Anyone purchase a Sunpass for a rental car?

[ginny65]

Alamo charges a $3.95 convenience charge for each day that the vehicle is driven thru a toll point. There is no charge for days when the vehicle does not go thru a toll point, or when tolls are paid in cash or by using a renter-supplied transponder.

However...that's just the "convenience charge" for Alamo billing you for the tolls at the Toll by Plate rate, which is higher than you'll pay with a SunPass.

The $3.95 does NOT include the tolls -- you pay the tolls PLUS $3.95 per day used.

So, for my convenience in not having to stop somewhere else and buy a SunPass, I can just pay the tolls (billed later through Alamo) in addition to $3.95 per day for the convenience of not having to stop and buy a SunPass?

 

[joelkfla]

So, for my convenience in not having to stop somewhere else and buy a SunPass, I can just pay the tolls (billed later through Alamo) in addition to $3.95 per day for the convenience of not having to stop and buy a SunPass?

Yes, and as Jim said, the tolls themselves are slightly higher than with a SunPass, perhaps $0.25 per toll.

 

[ginny65]

Vacation time is so valuable to us. It might be worth it to just use what Alamo offers.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI, from MCO, the closest place to buy a transponder (without hitting a toll road before you buy it) is the Walgreen's at 5702 Lee Vista Blvd, Orlando, FL 32822 (on the corner of Semoran Blvd and Lee Vista, straight out the North Airport Exit) It is 2.9 miles from the parking garage, according to Google. You can activate in the store parking lot with your phone.

When I did it, the detour took me 15 minutes.

 

[ginny65]

It is going to be late at night when we fly in to MCO, so I know we won't want to make a late night stop, so we will already have to use the Alamo toll system until next morning anyway. Ugh. Decisions, Decisions...

 

[NotUrsula]

I just looked at your route. Every toll road you are traveling on accepts cash, with no posted plans to eliminate that soon. Your simplest option under the circumstances is to bring $20 in quarters and pay the tolls in cash. (When you pick up the car, you tell Alamo that you will be doing so, and if you want to be truly sure not to get double-charged, take a photo of the cash meter at each toll gate; the photo will be time-stamped, and if need be can be used as proof that you paid the tolls.)

PS: The cash roads do have manned toll booths that will make change from bills, but some of the exits are coin-basket only. You can pay with bills at the manned booths, but I just found it less hassle to hand my passenger the baggie of coins and have them count out and hand me what I needed. Toss the handful in the basket, wait for the green and roll on through.

 

[joelkfla]

I just looked at your route. Every toll road you are traveling on accepts cash, with no posted plans to eliminate that soon. Your simplest option under the circumstances is to bring $20 in quarters and pay the tolls in cash. (When you pick up the car, you tell Alamo that you will be doing so, and if you want to be truly sure not to get double-charged, take a photo of the cash meter at each toll gate; the photo will be time-stamped, and if need be can be used as proof that you paid the tolls.)

PS: The cash roads do have manned toll booths that will make change from bills, but some of the exits are coin-basket only. You can pay with bills at the manned booths, but I just found it less hassle to hand my passenger the baggie of coins and have them count out and hand me what I needed. Toss the handful in the basket, wait for the green and roll on through.

I agree. If this is your only trip, just pay cash. You won't have to deal with setting up an account, and the slightly higher toll costs will probably be balanced out by saving the cost of the transponder.

If you plan to make multiple trips to FL, you should order a portable SunPass from the website, so you can have it all set up before you leave for your trip. Then you'll just have to add the rental car to the account when you arrive.

 

[JimMIA]

I just looked at your route. Every toll road you are traveling on accepts cash, with no posted plans to eliminate that soon. Your simplest option under the circumstances is to bring $20 in quarters and pay the tolls in cash. (When you pick up the car, you tell Alamo that you will be doing so, and if you want to be truly sure not to get double-charged, take a photo of the cash meter at each toll gate; the photo will be time-stamped, and if need be can be used as proof that you paid the tolls.)

PS: The cash roads do have manned toll booths that will make change from bills, but some of the exits are coin-basket only. You can pay with bills at the manned booths, but I just found it less hassle to hand my passenger the baggie of coins and have them count out and hand me what I needed. Toss the handful in the basket, wait for the green and roll on through.

Agree with Joel -- THIS is your easiest answer.

Tolls are very minor expenses in a very expensive trip. Take quarters and focus on more important things than tolls.

 

[ginny65]

Thank you all for your advice. Are the tolls easy to spot or do they sneak up on you? I don't want to miss one. We've missed on in Chicago before and got a hefty bill in the mail.

 

[joelkfla]

Thank you all for your advice. Are the tolls easy to spot or do they sneak up on you? I don't want to miss one. We've missed on in Chicago before and got a hefty bill in the mail.

Yes, there is a sign 1 or 2 miles ahead of the toll point, and then overhead signs as you approach the ramp. You would have to be seriously inattentive not to see them.

And if you stumble onto an exact change only exit ramp without change, and you're renting from Alamo, you won't get a hefty bill, just a bill for $3.95 + tolls.

 

[ginny65]

Great. Thank you.

