Need to use one Sunpass Only Exit

[jebond]

All this electronic toll only stuff is driving me crazy. We are going to WDW in two weeks and have a reservation with Budget. I know about their Sunpass system & how the Toll-by-Plate through Alamo/National/Enterprise is so much better; however the rental rate I could get with Budget, Avis, & Hertz was significantly less. I only have one exit that I would need to use the Sunpass for (exit 240 - electronic tolls only) during my trip. I know the Sunpass system can be turned off & on, but it sounds like once you activate it, they charge you for your whole trip...is that right? I can't turn it on & use it for one day & then turn it off, can I?

Any other bright ideas?

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Any other bright ideas?

For a comparison how various car rental companies deal with Florida tolls, see https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

With most other major car rental companies, drivers opt-in only if they drive the car through an electronic tolling location. I normally use National when I'm in Orlando. I pay my tolls in cash; I avoid all electronic-only exits; and I make sure I am never in open-road tolling lanes. I've never been charged the TollPass fee. (If I were going to be driving on toll roads daily, I would willingly pay for the convenience on TollPass, but usually the only tolls I incur are the ones to and from the airport.)

The Avis/Budget chart suggests that people who rent cars from Avis and Budget are automatically opted-in, seemingly whether they incur tolls or not. There's nothing about triggering an opt-in only if using an electronic toll lane or exit. This seems surprising. I would recommend checking with Budget to see what the real story is.

Let's assume for a minute that Budget only charges the eToll fee ($2.95 per rental day plus tolls / $14.75 maximum) if you actually incur a non-cash toll. In that case, I would use Google Maps to find a route that takes you to your destination without using exit 240 -- unless it would be more inconvenient and much more time-consuming than paying the eToll fee.

If it turns out you have to pay the eToll fee in any case, you might as well use exit 240.

 

[DCTooTall]

When I rented Avis (Same company as Budget) last year, I would only get charged the Toll fees if i actually used the electronic tolls.

so this would mean that if you don't use the electronic only toll, you wonn't get hit with the toll + daily fee.

If you do use the electronic toll only exit, You'll be charged the toll amount, PLUS the daily fee for EACH day of your rental, even if you only use it once.

 

[granmanh603]

When I was in Fl last March, I think I picked up a brochure on the Sun Pass thing and I thought you could buy on at like CVS or Publix or other places for tempory use...for like $5? and add on to it? it should be on the sunpass site.. what I do not know is if you can use with a rental.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The problem with the $5 SunPass is that it's a sticker that can only be used once. It's fine for a personal car, but you can't remove it from a rental car and apply it to a different rental car in the future.

Also, you have to register the license plate with SunPass. It used to take somewhere around 12 hours from when you registered the license plate until you could use the sticker. That wouldn't work for a rental car. However, I recently looked at the SunPass website, and I could no longer find such a waiting time. That either means they've improved their system, or it means I was not looking in the right place.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I only have one exit that I would need to use the Sunpass for (exit 240 - electronic tolls only) during my trip.

EXIT 240 is Kissimmee Park Road, an interchange on the Turnpike that is a SUNPASS-only exit southbound and a SUNPASS-only entrance ramp northbound. Are you sure that you MUST use this exit? Assuming that you're southbound, just get off at EXIT 244 (US 192/ US 441), pay the cash toll and then continue on that road. You should be able to connect to Kissimmee Park Road that way.

BobK/Orlando

 

[IlovePiglet]

Use Exit 244. It will add a few minutes travel time to your destination but it will give you peace of mind and you won't be stressing over the Sunpass only thing