Best ways to pay tolls in Florida when renting a car?

[publicpersona]

I've been doing some research about this (reading threads here, and the very helpful  SunPass : Rental Vehicles) but still not sure what the best option is for me when renting a car. Please check me out on the following points, as I'm not 100% confident.

 

• If doing a one-day rental from Avis/Budget, it appears that the fee Avis/Budget charges is not really that bad .. about $4 in addition to the cash price for tolls. Where it gets bad is if you do a multi-day rental, then that's $4/day whether you use a toll road every day or not (true?).
• There is a pre-paid toll-by-plate option where you create an account, then register your rental car's license plate along with the start and stop "dates". Has anyone used this successfully? In particular, can you specify start and stop "times" as well? I didn't see where you sign up for the account.
• Some toll programs in other states (e.g., NC Quick Pass) can be used in Florida. In theory, you are supposed to register your rental license plate in their app, but as long as the transponder is read, it will go to your account even if the plate isn't registered. I have also heard that you must register the license plate and it could take 24 hours for it to actually be registered, but heck .. I won't have this car but for the 1-2 hours after registering the plate. Another negative is the transponders that work in other programs are full-size transponders, yet another item to have to pack and remember.
• If all else fails, cash at the toll booth is still an option on whatever they are calling the Beeline these days.

 

[JohninDC]

Where are you renting from and what port?  If flying into Orlando and cruising out of PC then just pay cash (a bunch of quarters works best) for the single toll you will encounter.

[Sand and Seas]

2 hours ago, JohninDC said:

Where are you renting from and what port?  If flying into Orlando and cruising out of PC then just pay cash (a bunch of quarters works best) for the single toll you will encounter.

Just did this and had two tolls.  $3 in quarters will take care you from MCO to Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

[Capt_BJ]

Just did this and had two tolls.  $3 in quarters will take care you from MCO to Port Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

correct so long as we're talking MCO to the port with no side trips or early exit ..... there are two tolls, one at the 417 junction and one at Dallas Road ... at this time these still have attended lanes. Caution the attended lanes look like exits if not paying attention. The electronic lanes go straight thru and the attended is off to the right ....

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Capt_BJ

[screenname2004]

Not sure where OP will rent their car. Almost 2 yrs ago, we picked up a Visitor Toll Pass at MCO ( https://visitortollpass.com/ ) for our rental car during our 2 day stay in Orlando before our cruise. It works most of the time but a couple of tolls were charged to our car rental. After I sent an email to the VIsitor Toll Pass agency, they reimbursed us for the tolls plus the fees the car rental company charged us.

[Capt_BJ]

VTP is good if you rent from AND return to MCO ......

[Cienfuegos]

Some rental car companies register their vehicle fleets with the toll pass transponder companies, so an attempt to register your own transponder with the rental license plate will come back with "license plate already registered" or something similar.  Happened to me with a Budget vehicle in Orlando.

 

Florida's Turnpike is gradually phasing out attended toll booths on its roads.

[publicpersona]

Thanks for all the excellent responses. I should have stated that this would be travel MCO->PC and then PC->MCO.

 

So it sounds like VTP is what will work best, although I need to look at my flights to see if they are both in terminal A. If I had to schlep carry-ons over from terminal B that might influence the solution.

[screenname2004]

7 hours ago, publicpersona said:

Thanks for all the excellent responses. I should have stated that this would be travel MCO->PC and then PC->MCO.

 

So it sounds like VTP is what will work best, although I need to look at my flights to see if they are both in terminal A. If I had to schlep carry-ons over from terminal B that might influence the solution.

You only have to worry about your arrival flight because there are VTP drop boxes at both terminals A and B. IIRC, going from Terminal B to A was not that big an issue because they are in the same building. 

[publicpersona]

16 minutes ago, screenname2004 said:

You only have to worry about your arrival flight because there are VTP drop boxes at both terminals A and B. IIRC, going from Terminal B to A was not that big an issue because they are in the same building. 

