Renting a car with Sunpass Pro

[nlenguyen]

Hello,
I am kind of new to the whole toll pass because we do not have those in AZ. Since I will be coming to Florida more frequently I decided to get the Sunpass Pro. Our trip in January we are renting a car from the airport (Alamo) and would like to use the transponder we bought rather than be charged by the company. Does anyone know how the transponder that i bought will be activated rather than the one in the car. I don't want to be charged an activation fee from the company like the last time we visited.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Make sure you have the Sunpass app with you, and that your transponder is linked in the account. When you rent the car with Alamo, go onto the Sunpass app and fill out the 'rental car' portion, where you'll enter a license plate, make/model of car, and fill in the expected expiration date (so you don't need to worry about your account being open when you return home). Then you should be good to go. The transponder will be read at the toll readers, and there won't be any license plate read or rental car company transponder read - just your Sunpass.

A word of warning, due to personal experience - TWICE! Make sure you take your transponder with you when you return the car! It's the only glitch we've had with the process, and it's completely my fault because I was anxious to get the luggage and get my rental receipt and get to the terminal! Other than that, it works really well.

 

[nlenguyen]

Make sure you have the Sunpass app with you, and that your transponder is linked in the account. When you rent the car with Alamo, go onto the Sunpass app and fill out the 'rental car' portion, where you'll enter a license plate, make/model of car, and fill in the expected expiration date (so you don't need to worry about your account being open when you return home). Then you should be good to go. The transponder will be read at the toll readers, and there won't be any license plate read or rental car company transponder read - just your Sunpass.

A word of warning, due to personal experience - TWICE! Make sure you take your transponder with you when you return the car! It's the only glitch we've had with the process, and it's completely my fault because I was anxious to get the luggage and get my rental receipt and get to the terminal! Other than that, it works really well.

Do you mean when you return it you show them that you used yours?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Do you mean when you return it you show them that you used yours?

No, you don't have to show them anything. If your transponder is set up for the rental car you're using (which will happen when you enter the info on the app), you don't have to show Alamo anything. You're good to go! Just make sure you take YOUR transponder with you - for future use!

 

[CarolynFH]

Do you mean when you return it you show them that you used yours?

In the rental cars we've had, the car company's transponder had a cover that had to be opened in order to activate it. It was clearly marked so that we could tell that it was not open, or if it was open we knew to close it. If it's closed, it cannot be read. Only your own transponder will be read. (We have a SunPass transponder with suction cups so that we can use it in our own car when we drive or in rentals when we fly.)

 

[EACarlson]

Alamo does not have a transponder in the vehicle, they use PlatePass. How it is supposed to work is that your transponder would be read, if no transponder is read then the cameras will read the plate and compare that to accounts with the plate number attached (this is why it is important to put the rental plate into the app) then if nothing comes back they go to PlatePass and charge there.

Out of curiosity, why use the Sunpass instead of the www.visitortollpass.com? If you are renting from one of the companies at MCO seems like it would be a better fit. It only took me one time of forgetting my transponder in the rental and paying $23 for them to ship it back to me to make the switch.

 

[CarolynFH]

Out of curiosity, why use the Sunpass instead of the www.visitortollpass.com?

Several possible reasons:

We bought our SunPass several years before the Visitor Toll Pass became available. At the time, we were usually driving rather than flying to WDW, which is another reason to have our own.

Another reason to have one’s own would be that the VTP is available on only one side of the AB terminal, meaning an extra trip across if arriving and picking up the rental car on the other side. Finally, if making several visits a year, it would be more convenient to have one’s own instead of having to go through the pickup process each time.

 

[Stratman50th]

Several possible reasons:

We bought our SunPass several years before the Visitor Toll Pass became available. At the time, we were usually driving rather than flying to WDW, which is another reason to have our own.

Another reason to have one’s own would be that the VTP is available on only one side of the AB terminal, meaning an extra trip across if arriving and picking up the rental car on the other side. Finally, if making several visits a year, it would be more convenient to have one’s own instead of having to go through the pickup process each time.

I agree. We purchased our original Sunpass several years before moving here permanently and it worked great. I just replaced the SunPass with the new SunPass PRO in the event we will use it up the east coast. We do have the window sticker version on one of our cars.

 

[nlenguyen]

Alamo does not have a transponder in the vehicle, they use PlatePass. How it is supposed to work is that your transponder would be read, if no transponder is read then the cameras will read the plate and compare that to accounts with the plate number attached (this is why it is important to put the rental plate into the app) then if nothing comes back they go to PlatePass and charge there.

Out of curiosity, why use the Sunpass instead of the www.visitortollpass.com? If you are renting from one of the companies at MCO seems like it would be a better fit. It only took me one time of forgetting my transponder in the rental and paying $23 for them to ship it back to me to make the switch.

Last time we were there the visitor toll pass was not working, we decided to get the sunpass after because we got charged all these fees from the rental company

 

[Donna M]

I use a suggestion I read here about attaching ribbon from the transponder so it will be more noticeable at the end of the trip. I tucked the ribbon up out of the way till a couple days before we left.

 

[Stratman50th]

I use a suggestion I read here about attaching ribbon from the transponder so it will be more noticeable at the end of the trip. I tucked the ribbon up out of the way till a couple days before we left.

That's a real good idea. Just like the flags on aircraft covers.
I have an RV. We pull a vehicle. I have the Sunpass PRO which has the suction cup mount. The transponder lives in my car when I'm not towing. I pull it out and put it in the RV when I tow the car. That way I only get charged for one vehicle. I do get charged for multiple axles so that's another issue all together.