Air New Zealand Air Points - Paying NZ Departure Tax

As posted in the AKL airport thread (www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5599998), there are now machines for issuing departure tax stickers next to the downstairs BNZ branches. Accepts mastercard, visa, and any NZ issued ATM card.

As posted in the AKL airport thread (www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5599998), there are now machines for issuing departure tax stickers next to the downstairs BNZ branches. Accepts mastercard, visa, and any NZ issued ATM card.

Interestingly you can't use a foreign Visa/Mastercard as the kiosk can only verify PIN loaded credit cards. Unlike Auckland airport car parking area, you just insert any credit card, it doesn't need signiture nor PIN.

While the new system is an improvement I just wish they would catch up with most of the rest of the world and make it ticketable so you could do away with the whole nonsense of buying it separately anyway

it's coming soon

it's coming soon

Fantastic news - did your source give you an idea of how soon?


My other half thinks I'm mad for always having an extra NZ$50 cash floating round in my wallet for the departure charge at premium check-in... I say its cos I spent much of my youth lining up at the ruddy BNZ counter to pay the thing. Still, at least I wasn't sniffing glue.

Interestingly you can't use a foreign Visa/Mastercard as the kiosk can only verify PIN loaded credit cards. Unlike Auckland airport car parking area, you just insert any credit card, it doesn't need signiture nor PIN.

The whole chip and PIN thing has in fact made it to some of the rest of the world. Whether or not it works in NZ is a bit variable though (at some places, I just had to enter my PIN while at others I needed to sign). I assume it depends on who your card provider is and who is actually doing the authorisation. This might just work with some foreign cards. Give it a few years (yes, this is a long term thing) an I would bet that signing will be a thing of the past in most of the first world.

The whole chip and PIN thing has in fact made it to some of the rest of the world. Ahhh.. but NZ issued cards don't have chips. Or atleast don't tend to. ANZ tried it with the ZED card for a bit, but that fell away. The PIN is set to the card in the same way that a PIN is set for using it in an ATM.

Although I've recently noticed some new EFTPOS terminals don't accept entering a PIN at all for credit transactions. Quite bizarre.

aj

The whole chip and PIN thing has in fact made it to some of the rest of the world. Whether or not it works in NZ is a bit variable though (at some places, I just had to enter my PIN while at others I needed to sign). I assume it depends on who your card provider is and who is actually doing the authorisation. This might just work with some foreign cards. Give it a few years (yes, this is a long term thing) an I would bet that signing will be a thing of the past in most of the first world.

On the contrary actually, signing probably only works in the so-called "first world". And countries like China actually never promote the idea of signing because there simply is too much fraud.

Ahhh.. but NZ issued cards don't have chips. Or atleast don't tend to. ANZ tried it with the ZED card for a bit, but that fell away. The PIN is set to the card in the same way that a PIN is set for using it in an ATM.

Although I've recently noticed some new EFTPOS terminals don't accept entering a PIN at all for credit transactions. Quite bizarre.

aj

NZ will have chip cards very soon. This project actually started in December 2005 aiming to replace all magnetic stripe cards at the end of the decade. It is a different standard from ANZ's ZED card. It was co-developed by Visa MasterCard and the then Eurocard. So it's called EMV transfer. One advantage of that card is it can't be duplicated (or at least very hard). When you try to copy the info off the chip, the data will become corrupted automatically. So something like the recent ATM Skimming would not happen to chip cards.

NZ will have chip cards very soon. This project actually started in December 2005 aiming to replace all magnetic stripe cards at the end of the decade.
This one? :p
http://www.wordworx.co.nz/TelecomsReviewEftposSmartcards0804.htm

The original idea was to have all terminals (and new-issue cards) supporting it from 01/2006. I doubt we'll see it til as you say, the end of the decade.

Actually, reading further, that whole article is pretty interesting. I think I've deviated from the topic enough now. :)

Fantastic news - did your source give you an idea of how soon?

Didn't it used to be possible to transit from one international flight to another on the same day, and not pay the departure tax? Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought this was the reason that the departure tax was not built in to ticket prices.

Yes it is possible, but no different to other countries which somehow manage to charge/not charge tax against the ticket depending on transit or stopover.

IIRC they were banding around 2008 for the conversion of all EFT@POS terminals to accept chips.