miami to orlando avoiding the cashless toll booths

[paulm]

hi all

I am an experienced Florida traveller flying into Miami as flights were £120 per person cheaper than into Orlando.

I intend to pick up an Alamo rental car at Miami Airport for 2 weeks and drive up same day to Orlando on the Turnpike, which I have done previously before cashless toll booths were introduced

Is it true Alamo charge a $2.95 daily fee for their TollPass program, up to $14.75 per rental period, along with the cost of the tolls.
I almost certainly will not be using any roads with toll charges during the rest of my stay, so do not think it is not worth activating the Sunpass transponder in the hire car.

I do not mind paying for the one way tolls to get to Orlando, but I need to know how to avoid the cashless toll booths at the Miami end.

Heading toward from Miami Airport to Orlando which is the first point I can join the Turnpike AFTER the cashless toll booths ?

any advice would be welcome

[vickk]

from my experience getting out of miami traveling west has proved impossible to avoid the cashless toll. traveling north I am not sure as have never gone that route

[Gerry Reed]

I may be wrong - as we have never used the car hire system, we have our own transponder, but was under the impression that they only charge for a day in which you have used the toll system. In other words, if you only go through tolls on day 1 and say 14, you would only get the daily charge for those two days not for 14 days and I think avoiding the tolls would be a lot of hassle and stress to save a few dollars.

Sue

[steph_goodrum]

That's true Sue so if that is the only days you will use it although it makes the tolls expensive then saves the hassle. Going up the 27 is feasible but it is a long drive that way.

[Katys Grandad]

The charges vary dependent upon which rental company you use, See https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

Alamo's daily charge when you actually use the pass is now 3.95 dollars with the maximum charge for the whole rental period 19.75 dollars. I make that less than £1.50 on top of the toll for your intended usage. Not a large sum within a holiday that must be costing thousands of pounds?

[paulm]

The charges vary dependent upon which rental company you use, See https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

Alamo's daily charge when you actually use the pass is now 3.95 dollars with the maximum charge for the whole rental period 19.75 dollars. I make that less than £1.50 on top of the toll for your intended usage. Not a large sum within a holiday that must be costing thousands of pounds?

Hi

I did not realise that you only paid for the days that you went through a toll gate. I thought that you signed up for the duration of the rental.

The next question is

I have now checked in my rental online, so will go straight to the garage to pick up the car.
As I will now NOT be going to a check in desk how do I agree to use and pay for the Sunpass ?
Or does the pass activate when I drive through the first toll booth ?

[Katys Grandad]

I have now checked in my rental online, so will go straight to the garage to pick up the car.
As I will now NOT be going to a check in desk how do I agree to use and pay for the Sunpass ?
Or does the pass activate when I drive through the first toll booth ?

With Alamo you don't need to inform anybody or do anything at all on collection. The in car sensor will only activate the first time you go through a cashless lane at a toll station.

I admit to having been a little sceptical the first time I did it but have never had a problem with several subsequent rentals.

[Gerry Reed]

Again, I may be wrong, but I don't think rental cars actually have a transponder but the number plate is read, in the absence of a transponder in the car, and used to charge the hire company who then pass the charge on to you. We put up our own transponder and have never had to remove a hire company one from the car and it is our personal transponder account that has always been charged with the toll charge - we have never had to tell anyone to charge us not the hire company.

Sue

[Katys Grandad]

Again, I may be wrong, but I don't think rental cars actually have a transponder but the number plate is read, in the absence of a transponder in the car, and used to charge the hire company who then pass the charge on to you.

Sue

You aren't wrong. That's what I was trying to say and obviously pretty badly!

[Tonish]

Done it quite a few times now and I've never actually seen the charge come through on my credit card. Admittedly, it is just as likely that I haven't checked the bill properly than that the charge has been overlooked.