PlatePass, SunPass ques...?

[Poohugz81]

Hello everyone,
me and DBF are considering renting a car to go to Port Canaveral for our disney cruise and would like to know if its possible to take off the platepass, sunpass that is attached to the rental cars?

We went through the cash lanes but got charged with a platepass bill anyway going from MCO to MK last year which led us to shy away from car rentals in Orlando.. $10 tolls were billed to his credit card for a $5 exit/entry through the MCO which turned into an ugly battle between Hertz and us all because of the platepass attached to our rental we didn't know about. If anyone knows anything about that please advise...

 

[dioxide45]

It appears that with Hertz you are automatically signed up for Platepass when you rent. With plate pass I don't think there is actually a transponder in the car but the toll system uses cameras to identify the car and then bills the rental agency accordingly. It is all automatic. It should only activate when you drive through EPass or SunPass only lanes. If you select a cash lane, you have to pay cash. If you pay cash there is no reason for the cameras to record the plate from the car. So Platepass does not activate for that toll.

There is no toll to enter or exit MCO, so I am not sure what that is. There are tolls when going to or leaving MCO. There is also a $2.50 charge for each day you record a toll, on top of the toll amounts.

You can't remove Platepass as there isn't anything attached to the car to remove, the toll system uses the license plate to record charges. Thus the name.

A transponder is different. If there is a plate transponder on the car, it could be removed from the front license plate holder. The problem is that you need to put it in to an RF bag so it won't register when you go through the tolls. The same would go for a portable transponder in the car. If you have an actual transponder, then it would be possible to get billed through the transponder even when selecting cash only lanes. The transponder will beep and will be charged.

 

[seashoreCM]

The platepass or whatever it is called is an optional add-on. Some rental companies charge just a flat fee such as the $2.50 per day. This should have been visible on your rental contract you got when you arrived to pick up the car.

If you were not signed up for this add-on you should have disputed the matter with your credit card company as needed as well.

 

[dioxide45]

The platepass or whatever it is called is an optional add-on. Some rental companies charge just a flat fee such as the $2.50 per day. This should have been visible on your rental contract you got when you arrived to pick up the car.

If you were not signed up for this add-on you should have disputed the matter with your credit card company as needed as well.

With Hertz in Florida (and a few other places) you don't sign up for anything. If you rent from them you are in the Platepass program. If you have your own transponder Platepass never activates since the transponder does the work. If you go through cash lanes you pay cash. It appears in other areas of the country (northeast) they provide you with a transponder. I don't understand why the OP would have been charged for Platepass when going through cash lanes in Florida.

Hertz Platepass

 

[seashoreCM]

Some toll plazas consist of what looks like a sign bar under construction over the main lanes and all the cash toll booths are off to the side looking like an exit toll. If you don't read the real signs preceding carefully you might go under the sign bar which is really an electronic toll only passageway by mistake and wonder "where is the toll plaza that was one mile up ahead?" Then you are charged for whatever the electronic toll procedure is for someone without your own transponder.

>>> If you rent from them then you are in the Platepass program.

But what if you have your own compatible transponder. What if you don't use any toll roads at all? What about lanes that are both cash and electronic? According to the link there is a daily charge for all participants.

There should still be a notation in the contract as well as an option to get out. Otherwise this is getting just as bad as resort fees charged by hotels.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I recently rented from Hertz at JAX and returned the car to MCO which required traveling through various toll plazas. I have my own E-PASS/SUnPass and went through the E-PASS/SunPass only lanes. The car was enrolled in the PlatePass program as are all Hertz cars and I did NOT get billed by Hertz.

As has been mentioned, there is no transponder for PlatePass but the car's tag number is registered. All cars that run through a toll without paying get photographed. The people that run the E-PASS and SunPass programs then match those up with registered cars. Rental cars are thus recognized and the car company and ultimately the renter is billed. Those that are not recognized get a few free waivers but numerous violations results in the owner being mailed a Florida uniform traffic citation.

So to the OP, not sure how what you describe happened. If you stopped at a manual lane and paid cash, no photo would have taken of the rental car. It's possible you overlooked one of the toll plazas and went through a transponder-only lane. Whether you went from MCO to MK via the Beachline Expressway TOLL 528 there are 2 toll plazas and if you went via the Greeneway TOLL 417 there are also 2 toll plazas with a possible 3rd toll at an exit ramp depending where you got off. Is it possible you missed one? During your dispute they should have been able to tell you at exactly which toll plaza you allegedly did not pay and even narrow it down to the specific toll booth if you were at a booth or a lane number if you were in a transponder-only lane.

Anyway, there is just one toll plaza on the way to Port Canaveral just east of the airport for $1.50 each way. Pay cash and you should not get billed by PlatePass.

BobK/Orlando

 

[Poohugz81]

thanks all for explaining it...

what happened was we got enrolled in platepass automatically with my rental and Hertz did not explain it to us. We went through a lane which was both sunpass and cash but even though we paid cash we still got our platepass read. Originally I thought we might have missed a toll too so we contacted the OCEA to see if they have a record of what happened. They sent us a photo of our car at that date and time and indeed everything matched up but we could not argue our way out of it because we had no recepits to prove we had paid cash on that lane. In the end we paid but knowing we will have to rent again soon I really wanted to know if anyone knew how to remove it since its not really worth it for us to use it

 

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another forum)

Let's start a fad! Get a receipt whenever paying cash for a toll.
(Requires using a non-exact change lane.)

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

what happened was we got enrolled in platepass automatically with my rental and Hertz did not explain it to us. We went through a lane which was both sunpass and cash but even though we paid cash we still got our platepass read. Originally I thought we might have missed a toll too so we contacted the OCEA to see if they have a record of what happened. They sent us a photo of our car at that date and time and indeed everything matched up but we could not argue our way out of it because we had no recepits to prove we had paid cash on that lane. In the end we paid but knowing we will have to rent again soon I really wanted to know if anyone knew how to remove it since its not really worth it for us to use it

Well, obviously that should not have happened. All the cash lanes (both staffed and automated) are marked for E-PASS (OOCEA)/SunPass (FDOT) and accept PlatePass. When you paid cash, there was no reason for the camera to have triggered. Can't explain why that happened. My only other suggestion then is if you come to Florida 1X year or more, considering getting your own SunPass. You can bring it with you and use it in your rental cars and it's valid on toll roads and bridges throughout Florida.

BobK/Orlando