Norfolk airport parking garages to stop accepting cash payments starting Saturday

Next time Hampton Roads vacationers fly out of Norfolk International Airport, it might be wise to remember the credit card and leave the cash at home.

Beginning Saturday, the parking lots and garages at the airport will no longer accept cash payments. Flyers will need to use another form of payment to pay for their parking, including: Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit cards and debit cards that do not require a PIN to use.

The airport board made the decision in the fourth quarter of 2022 after years of declining cash payments at the garages, spokesperson Charles Braden said in an email.

“There were many factors that went into the decision to go cashless, including cost, efficiency, new technologies and security,” Braden said.

For flyers who only have cash, a reverse ATM is located in the departures terminal next to the American Airlines counter. For a fee, the machine will issue a card in exchange for cash. Customers can also pay for their parking before they fly online at norfolkairport.com/parking.

The airport still plans to staff the credit card and self-service lanes at the garages 24 hours a day. No employees will be laid off as part of the decision and will be reassigned, Braden said.

Braden said most of the airport’s parking customers already use a payment method other than cash. About 94% of parking revenue comes from credit cards.

Norfolk isn’t the first airport to ditch cash payments, he said. Airports in Dallas and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, have also stopped accepting cash at lots and garages.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com