On the VTP website and in their app, they indicate only the one drop box in Terminal A. But you are right.. it isn’t that far between A and B landside. Could be worse .. could be Terminal C, but I think that’s only JetBlue domestic. 

[screenname2004]

3 minutes ago, publicpersona said:

On the VTP website and in their app, they indicate only the one drop box in Terminal A. But you are right.. it isn’t that far between A and B landside. Could be worse .. could be Terminal C, but I think that’s only JetBlue domestic. 

You can only pick up the VTP in terminal A but you can drop it off at either A or B. https://visitortollpass.com/content/pdf/VTP-dropbox-map-web.pdf

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Both mainline toll plazas along TOLL SR528 (Beachline Expressway) are operated by the Central Florida Expressway Authority and have manned cash lanes. Don't bother with the time and hassle of a toll transponder when you can just pay with cash bills or coins.

[screenname2004]

I assume one doesn't rent a car only to go from the airport to the cruise port and back. With a VTP or toll transponder, one doesn't have to worry about what road to take or not take because it may not have manned cash both. If one just wants to go to the port directly, other transportation options are easier, faster, and may even be less expensive.

[publicpersona]

On 5/20/2023 at 10:42 AM, publicpersona said:

So it sounds like VTP is what will work best

 

Following up. I tried VTP and have mixed reviews. For someone doing a one-way rental MCO => PC and then PC -> MCO a week later, I don't think it is worth the hassle. Picking up and returning the VTP at MCO was a breeze for me since I flew into Terminal A (where the lone pickup kiosk is), and return out of Terminal B where there is a return drop also.

 

One issue is that there isn't an elegant way to do multiple "trips" with one transponder. I couldn't leave the outbound rental car's license plate engaged all week while others were driving the same car, but there's no way to temporarily deactivate it without ending the trip, which would invalidate the VTP for the return. As a workaround I "changed vehicles" to a fictitious license plate for during the week. I did not get charged with anyone else's tolls.

 

They do prefund the account with $10, and say they do refund any unused portion, but they haven't yet.

 

I did register the return's rental car plate, hung the VTP from the rear-view, and made sure the Avis toll box was closed. Yet, I subsequently received a bill from Avis for the tolls on the return trip. Since it was just one day, the $4.95 charge in addition to higher tolls wasn't outrageous. Still .. I don't know why VTP didn't work on the return.

 

I had read someone else had that issue and VTP reimbursed the charge. Great. So I was going to their website to see what that process was, but their website has been down for at least a couple days. They are disingenuously saying that the outage was planned (no it wasn't) and that the site would be back up within 30 minutes. Then they post the same message saying it will be 30 more minutes. That's been going on for days.

 

 

 

[Cienfuegos]

I had the same experience with Avis making the $4.95 daily charge for the toll transponder. They said the counter clerk didn't check / uncheck the box declining the service.

 

Avis was agreeable to reversing the charge. I'm sure it cost them more to dispute it with me than they made on the fee.

[publicpersona]

11 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

I had the same experience with Avis making the $4.95 daily charge for the toll transponder.

At this point, I don't think Avis was at fault. They were billed the tolls based on pay by plate because the transponder I was using wasn't valid. I want to find out why VTP didn't work. By the way, VTP's website is still down.

[screenname2004]

On 6/22/2023 at 12:56 PM, publicpersona said:

 

Following up. I tried VTP and have mixed reviews. For someone doing a one-way rental MCO => PC and then PC -> MCO a week later, I don't think it is worth the hassle. Picking up and returning the VTP at MCO was a breeze for me since I flew into Terminal A (where the lone pickup kiosk is), and return out of Terminal B where there is a return drop also.

 

One issue is that there isn't an elegant way to do multiple "trips" with one transponder. I couldn't leave the outbound rental car's license plate engaged all week while others were driving the same car, but there's no way to temporarily deactivate it without ending the trip, which would invalidate the VTP for the return. As a workaround I "changed vehicles" to a fictitious license plate for during the week. I did not get charged with anyone else's tolls.

 

They do prefund the account with $10, and say they do refund any unused portion, but they haven't yet.