 

[mel&me]

Glad I spotted this thread, Was thinking of getting transponder on next trip, Did not know about adding rental plate to account. Will make sure I do that.

 

[ginny65]

OK. Here are my two cents. Buy the SunPass! We just got back. I wish I would have researched this several weeks before our trip instead of days before. I would have purchased it and had it mailed to me before our trip. It was a pain not only trying to figure out our destination directions, but also having to try to figure out which lane to get in to pay the toll. We did actually miss one, so we will see what happens with Alamo. It was an unmanned toll and we did not have the exact change or anything close to it plus we were in a hurry so we blew through it.

 

[JimMIA]

OK. Here are my two cents. Buy the SunPass! We just got back. I wish I would have researched this several weeks before our trip instead of days before. I would have purchased it and had it mailed to me before our trip. It was a pain not only trying to figure out our destination directions, but also having to try to figure out which lane to get in to pay the toll. We did actually miss one, so we will see what happens with Alamo. It was an unmanned toll and we did not have the exact change or anything close to it plus we were in a hurry so we blew through it.

If you had the tag number of the rental vehicle registered with SunPass, that toll will simply be billed to your SunPass account-- and at the discounted SunPass rate.

I recently bought the portable SunPass and there was a toll plaza malfunction a couple of times that caused me to be billed by plate. The pricing actually looked okay on the detail of my SunPass statement, but it showed Bill-by-Plate and my tag number. I called SunPass and they verified that the toll was paid and paid at the discounted rate.

 

[ginny65]

If you had the tag number of the rental vehicle registered with SunPass, that toll will simply be billed to your SunPass account-- and at the discounted SunPass rate.

I really should have researched all this weeks before our trip. To me, driving on vacation, trying to figure out where we need to go, what lane, what lane in the toll plaza, etc. is just not vacation. But we had a free villa for several nights thanks to a family member, so we had to rent a car to go anywhere. We could have used Uber or Lyft, but we wanted to go to Kennedy Space Center one day, so we just rented a car until we arrived at Disney for the remainder of our stay.

 

[sgtdisney]

Well, I bought a Sunpass for our upcoming trip so I could be prepared. Now, just got an email from them saying that there systems will be 100% down for 6 days and we will be unable to use the app or the website to add funds, or even add a rental car to the transponder. Makes me nervous. It does say you can add rental info after their system comes up and back date it, but hopefully Alamo won't get the charges first. Never heard of an organization having their website and app down for almost week for maintenance. Hope the backdating works...

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Well, I bought a Sunpass for our upcoming trip so I could be prepared. Now, just got an email from them saying that there systems will be 100% down for 6 days and we will be unable to use the app or the website to add funds, or even add a rental car to the transponder. Makes me nervous. It does say you can add rental info after their system comes up and back date it, but hopefully Alamo won't get the charges first. Never heard of an organization having their website and app down for almost week for maintenance. Hope the backdating works...

What dates will it be down? I just bought and received our transponder last week. I haven't gotten the app yet, but they do have my email address for my purchase and I haven't gotten anything about the site being down. We're heading down 6/7 - 6/16...

 

[sgtdisney]

What dates will it be down? I just bought and received our transponder last week. I haven't gotten the app yet, but they do have my email address for my purchase and I haven't gotten anything about the site being down. We're heading down 6/7 - 6/16...

It's down from June 5 at 7PM until June 11 at 9AM. We're arriving on the 6th. I guess I should put some extra money on it as I only opened it with 10.00.

https://www.sunpass.com/PDF/pdf/SunPass_System_Maintenance.pdf

 

[magickingdomprincess]

It's down from June 5 at 7PM until June 11 at 9AM. We're arriving on the 6th. I guess I should put some extra money on it as I only opened it with 10.00.

https://www.sunpass.com/PDF/pdf/SunPass_System_Maintenance.pdf

Well that stinks. It makes me nervous that I'll be charged from my rental company (Alamo). I guess we'll see how it goes. I should probably go add some more money on the account, I think I started with the $10 minimum.

 

[Capt_BJ]

You may still use your transponders to pay for tolls during the system maintenance period. Your toll transactions will be held beginning at 7PM on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, and will be submitted once the system is back on-line.

For customers who replenish with cash You should access your account prior to 7PM on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, to make sure that you have enough funds on your account to pay for any tolls you may use during the system maintenance period. If you do not believe there will be enough funds, please replenish your account prior to 7PM on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, to guarantee that you have funds to cover your toll transactions when they are processed once the system is back on-line.

For customers who replenish their accounts through Easy Pay Because your toll transactions will be held beginning Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 7PM, your credit card may be charged multiple times after the system comes back on-line, if your automatic replenishment amount does not cover the total amount of tolls incurred during the system maintenance period. We only want to ensure you are aware there may be multiple credit card transactions. If you wish to keep this from happening, go to the website and make an additional replenishment payment prior to 7PM on Tuesday, June 5, 2018.

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remember that a functioning transponder should always be charged b4 the (rental's) toll by plate system is accessed. Toll by plate is a backup for a functioning transponder.

I did not get an e-mail .... this is from the web site