Avoiding Tolls!>?

[catjammies]

MCO to/fro Turkey Lake Road (Quality Suites) is where I need to go.

Last trip to Orlando - I paid cash at every tollbooth I ran across - yet, of course, I also got hit with additional tolls & a horrendous "service fee" once I got home - w/PayLESS Rental Cars, of course.

What's the secret to avoiding tolls?
Buy a gadget?
Get some toll plan w/Budget ahead of time?
Avoid certain roads? :O

How can I travel betw these two without a problem??
(Because Im now AARP, I AM confirmed w a rental from Budget! - if it matters.)

Thanks in advance!!!! xoxo

 

[holden]

I think Budget gives you the "sun pass" or whatever it's called (EZpass where we live). If not ask for it.

 

[seashoreCM]

To avoid all tolls you need to avoid certain roads.

In the Orlando area, if you want to use a toll road and pay cash, get in line for the manual cash/receipts lane. Get a receipt every time. Watch the signs, sometimes you must go down what looks like an exit ramp to get to this lane. At these locations there is no set of booths on the main line. You will be billed a service charge as well as the tolls if you go right down the middle between the small cash toll booths off to each side (and under what looks like a big sign bracket) and do not have a Florida electronic toll gadget.

Only a small number of other states issue toll road transponders valid in Florida. Notably excluded are all of the northeast states (east of the Mississippi River and north of the Carolinas).

Anyone can get a Sunpass even if they own a transponder from another state.

 

[MillauFr]

I just bought my own SunPass to avoid these types of problems.

 

[cjbcam]

When we went in November I was very surprised to see a toll and drove right on by. Then we seen another and we didn't have any American money yet so just chose to go on bye. Then we hit one more where we actually had to drive through a lane and throw money in (there was no one working) we just drove through. I was freaking out thinking we would get this huge bill from the rental company. We had a $15 dollar charge. As soon as we got to our hotel I figured out why we were never on toll roads our first few times (and why it surprised me to see them) our GPS was set for no toll roads the first two times and this time it wasn't. I set it correctly and never hit a toll the rest of the trip. We don't have toll roads here so seeing that first one I was like I think we are supposed to go up there and pay. Well we learned our lesson and it was way cheaper than I thought it was going to be.

 

[FCDub]

Google Maps allows you to plan a route and avoid tolls. Check it out.

 

[NotUrsula]

I've never been hit with additional rental car tolls, but I'm careful. Make SURE that you read the fine print and REFUSE the rental car's internal transponder service. You rented from an agency with an automatic opt-in in the contract, so because you didn't insist on removing it, you accepted it. This list of policies is helpful: https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

Something else that I always do when I pay cash for tolls (when not using a personal transponder) is take a time-stamped photo at the toll booth, showing the green light in the pay lane. This is proof that you paid at the booth, and can be used to dispute the toll-by-plate charges. You can also always ask for a receipt at manned booths.

If you are going to be driving often in parts of Florida with no-cash toll roads, it may pay to purchase your own SunPass transponder. You can do that online here: https://www.sunpass.com/displayPurchaseTransponderAgreement (they will mail the transponder to you. Do not buy the cheaper mini-sticker; it cannot be moved between vehicles.) Establish the account using the license plate of your personal vehicle, and then, when picking up each rental car, use your phone to go online at Sunpass and add the rental plate to the account before the car rolls out of the garage. Of course, also be sure to REMOVE the rental plate number from the app as soon as you return the rental car -- you don't want to be paying the next person's tolls for them.

FWIW, I do not find that it is worth my precious vacation time to be taking alternate routes to avoid Orlando-area tolls altogether; as long as you are only paying the real tolls, they are not high enough to warrant the extra time it takes.