 

I did register the return's rental car plate, hung the VTP from the rear-view, and made sure the Avis toll box was closed. Yet, I subsequently received a bill from Avis for the tolls on the return trip. Since it was just one day, the $4.95 charge in addition to higher tolls wasn't outrageous. Still .. I don't know why VTP didn't work on the return.

 

I had read someone else had that issue and VTP reimbursed the charge. Great. So I was going to their website to see what that process was, but their website has been down for at least a couple days. They are disingenuously saying that the outage was planned (no it wasn't) and that the site would be back up within 30 minutes. Then they post the same message saying it will be 30 more minutes. That's been going on for days.

 

 

 

While using a VTP in 2021, some of the tolls were sent to my car rental company. I email a copy of the bill to info@VisitorTollPass.com  and they promptly refunded the amount to my credit card. 

[Susan in Maine]

Do you live in a state that has a reciprocal agreement with Florida? I live in Maine, and whenever I travel down there, I take my Maine transponder with me. Works just fine.

 

SunPass : SunPass PRO

 

 

[publicpersona]

14 hours ago, Susan in Maine said:

Do you live in a state that has a reciprocal agreement with Florida? I live in Maine, and whenever I travel down there, I take my Maine transponder with me. Works just fine.

 

SunPass : SunPass PRO

 

 

 

Yes, that was one option I mentioned in my original post. My concerns about that approach (which may or may not be valid) are difficulties in registering a rental car, and also not wanting to carry a full-sized transponder on the trip.

 

VTP was an excellent solution as far as I'm concerned, except when it didn't work. 😞

 

By the way, their website is still down. But like they've been saying for 3-4 days, it will be back up in 30 minutes.

[Susan in Maine]

2 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

Yes, that was one option I mentioned in my original post. My concerns about that approach (which may or may not be valid) are difficulties in registering a rental car, and also not wanting to carry a full-sized transponder on the trip.

 

My transponder is about 4.5"X3.5"X.75". In our state, the transponder isn't registered to any car, so there is no problem using it in a rental car. 

 

I also bring my own GPS.

[publicpersona]

23 hours ago, screenname2004 said:

While using a VTP in 2021, some of the tolls were sent to my car rental company. I email a copy of the bill to info@VisitorTollPass.com  and they promptly refunded the amount to my credit card. 

 

I didn't have the same result. According to VTP ...

Unfortunately, the Visitor Toll Pass program is intended for airline travelers who are picking up and returning their rental vehicle onsite at the Orlando International Airport. Per our FAQ section, Visitor Toll Pass will not be held liable for any additional costs that may arise from off-site car agencies.

 

Their website (at least the part of it that hasn't been down for several days) says only that you must pick up and return the VTP at MCO. It doesn't say anything about being restricted to a vehicle you rent at MCO. Of course, the FAQ may say that but that's part of the website that has been down for days.

 

Lesson learned: Don't use VTP if you are doing two one-way rentals between MCO and a port.

 

[hrhdhd]

19 minutes ago, publicpersona said:

 

I didn't have the same result. According to VTP ...

Unfortunately, the Visitor Toll Pass program is intended for airline travelers who are picking up and returning their rental vehicle onsite at the Orlando International Airport. Per our FAQ section, Visitor Toll Pass will not be held liable for any additional costs that may arise from off-site car agencies.

 

Their website (at least the part of it that hasn't been down for several days) says only that you must pick up and return the VTP at MCO. It doesn't say anything about being restricted to a vehicle you rent at MCO. Of course, the FAQ may say that but that's part of the website that has been down for days.

 

Lesson learned: Don't use VTP if you are doing two one-way rentals between MCO and a port.

 

The section you quote actually says pretty clearly that the vehicle (singular) must be picked up AND returned at MCO.

[publicpersona]

9 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

The section you quote actually says pretty clearly that the vehicle (singular) must be picked up AND returned at MCO.

 

The quoted text isn't on their website. It's what they emailed me today. I note also that their app provides a way to tell it that you want to move your VTP from one vehicle to another.