Purchase sunpass transponder Alamo rental

[gerberdaisy1234]

Do you know if Alamo has sunpass transponder in their vehicles? I want to purchase one but wonder if they have one affixed already. Thanks

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

You would think it would be a savings to have the convenience of using the rental transponder, but I heard them at the counter charging a flat fee of If I recall $30. They told the people that is for the week. If they drove to Tampa, or was it Miami, it would pay for itself I didn't see the savings for a drive from the Sanford airport to Orlando/Disney.

Now that I need to p/u and drop off various family members I am rethinking the one use transponder for convenience.

 

[Apopper74]

Alamo cars come with the Sunpass. I forget the fee but it's like $3/day plus tolls, but Alamo only charges you the per day fee on days you actually use use it. Much more reasonable than most rental car agencies.

 

[ibob52]

Alamo cars come with the Sunpass. I forget the fee but it's like $3/day plus tolls, but Alamo only charges you the per day fee on days you actually use use it. Much more reasonable than most rental car agencies.

That also was my experience with ALAMO . . . *$3.95 fee per usage day*

$3.95 fee per usage day (24 hr. interval) that the customer incurs tolls, plus tolls

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Thank you for your replies.

We will have tolls at 5-8 of the days we are there so buying the transponder would be cheaper than $3.95 a day. Plus we can use on future trips.

According to another disser their transponder worked in an Alamo vehicle.

I think I am going to order and hopefully it will work.

 

[bumbershoot]

For those who aren't going to be using the tolls heavily, though, there's a middle ground.

Just go through the tollbooths and pay in cash.

Unless you're going down to Miami on the turnpike, cash tollbooths are all over the Orlando/Port Canaveral area. Even to Fort Lauderdale.

I find it very simple to get a roll of quarters and some ones and just go through the tollbooths. No transponder and no paying the rental car company for us of THEIR transponder.

 

[deedisneydream97]

For those who aren't going to be using the tolls heavily, though, there's a middle ground.

Just go through the tollbooths and pay in cash.

Unless you're going down to Miami on the turnpike, cash tollbooths are all over the Orlando/Port Canaveral area. Even to Fort Lauderdale.

I find it very simple to get a roll of quarters and some ones and just go through the tollbooths. No transponder and no paying the rental car company for us of THEIR transponder.

It seemed like I would always get behind people asking a million questions at the toll booth....and sometimes there can be only one or two booths open and it can get backed up. After a long flight, I just want to get to my resort. And on the return trip DH always stresses about getting held up at the booth and being late for the flight.

I get a discount with my personal sun pass at the tolls....I wonder if Alamo passes their savings along to their customers.

You will also find unmanned toll booths at some entrance/exit ramps...the sun pass just makes life easier. They make it very easy to add the rental car for the number of days you are using it....I was actually able to do so in the garage at the airport while waiting for DH to arrive from baggage claim. That is our drill.....he collects our bags while I head out to the car rental garage to claim our car, check it out and start it up to get the a/c going.

I just noticed your success on weight watchers, congrats.....me too, about 30 lbs. Am a few pounds over goal right now...too many Disney trips.

 

[rwdavis2]

We take roll of quarters and pay in the exact change lane

 

[hollypoast]

It looks like the maximum rental for the transponder with Alamo is $19.75 ($3.95 per day that you go through tolls) plus the cost of the toll.
https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar (scroll all the way to the bottom)

I've been stressing about this and was considering buying a transponder once we arrived but this seems like the easiest option. Even if we pay a little more...

 

[deedisneydream97]

It looks like the maximum rental for the transponder with Alamo is $19.75 ($3.95 per day that you go through tolls) plus the cost of the toll.
https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar (scroll all the way to the bottom)

I've been stressing about this and was considering buying a transponder once we arrived but this seems like the easiest option. Even if we pay a little more...

You should do whatever is easiest and most convenient for you and your family. Planning a Disney vacation is very time consuming for the planner and stressful at times....so why add more stress? My DH is very impatient and at first also did not want to purchase the transponder, but was happy we did. I mostly purchased it because I knew I would be doing a road trip this summer and wanted to avoid the mess on I-4 and knew the alternate had a number of tolls between Sanford and Disney.

You may have to tell Alamo when you get there that you will be using their transponder....I'm not sure, as I have not had to do this.

I will tell you that it is so much easier to just keep going on the main part of the highway instead of having to veer off to the exact change/manned lanes.

 

[Capt_BJ]

No you do not have to tell ALAMO anything up front ... they (and National and Enterprise all) have the most reasonable policy on electronic tolling in Florida for rentals IMO:

Participation is automatic.

Opt-in decision is made when the driver elects to use EXPRESS, SunPass ONLY, E-PASS ONLY or LeeWay ONLY lanes.

Nothing to decide at time of rental.

