EZ pass Question

[Whipperwhirl]

We live in CT - and we are driving to the Big D in October - I heard an E-z pass makes the tolls quicker - can some one tell me what type we need? We have a hybrid escape - but we will be towing a small trailer we use to carry - Ya know - bikes, camp gizmos, an obscene amount of halloween decorations -the usual stuff. Thanks - Whip

 

[mrsscooter]

We have had ours for the last two years, and just asked the hubby to double check. You need to get one for your car to put in the window, and then just register your trailer. We are in CT also, and YES it makes HUGE difference in the trip. You just attach it to a credit card and then at the end of the month they send you a statement of tolls that was charged to your card in one lump sum. We have one for each car and we have had no problems using them.

 

[stpetedisneydad]

http://www.sunpass.com/

 

[mrsscooter]

I thought Sunpass was only to be used in Florida. Ezpass you can use from Ct down to Georgia

 

[Whipperwhirl]

Mrs Scooter - Thanks fo having your husband Check! CT really? When are you leaving for your trip - Looks like we will be there in the same time frame - thats exciting. We are leaving after school on the 24th - stopping overnight the 25th then on to Disney - we hope to arrive by noon on Sunday (Tired but at Disney!). Whip

 

[mrsscooter]

Yup yup....Ct too. In the Norwich area. We are also leaving on the 24th at 3am and we are taking two nights to get down, so we will check in on Monday the 26th around 1pm. As tired as we will be too, we are heading to theh Magic Kingdom that afternoon....open till midnight! woohoo...then MNSSHP on Tuesday

 

[shafke]

I thought Sunpass was only to be used in Florida. Ezpass you can use from Ct down to Georgia

Technically you don't need EZPass after MD. There are no tolls in I95 from DC on down. Once you pass the last toll in MD the next toll booth you would hit is at Disney.

 

[motherwild]

This should help. I love the ezpass
http://www.ezpassnj.com/static/signup/index.shtml

 

[Whipperwhirl]

Mrs Scooter - If you dont mind me asking - what route are you taking? We are in the Northwest corner - I haven given much thought about route until today - reading another thread - and now Im like - there are other ways besides 95??? Who knew. We arn't planning too heavy this time - our trip in December was oooober planned and I promised Hubby a more leisurely rate this time - "we are camping - thats supposed to be relaxing". I am planning on the halloween party on the 1st though - My mom will be in then and that should be fun. Well - nice chatting with you fellow nutmegger - I will PM you our cell phone in case you need assistance on the rd - who knows - we might be close! Whip

 

[thecplusplusguy]

I went down in April and paid a toll on the Mass Pike (live in Worcester area of Mass) then not another toll all the way down. I went route 84 to 81 then I did a couple of state routes like 17 and 15 (not sure) around dc and over to 95. On the way home I took 95 then in SC over on 26 to 77 to 81 to 84 to 90 and then home. This is the route I will take on the way down in Nov. 2010, unless we have an issue with snow then I will have to rethink. I'm not positive on the RT in SC its either 26 or 28. Hope fully someone will correct me. If you look at a map its obvious it connects 77 and 95.

This route is much more scenic then 95 although it is a little longer someing like a couple hours over the length of the whole trip, but no traffic and no tolls.

Dan

 

[mrsscooter]

Hi Whip......got your number.......thanks, I will do the same for you as well! We are part of a grand gathering caravan..lol....that will be heading down. So if you see five campers in a row ranging in a pup up, to a hybrid, to an older travel trailer with a trailer with a golf cart on the back to an older motor home to a bounder, that would be us.....LOL......as far as the route, I will pm you with our "usuals"....we have two but it depends if we are with our with out the camper, and how we are feeling.

We only were down for a week the last time we went to WDW, so this time we are doing the "mother of all trips"......according to the husband. We are planned out, but nothing too crazy. Whats nice about staying that long is that we can factor in down days and not have to be constantly running from one park to the next. I really look forward to bumping into you and your family in October! Do you have any children? We have a boy and a girl and they are disney nuts!

 

[RocklandRVers]

Sometimes we tow our single axle trailer when we go to Disney. In NY, which I assume would cover all states, we have 2 EZPASS thingies. One is coded for the RV without a trailer. The other is for the RV WITH a trailer. Its all about the number of axles in the toll world. The more axles the more money.

 

[auntie]

We've only registered the truck with EZ pass..gone through the tolls here in NY towing our trailer..and never got charged for anything more than the truck.

 

[thecplusplusguy]

My brother got to sensors when he registered with FastLane (mass's version of EZPass), they gave him 2 one for the New England states (which count axels) and one for going south when he pulls the trailer which charges more because they don't count axels.

Dan

 

[3gr8kids]

We enrolled with EZPass specifically for our trip down from Massachusetts to the Fort this past April. We received two transponders. One is strictly for when we are driving the TV only, and the other is for when we were towing our hybrid trailer. You only use one at a time, so when you're towing your camper/trailer, you would need to keep the one just for the vehicle in a FOIL LINED WRAPPER (the wrapper they arrive in when they mail them to you works) so it won't register when you pass through the tolls.

Considering they don't charge for the actual transponders, it's just a matter of keeping a small minimum balance (like $20.00) in the account they draw from, I think they are well worth it. I will warn you, however, one thing that is in the fine print which we didn't read (admittedly stupid) and weren't made aware of (of course) is, they can (and will, without notification) raise the minimum balance depending on your usage. I was quite surprised when I called to find out why my account had an additional $25.00 taken out and I was told this was their policy. (Ours went from $20.00 to $45.00 because in addition to the trip down to Florida, we use them to go to New Hampshire and Maine quite frequently. I was told that if our usage drops for a period of 30 days, we can then call back and have the minimum balance dropped back to the original $20.00).

I can't even begin to tell you how much time/aggravation it saved us, both on the way down to the Fort and on the way home (especially through New Jersey). In some spots, the lines for the tolls were CRAZY long, but we were able to just zip right through with no problems.

IIRC, they are valid all the way down through to Virginia.

We found them so convenient, we added another (at no charge, as I believe you can have up to 4 transponders on a single account) for my DH's car.

HTH, and have a great trip!!

 

[auntie]

We've had this happen as well. I didn't want the E-Z pass replenished until it got down to the $20.00 reserve. Worked just fine for a while. Then, I'm noticing that the E-Z pass started charging $35.00 to our American Express. Sometimes twice in a month. I knew we hadn't used $70.00 worth of tolls that month. Seems everytime it got close to the new $35.00 reserve it would replenish. I was told that I could have it put back to the $20.00.

 

[IslandHtsCampers]

I have EZ Pass through the New Jersey Turnpike. After previous trips to the fort I've noticed my account is charged accordingly when I tow my fifth wheel. In New Jersey you can set up an account with online or phone replenishment. I couldn't stand seeing my credit card getting charged $35-$50 at the whim of EZ Pass. After an extended trip I found that EZ PAss automatically upped my automatic replenishment amount without my authorization. I called up and stopped the auto replenishment and they now send me monthly statements by email. I replenish as needed.

 

[KristinU]

Add us to the list of folks with two transponders - one for TV only and one for the extra axle when towing. We're in CT and bought ours through NY. www.e-zpassny.com They have always been really helpful, and were great when I had questions about towing and needing a second transponder. We love having it - sure saves time over waiting in some of those long toll booth lines.