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ravi said:
I have a question that isn't directed at anyone in particular. If picking up rental cars directly at the airport were to become more popular, would that lead to more congestion at the airport? Could it lead to a traffic situation like that at Maho Beach?


ravi,

There was a time way back in the day, I'm thinking in the 70's and 80's and maybe even into the very early 90's, when the old airport had a small parking lot across from it and abutting the lagoon, where people would leave their rental cars if their agent wasn't able to meet them for their departing flights. It was almost commical to see all the cars driven in and left there in any way people could manage to cram them in. And the irony was they all had the keys left in either the ashtray or the ignition and no one ever worried about theft. I always wondered how the first car in was ever going to get back out again but they always seemed to as this is the way it was done for years.

Having seen the chaos it created I can understand why they wanted to do away with the practice, but I've always understood the rental car ban at the airport was enacted to provide a clearer opportunity for the taxi drivers to attain their fair share of revenue from the arriving passengers. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />


Respectfully,

pat



"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat
them."