$3.95 fee per usage day (24 hr. interval) that customer incurs tolls, plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)

$19.75 maximum fee per rental period plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)

 

[jimandami]

No you do not have to tell ALAMO anything up front ... they (and National and Enterprise all) have the most reasonable policy on electronic tolling in Florida for rentals IMO:

Participation is automatic.

Opt-in decision is made when the driver elects to use EXPRESS, SunPass ONLY, E-PASS ONLY or LeeWay ONLY lanes.

Nothing to decide at time of rental.

$3.95 fee per usage day (24 hr. interval) that customer incurs tolls, plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)

$19.75 maximum fee per rental period plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)

So then does Alamo just charge the card you have on file for the tolls and the fee?

 

[hollypoast]

So then does Alamo just charge the card you have on file for the tolls and the fee?

I believe that's how it will work. It's my plan to opt in using express lanes. To me this is an AWESOME time saver and makes the whole toll thing much easier. I couldn't buy a transponder and/or pay tolls for less so win, win. I only wish this information was more readily available. I had to go to the SunPass website to learn about this.

 

[nacho113]

I believe that's how it will work. It's my plan to opt in using express lanes. To me this is an AWESOME time saver and makes the whole toll thing much easier. I couldn't buy a transponder and/or pay tolls for less so win, win. I only wish this information was more readily available. I had to go to the SunPass website to learn about this.

For the infrequent visitor to the Orlando area this is a great policy. If you just want the convenience of not having to stop and pay the toll or if you are going to be in areas with electronic only tolling (ie: Miami area), this is a very reasonable option. You can still avoid the charge if you want, by going through the pay lanes in the Orlando area.

If you are a frequent visitor to the area, the $20 transponder option is probably the better way to go since paying $3.95/day fee would pay for the purchase of a transponder with only 5 days of use. Also if you own the transponder there is a small reduction in the actual toll fee (10-15%)

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I like to prepay as much as I can. I prepay port parking, etc.

Also we have to make a trip to the airport midway. I read that you can pay for airport parking as well using the sunpass

Even though the transponder and Alamo's max is similar, I can reuse the transponder on future trips. Also like someone mentioned, there is a slight discount on the tolls.

 

[RAD]

I have my own SunPass, have had it for years. So if I rent from one of these companies is there a way to tell them I don't want the use their transponder?

 

[Capt_BJ]

most rentals don't use a physical transponder anymore, the cars are 'fleet registered' under toll by plate where the system captures the tag number and bills accordingly. If you use a transponder of your own, it overrides 'toll by plate'.

all explained here: https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

In simple terms an electronic toll bridge or lane will first look for a transponder to process. If no transponder is found the system "captures" the tag. First they look at SUNPASS to see if the tag is attached to a transponder, then they look to see if it is registered to a fleet account, and lastly they process as unregistered.

This is why it is important to register the tag in SUNPASS, and not simply rely on the transponder "working". Similarly, when you return the rental, remove the tag from your account promptly.

 

[HelenParr]

We fly to WDW several times a year, and rent from Alamo most times, most recently 3 weeks ago.

We have a Sunpass, and we bring the transponder to WDW with us. As soon as we pick out a car, we log into Sunpass mobile app on i-phone to register the rental vehicle plate. Takes less than 2 minutes. We love using the Sunpass lane. If toll station fails to read the transponder, because we registered the car (as PP notes) plate on Sunpass site, it should default to our account anyway.

If you did not have Sunpass, and did nothing else, Alamo's Sunpass-process would kick in. You'd pay for the toll plus the daily use fee. (I do not believe Alamo passes toll savings on. It's the "rack" rate for the toll).

 

[RAD]

most rentals don't use a physical transponder anymore, the cars are 'fleet registered' under toll by plate where the system captures the tag number and bills accordingly. If you use a transponder of your own, it overrides 'toll by plate'.

all explained here: https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

In simple terms an electronic toll bridge or lane will first look for a transponder to process. If no transponder is found the system "captures" the tag. First they look at SUNPASS to see if the tag is attached to a transponder, then they look to see if it is registered to a fleet account, and lastly they process as unregistered.

This is why it is important to register the tag in SUNPASS, and not simply rely on the transponder "working". Similarly, when you return the rental, remove the tag from your account promptly.

Thanks!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

We fly to WDW several times a year, and rent from Alamo most times, most recently 3 weeks ago.

We have a Sunpass, and we bring the transponder to WDW with us. As soon as we pick out a car, we log into Sunpass mobile app on i-phone to register the rental vehicle plate. Takes less than 2 minutes. We love using the Sunpass lane. If toll station fails to read the transponder, because we registered the car (as PP notes) plate on Sunpass site, it should default to our account anyway.

If you did not have Sunpass, and did nothing else, Alamo's Sunpass-process would kick in. You'd pay for the toll plus the daily use fee. (I do not believe Alamo passes toll savings on. It's the "rack" rate for the toll).

Thank you

Are there tolls between Disney and Universal?