Sun Pass Questions

[Disbound]

I've been reading through the "something's fishy, has this happened to anyone else?" thread and have some questions about the SunPass. Some have suggested to purchase a temporary Sun Pass at Publix or CVS I think it was. I read that it must be registered online for it to be activated which doesn't do much good when traveling from the airport to WDW since we won't be able to have access to a computer until resort arrival. Is there a way to get one in advance? We will be arriving in Tampa and driving over to Orlando for a few days then back again. Would it be worthwhile to get a permanent one? Can someone explain the options and the how-to's? Thanks!

 

[vicki_c]

I purchased the "permanent" one -- it has suction cups, so it's not permanent in the sense that it's permanently attached to the car. I posted about my experience a few times in that other thread - worked great for us and I'm sure we will use it for many trips to come.

My understanding is that you cannot use the mini/sticker one on a rental car -- it has to be adhered to the window to be used and cannot be removed and reused again. To use in a rental, you would need the other one.

If you go the SunPass site, they have all the info -- and an FAQ which even covered some rental car info, but I did have to e-mail them to get all my questions answered, but they were very helpful.

 

[Disbound]

I went to the SunPass website and here is what I found..

You can use the SunPass mini sticker pass on a rental. If it is purchased and activated before noon, it will be non usable until about 4pm, if it is purchased and activated after noon, it won't be usable until the following morning at about 6am. So this isn't an option for us because we want to use it when driving from Tampa airport to Orlando upon arrival. So this leads me to purchasing in advance the SunPass portable transponder. In the FYI section it states:
Q: Can I use the transponder with more than one vehicle?

A: You may use your SunPass Portable personal transponder on another vehicle that has the same number of axles, as long as the vehicle and license plate are listed on your account information.

How can I register a pre-purchased transponder if I don't know the rental info until I get the car? Do I enter my own vehicle's info even if I'm out of state? Sorry if this is a stupid question and I'm just missing the point here but maybe someone here can help clear this up. I tried calling them directly and they are closed for the weekend.

 

[backyardponder]

I don't know about all rental companies, but Avis cars have a SunPass on them. Fees plus about $1 or $2 per day of use is billed to my credit card. I don't mind paying the fee for the convenience. You might want to check with your rental company...I'd call the Tampa Airport location with that question.

 

[vicki_c]

I went to the SunPass website and here is what I found..

You can use the SunPass mini sticker pass on a rental. If it is purchased and activated before noon, it will be non usable until about 4pm, if it is purchased and activated after noon, it won't be usable until the following morning at about 6am. So this isn't an option for us because we want to use it when driving from Tampa airport to Orlando upon arrival. So this leads me to purchasing in advance the SunPass portable transponder. In the FYI section it states:
Q: Can I use the transponder with more than one vehicle?

A: You may use your SunPass Portable personal transponder on another vehicle that has the same number of axles, as long as the vehicle and license plate are listed on your account information.

How can I register a pre-purchased transponder if I don't know the rental info until I get the car? Do I enter my own vehicle's info even if I'm out of state? Sorry if this is a stupid question and I'm just missing the point here but maybe someone here can help clear this up. I tried calling them directly and they are closed for the weekend.

Mine (transponder not the sticker version) is registered with my personal car. You do not need to register the rental vehicle. I verified that with them before purchasing. It worked just fine.

 

[vicki_c]

I don't know about all rental companies, but Avis cars have a SunPass on them. Fees plus about $1 or $2 per day of use is billed to my credit card. I don't mind paying the fee for the convenience. You might want to check with your rental company...I'd call the Tampa Airport location with that question.

Alamo charges $2.50/day for the SunPass service. Not really worth it if you're not hitting many tolls, IMO. We would have paid 13 days x $2.50/day for the ~$3-4 in tolls we had to pay. That's why we chose to just purchase the portable transponder for $25 and we can keep indefinitely.

 

[Inkmahm]

Alamo charges $2.50/day for the SunPass service. Not really worth it if you're not hitting many tolls, IMO. We would have paid 13 days x $2.50/day for the ~$3-4 in tolls we had to pay. That's why we chose to just purchase the portable transponder for $25 and we can keep indefinitely.

I purchased the transponder probably 4 or 5 years ago. It is registered to my home car and it works with rental cars in Florida without any problems.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Officially you're supposed to call SunPass and give them the year, make, model and tag number of the rental car. But if you don't, SunPass works just fine in a rental car because the transponder doesn't know what car you have it in. But yes, give them your personal car information when you establish the account. And you CAN purchase a SunPass in advance via their website.

Please note that very few toll lanes around Orlando display the SunPass logo; some do but you'll mostly see E-PASS. SunPass and E-PASS are interoperable so you CAN use SunPass in E-PASS lanes and v.v. (E-PASS is different from E-ZPass of the northeast & midwest, which does NOT work in Florida.)

BobK/Orlando

 

[Tara]

We've had our SunPass for the last 3 or so trips and it is AWESOME and so well worth the $25. The sound of that "beeeeep" as we speed past the toll booths on our way to Disney is practically part of the magic. And I love not having to fish around for change if we make a grocery run and end up using one of those 50-cent, exact change only exits.

 

[dioxide45]

You don't need to register your car online if you have the SunPass portable. However if you go through a toll lane and it doesn't beep, having it registered will help them track the account that should be billed instead of them just billing the rental company and them turining arounf and billing you plus a $25 fee.

 

[sillysully]

From what I've read most rental car companies in FL have the Sun Pass and it is activated when you drive through a Sun Pass only OR Sun Pass/Cash lane. With Hertz anyway, the fee is $2.50/day for a max of $10, plus tolls.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like having your own transponder would result in you double paying.

 

[Tara]

From what I've read most rental car companies in FL have the Sun Pass and it is activated when you drive through a Sun Pass only OR Sun Pass/Cash lane. With Hertz anyway, the fee is $2.50/day for a max of $10, plus tolls.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like having your own transponder would result in you double paying.

The rental companies that offer this service only activate it if you choose to use it. You can opt out and use your own transponder or pay the tolls with cash. If you are a frequent Disney/Orlando visitor, it makes sense to get the transponder versus pay a rental company a fee for using it given that it's just $25 and you can use it indefinitely.

 

[BigTigger]

Two points on the above:

1) There are no tolls from the Tampa airport to WDW on any of the main roads out of TPA, so the OP won't have any issues there.

2) Dollar has the toll plan as part of the rental and you have to opt out not to have it as a background safety net. It is not a transponder, but a license plate registry that violations are run against and if your rental shows up you get charged the toll cost plus an administrative fee (a third party administers the program for Dollar). If you use your own transponder you will not get double charged as you won't end up on the violations list.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

1) There are no tolls from the Tampa airport to WDW on any of the main roads out of TPA, so the OP won't have any issues there.

Good catch....everyone overlooked that.

BobK/Orlando