Hertz Arena parking goes cashless starting with Dierks Bentley concert

Leave your cash in your wallet: Hertz Arena won’t accept it anymore for parking.

The Estero arena announced the news Monday on social media. The change starts with Thursday’s nearly sold-out Dierks Bentley concert.

“Starting August 18th, Hertz Arena parking is going cashless!” the venue wrote on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Now Hertz will only accept credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and parking passes or permits in its 2,000-space parking lot. Parking fees are usually $15-$25, according to the arena website.

Customers have been asking for years for a cashless option, says Hertz assistant general manager Randy Klinck. The venue started offering a cashless option in July for a WWE wrestling event, he says, and about 73 percent of the night’s customers chose to go cashless instead of paying with cash.

Many U.S. venues have been going cashless over the last several years, he says, and that trend accelerated during the pandemic.

The biggest reason for the trend: It's just faster. 

“By going completely cashless, it will speed up the transaction process so that our attendants do not have to switch back and forth between credit card scanners and cash…” Klinck says. “For us, this is not about being cashless, but is more about speeding up the transaction period and entry into the parking lot.”

Bentley performs at 7 p.m. Thursday. Parking is $25.

Klinck says he expects things to run smoothly for Thursday’s concert, but the arena always urges people to arrive early for shows — just in case.

“Anytime you try to put 5,000 or more people into an area in a short amount of time, there will be traffic congestion,” he says. “We open 90 minutes early for all of our concerts ... to allow more time for entry.

“If people have their payment ready to go as they pull up to the gate attendant, it will speed up the process tremendously.”

Traffic congestion should start improving at the arena as more people become aware of the cashless system, Klinck says. “The number of cars that we had to turn around (previously) because they did not have cash would probably surprise most people. The last thing we want to do is slow down the entry process, and we truly believe that this will speed the process up.”

For more information, visit hertzarena.com.

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Email him at crunnells@gannett.com or connect on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).