Last July when we were here, we paid our dep. tax at the airport a few days before leaving. Yesterday we went to the airport to pay and the girl said it has to be done after you get your boarding pass and cannot be done unless it's the same day you are leaving. Had not seen any posts about this change, and when we questioned her about it, she acted like she did not understand fully what we were saying. Does anyone know why in the world they would make this so difficult by not allowing you to come by in advance and pay?

Cathy, it seems to depend on who is working in the tax booth. Some people have been able to pay prior to having a boarding pass and others were not.

Cathy..Believe it or not, a lot of things on Bonaire are difficult to get done. Things just don't work the way they do back home. I think it has something to do with the sun.

Cathy, we were able to buy our departure tax today for tomorrow AM Continental departure... the gals at Belmar were really surprised when I told them.

We did not have to present boarding passes on JUne 8 when we departed this year. Paid the tax while the "other half" stood in the check in line. Paid for two people when one of us was not even at the booth. I guess it depends on how things are going in line and who is in the booth, as RA commented. The sun, for sure! Have fun! cb

The official word from BIA is that the tax is to be collected with presentation of boarding pass. That being said...I have heard many different scenarios...I guess it is the luck of the draw..now with the new JFK/BON flight, it will be interesting to see how many more lines it will take until the system can be streamlined. I imagine once the airport gets finished with all the construction, they will take time to find out how to relieve congestion.

One can only hope,Michael!! We're on the "maiden" flight down and back ( I guess) with Delta in December. We're the guinea pigs, I guess, LOL. No problem, THAT kind of "test" I will gladly partake in! Carole

Is there a departure flight with Delta to JFK non stop on 12-20?? Will they unload "us" and pick up return passengers from Bonaire on the first day of the new route? Hmmmm.

So when we left Saturday a.m. the gal in the booth said the rule had been changed in January 08 so that you had to have your boarding pass to pay the tax. That was the story Saturday, YMMV. ha.

And I know we've talked about this before but I don't recall ever reading if anyone knew WHY you now have to have your boarding pass before paying your departure tax. Could it be an issue of changing the tax on a regular basis (I know this is not the case just trying to think of reasons why) or to ensure that you are purchasing a departure tax for the correct area/country? Isn't the tax different if you are flying to say Curacao versus the US or Europe?

YoMo, the word from the airport officials was they wanted to assure that ALL travelers paid the departure tax...

Hmm - I don't see how that works any differently. If you pay AFTER you get your boarding pass but no one checks it then why is it different. Oh this is just WAY too confusing.

I can conceive of no scenario (except arrive by plane - depart some other way)where it makes any difference when you pay your departure tax.

Either you have a boarding pass and no tax form and you're denied boarding,

or you have a tax form and no boarding pass and you're denied boarding,

or you have neither and you're denied boarding.

Am I missing something? Is there some way to leave (via plane) without both documents? If I pay it early and lose the ticket does anybody really care if I have to pay it again? Is there some sort of black market in departure tax tickets?

In truth, I can't remember whether the little tax ticket was ever checked as we left.

It's just one more little annoyance. At this point the allure of BON outweighs the annoyances, but who knows what will swing the scale.

Wait, I've thought of something...

There is a difference in amount based on where you are going. We flew out via Tiara to Aruba, connecting to Delta. The boarding pass I had in hand was BON-AUA, so I got charged $7.00. I told the lady we were going on and by rights should pay $35, but she blew me off. I think there may have been a bit of a language barrier - I'm the quintessential American (English and enough Spanish to get a beer and find the bathrooms).

So we got on the plane and left.

Life would be a LOT simpler if we (the US) would just ANNEX many of the more popular Caribbean islands.

Bonaire is going through this government-transition thing with the Netherlands and Curacao now, so where's the option to vote to become a US territory?

OK, fine, it's mid-afternoon and I'm bored. I admit it.

We paid our departure tax on July 26th in the a.m for our flight out July 27th. No questions asked. When we got in line on the 27th we told the people behind us to go pay their taxes before they even started to check people in and they had no problem getting it done.

Tom

I think life would be a lot more complex if US world policy was based on tourism. Maybe it already is! Just my 2 cents.

Brian,

Are you a US citizen?

Dave

No I live in the UK

There are different departure tax rates, depending on where your next flight lands. However, when you left Aruba for the states, you paid a full Aruban departure tax. It might have been included with your airfare. Also if you land in Aruba and continue on to Bonaire, you pay their interisland rate as well. Many of the Carribean Islands departure taxes are paid by the airlines. Sure makes it a simpler process for the traveler.

Jan, you very probably are right regarding the taxes embedded in the ticket and such. I will shout from the roof tops that I don't understand why/how/how much. I know I was prepared to pay the full amount in Bonaire, and would rather pay bonaire than aruba, but it really doesn't matter much to me.

My point was that, given differing rates depending on destination, the boarding pass would be needed to ensure charging the correct rate. Had you asked me where I was going the day I left I would have said "Atlanta" not "Aruba". Without the boarding pass, then, I would have paid $35 in Bon, and (presumably) paid again when I left aruba.

Inconvenient it may be, but I guess it is an attempt to do the right thing.