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Posted by Rod in Travel at 11:15 pm on Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Anyone noticed there is no free time in the car park at Wellington Airport anymore?
I think it used to be free for the first 15 minutes and now it’s $3 for the first 30 mins. As you aren’t allowed to pick up from the top deck, every car picking up passengers now gets charged $3.
Clever. Maybe it’s paying for the free wifi in Koru now.
The WIAL giveth, the WIAL taketh away.
blog
I was told it was five minutes free. Or, to be more precise, I was told it was five minutes free and I had been seven so I had to pay.
Just pick up upstairs anyway. If you’re only travelling with an briefcase or overnight bag it’s not hard to carry upstairs.
Get whomever is collecting you to sit and watch the surf at Lyall bay and call them once you turn your phone back on. By the time they get around you will have your luggage. It’s better than sitting in the airport.
I’m very tempted to circle the roundabout while the person I’m waiting for walks over from the terminal.
BTW, it’s not a tax it’s a fee.
Taxes are collected by an arm of the state and (generally) used to fund public services, rather than being a payment for a specific service.
Infratil is a private monopoly and charges a fee for a service (parking).
(Airlines want you to think of as much of possible of their cost of sales as *tax* but this is purely a move on their part to reduce sticker shock).
BTW, why does NZ insist you make a separate payment for departure tax rather than just bulk billing the airlines, which would be cheaper to collect, easier and less resented? Is this through lobbying by the airlines?