What is the procedure for paying for parking; where do you pay; how much for overnight; can you drop off passengers at the curb; do they have an attendant; haven't flown since the new system was installed; thanks,
henk.

(short term right outside) The deal is that 15 minutes are free. You drive in. Take a ticket. Leave before 14:59 and there is no charge. I have been told (not tried) that if you place your ticket in the machine before 14:59 it will re-validate it for another 15 mins before you have to pay. Other than that, you drive out and back in whilst waiting....

Trevor

If you need to pay (i.e. you go over your free 15 minutes), you simply go over to the machines (located by the exit doors for arriving passengers), insert your parking ticket and pay whatever fee you've acquired. The machine doesn't take credit cards, so have NAF handy (apparently, no American $$ are accepted either).

Once you pay, you get a validation ticket to insert in the ticket reader at the exit and, voila, the gate opens and you are permitted to exit. Obviously, you have to actually leave the lot pretty quickly after you get your paid ticket. (Like I wouldn't hang around for 10 minutes after I received my paid exit ticket).

The alternative to paying is to keep exiting the lot every 14 1/2 minutes to avoid the fee, then re-enter and get a new ticket and wait another 14 1/2 minutes to leave. (I met a guy doing just this while he waited for his pax on the inbound Delta flight last Saturday....the flight was late and we all were sitting around for awhile).
HTH.

short description ...it's a mess ...fully automated .no way to really explain it .. to drop off you have to enter short term .. take a ticket and do your business in 15 minutes .. after which there is a charge ... which you pay(correct change please) by machine located next to the bathrooms in the main lobby --i can't tell you about long term .. all in all .. it is a hassle...most people avoid this by parking outside the airport along side the main road just outside the entrance to the airport .. good luck ....

is this affecting the restaurant at all? a lot of locals used to hang out there just to be with their friends. is there anyplace (other than along the road) to park if you want to go to the restaurant or the mcb kiosk? i can't picture being in and out of either in less than 15 minutes.

Sounds like everyday life where I live. Welcome to the "real" world, Bonaire....sigh....

i want pictures...

Tink...of the airport pay machines???!!?

Liz, I want pictures of the whole mess...after reading Trevor's and your post, I was thinking what Pietri said...sounds like a mess!

Heh
It's really great if you misjudge it and get to the gate just too late. Now you may have a car behind you so you can't back up. I don't know how you handle that.
Mick

How many airports do you ever go to where parking is free?
It's quite simple to use and if you over-stay the 15 minutes it's not exactly bank busting to pay Fl 2 for another hour's parking. A lot easier than driving round and round.
The machine gave me change It comes out the slot at the bottom - what's the problem there?

Ouch Phil, that stung.

Actually it's not a mess. The lot is always empty. Not many use the bank, gift shop or restaurant much I assume. I used to do all banking there. I used to get phone cards at the shop. We used to go get drinks at the restaurant. No more. Stupid idea IMHO.

Now the real issue is the long wait to get into the departure lounge on Sat. and Sun. and the long wait at times to get luggage on Sat. and Sun. My friends who live here waited 2 hours last Sun. after arriving on CO from IAH. PHOOEY.

It does look very posh....

Trevor

ann,i agree. we used to use the mcb kiosk a lot. but if someone is in front of you you're not going to be in and out in 15 minutes. unfortunately, it seems that bonaire is catching up to the rest of the world in terms of charging for more stuff yet still lagging in terms of upgrading infrastructure (mainly sewage treatment).

and i know a number of people who would stop in the bar for a few drinks and watch the planes land. i'll bet they are going to be losing money now. too bad, especially after the upgrades they've done over the past few years.

Personally I think this is like being "nickel & dime" to death and will hurt the merchants by the airport.
They just increased the departure tax & added a new security fee etc etc. I think it's a myopic approach
to good business sense. But, I'm just a visitor.

Personally, I don't think 15 minutes is enough time to do business with any of the business vendors, so what they are saying is if you want to use the bank, gift shop or restaurant, you will have to pay to do so now. Paying to park to pick up a person or just to park your car is fine, but to do business there? I don't think so. What they should have is a parking validation thingie that each of the vendors can stamp/mark on your ticket if you are there to eat/drink do banking or shop at the gift shop, so if you want to hang out at the airport bar and have a few drinks, eat, do some banking or shop at the gift shop, you won't pay additional costs to do so. Just my two cents. I know of some parking lots in Texas that does this and it works out great!

The Good News:
The parking lot is fairly empty so finding a spot is easy. The lot is not cluttered with people leaving their car for long (i.e., eight plus hours). The parking lot surface is now about the same level as the drive right in front of the terminal.

The Bad News:
It seems like a lot of money to fix something that was not a problem. On an island like Bonaire, money that could have been much better spent. (Sort of like all the $$ they spent redoing Abraham...) It seems to be impacting the merchants. It is part of the issue that has made the car rental thing so complicated (i.e., move them just off the airport and then jacking up their rates made many move). People now just park on the road. People now just circle through the lots. There is no one to staff the machines -- I can only imagine what happens when someone misplaces their ticket, forgets to pay, waits too long after paying, etc. You can no longer just drop at the curb (taxi only) -- you now have to be at least a bit further away. Requires locals to either drop someone off at the airport or to incur parking costs...

And, just because parking is paid in most places, is no reason for a place to give up its charm bit by bit.

But, as Vince said, I am but a visitor.

And, to build off of Ann's Rant: That money would have been much better spent allowing luggage to come off the plane in something less than 1.5 to 2 plus hours!

David..Regarding JA Abraham & the improvements on the roadway going into town, just think within 2 years they'll be tearing up the nice bricks to put in sewer lines..Oh well...I guess it's a Bonairean thing.

It might have something to do with being forced to upgrade to meet European safety standards. I remember hearing something about Curacao and Bonaire having to update their security measures in order to be allowed to continue operating.

Vince, I thought of that too, pity that they didn't lay the sewer pipes in when they did construction.

From what I understand there is a parking lot past that lot, kinda near rental offices that is for long term parking.

Vince & Debbie....that system of working sounds just like good ole' NJ, doesn't it? Pave and THEN tear it up to do unrelated work so they have to pave it again later on. Keeps those tax dollars floating at all times, right?

Scary, isn't it?! Carole