to Newport before it sold out. I'm blaming it on the hotel WiFi, as tickets went on sale while I was in Atlanta. I'd refresh, see available tickets, select the number I wanted, quickly press next and every time I would get a message saying the tickets I selected were not available. I tried unsuccessfully for 30 minutes, then decided to accept my fate. Fortunately, I'm a glass half full kind of person, and there are two positives that come from this lack of tickets.

First, it's the holiday season. My credit card has seen a lot of action this month, and I don't mind not having an additional $400+ (for two 3-day passes) added on top of what I already spent. I'm hoping, if I get tickets, it will be in a month when I'm not purchasing many other things, and the ticket cost won't hurt so much.

Second, I get to see how Lyte works from the obtaining tickets side, and I'm going to track my progress over the next several months here. That way (assuming this has a happy ending) maybe I can give you a little hope if you find yourself in a similar position and are unsure if you'll ever make it to the front of that virtual Lyte line.

Ultimately, I want to end up with two 3-day passes. I decided to break it up into two separate Lyte requests, each for one 3-day pass. I'm not positive how the requests are filled, but asking for a ticket at a time seemed like the best bet. I requested my first ticket around 8 pm on ticket sale day, and the second three days after that.

Here was my line progress:

November 29, 2018: (1) #531 | (2) X

December 02, 2018: (1) #531 | (2) #695

December 17, 2018: (1) #508 | (2) #672  [5 artists announced]

December 26, 2018: (1) #490 | (2) #652  [7 artists announced]

January 9, 2019: (1) #479 | (2) #641 [9 artists announced]

January 14, 2019: (1) #474 | (2) #636 [10 artists announced]

January 28, 2019: (1) #466 | (2) #627 [14 artists announced]

March 5, 2019: (1) #446 | (2) #606 [24 artists announced]

March 15, 2019: (1) #443 | (2) #601 [27 artists announced]

March 28, 2019: (1) #427 | (2) #585 [31 artists announced ]

April 9, 2019: (1) #423 | (2) #576 [35 artists announced]

May 6, 2019: (1) #410 | (2) #557 [47 artists announced]

May 21, 2019: (1) #402 | (2) #547 [52 artists announced]

May 28, 2019: (1) #391 | (2) #536 [53 artists announced]

June 3, 2019: (1) #368 | (2) #512 [53 artists announced]

June 17, 2019: (1) #339 | (2) #479 [54 artists announced]

June 24, 2019: (1) #331 | (2) #470 [54 artists announced]

July 3, 2019: (1) #308 | (2) #443 [54 artists announced]

July 8, 2019: (1) #302 | (2) #433 [54 artists announced]

July 9, 2019: (1) #284 | (2) #407 [54 artists announced]

July 11, 2019: (1) #268 | (2) #390 [54 artists announced]

July 13, 2019: (1) #220 | (2) #338 [54 artists announced]

July 16, 2019: (1) #209 | (2) #326 [54 artists announced]

July 18, 2019: (1) #188 | (2) #297 [8 days 'til festival]

July 22, 2019 (8am): (1) #140 | (2) #245 [4 days 'til festival]

July 22, 2019 (2pm): (1) #121 | (2) #216 [4 days 'til festival]

July 23, 2019 (8am): (1) #96 | (2) #175 [3 days 'til festival]

July 24, 2019 (8am): (1) #53 | (2) #127 [2 days 'til festival]

July 24, 2019 (10:15pm): (1) #34 | (2) #106 [2 days 'til festival]

July 24, 2019 (10:48pm): (1) TICKET REQUEST FILLED! | (2) #100 [2 days 'til festival]*

July 25, 2019 (8am): (1) Ticket Received | (2) #98 [1 day 'til festival]

It should also be noted that there is a slight price difference between purchasing a ticket when they go on sale through Eventbrite vs. acquiring a ticket through Lyte. In 2019, a 3 day pass from Eventbrite with fees was $226.28 while the same ticket purchased through Lyte is $237.00. The person selling the ticket through Lyte receives $219.50 for each 3-day pass sold, but also has the option to donate a percentage of that back to the Newport Foundation, should they wish.

*Since I had two spots in the Lyte 3-day pass line, I expected my second requests to move forward in line the same number of positions as my first request. I also expected it to move more, if people in between my two requests were to drop out. What I don't understand is how I went from position 34 to ticket in about 30 min, but my second request only moved forward six positions.

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#wanderdonut #travel #newport #nff #newportfolkfest #tickets #lyte #rhodeisland