Visitor Toll Pass vs SunPass Mini

[jstaff]

Hello

We are flying to MCO on Saturday and renting a car. We had planned to use our SunPass Mini Sticker from our personal vehicle in the rental. However, I recently found this on the SunPass site "Keep in mind that SunPass Mini™ Sticker transponders are affixed to the windshield and will no longer work once removed."

We had called Sunpass before finding this and they said we would be fine using the mini sticker in the rental. However, now I'm getting conflicting information and don't want a mess up when we get down there and go through tolls.

Should I just use Visitor Toll Pass to be on the safe side and not mess with SunPass?

The only thing I have that worries me a bit with Visitor Toll Pass is they said it could take up to 90 minutes for the rental plate to sync up and become live.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

 

[KrazeeK120]

I personally wouldn’t stick a sunpass mini to a rental car.

We’ve used visitor toll pass twice with no problems. It was super easy.

 

[jstaff]

I personally wouldn’t stick a sunpass mini to a rental car.

We’ve used visitor toll pass twice with no problems. It was super easy.

Did it take a long time for your license plate to sync up? The website says up to 90 minutes. We have never used Visitor Toll Pass before.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Did it take a long time for your license plate to sync up? The website says up to 90 minutes. We have never used Visitor Toll Pass before.

I actually forgot to pair the license plate on our trip last month and it prompted me to do so. I admit I know absolutely nothing about toll road technology, but it charged the tolls to the plate after I paired it.

 

[Mle8308]

Just get a new mini. I’ve done it more than once. Now I bring my own Ez-pass from MA now that it’s all synched with the FL system. Just have to remember to take it out of the rental!

 

[EACarlson]

Just get a new mini. I’ve done it more than once. Now I bring my own Ez-pass from MA now that it’s all synched with the FL system. Just have to remember to take it out of the rental!

I've done this and it ended up costing me $22 to have the transponder shipped back to me. I use the VTP now, if I forget it and no one drops it in a box for me, I'm out $10.

OP, the mini documentation says that because there is no guarantee that the sticker will stick to another vehicle once you take it off the window the first time. Yes you can do it, but I don't think the risks are worth it.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I just signed up for a regular Sunpass (not mini) account years ago. They sent me a transponder with suction cups that I bring to FL whenever we rent a car and stick it on the windshield. My account automatically gets replenished from my credit card when the balance falls below a certain level.

 

[donutz022]

Just did the VTP last week. Super easy go to the kiosk located on the car rental level scan your QR code get the pass. Once we got to the car we wanted I opened the app and added the license plate. I used it immediately. There was no delay. The charges don’t show up in the app immediately though. There is like a 12 hour lag in that. But every toll I went through in the through lanes showed up. We drove all over from Disney to Melbourne and no issues. Conveniently located outside are the drop boxes street level to return it and there is a drop box in the indoor tunnel that connects the car rental return area to the terminal.

 

[jstaff]

Just did the VTP last week. Super easy go to the kiosk located on the car rental level scan your QR code get the pass. Once we got to the car we wanted I opened the app and added the license plate. I used it immediately. There was no delay. The charges don’t show up in the app immediately though. There is like a 12 hour lag in that. But every toll I went through in the through lanes showed up. We drove all over from Disney to Melbourne and no issues. Conveniently located outside are the drop boxes street level to return it and there is a drop box in the indoor tunnel that connects the car rental return area to the terminal.

Thank you! I think we will try this!

 

[Stratman50th]

I just signed up for a regular Sunpass (not mini) account years ago. They sent me a transponder with suction cups that I bring to FL whenever we rent a car and stick it on the windshield. My account automatically gets replenished from my credit card when the balance falls below a certain level.

You might consider getting the new Sunpass PRO. It's a regular Sunpass transponder but is compatible with other states as well. It's the same as your current transponder in size and it's mounted with suction cups too. We did the same as you years ago when we were going to Florida a couple times a year. We are permanent Florida residents now.

 

[OtherFigment]

The downside to vtp is if you fly into terminal b, you have to trek to terminal a to pick up the pass. If you're checking luggage, that's an annoying back and forth. Otherwise works great

 

[jstaff]

The downside to vtp is if you fly into terminal b, you have to trek to terminal a to pick up the pass. If you're checking luggage, that's an annoying back and forth. Otherwise works great

Are the return boxes only in A terminal as well?

 

[EACarlson]

Are the return boxes only in A terminal as well?

No, there are three return boxes in each of the A and B rental garages and a box on the lower level of each terminal where the rental counters are. I know there is a return box at C but I don't know where it is. https://visitortollpass.com/content/pdf/VTP-dropbox-map-web.pdf

Supposedly they are going to add the machines to both Terminal B and C by the end of the year.

 

[jstaff]

No, there are three return boxes in each of the A and B rental garages and a box on the lower level of each. I know there is a return box at C but I don't know where it is. https://visitortollpass.com/content/pdf/VTP-dropbox-map-web.pdf

Supposedly they are going to add the machines to both Terminal B and C by the end of the year.

Thank you!

 

[jstaff]

We are back from our trip and used VTP and it worked great. I would use it again with no problems. We took it from the airport to WDW. 1 toll charge on the way to WDW but I have 2 on the return to the airport. The time of the 2nd toll charge on the return is after I returned the car. Is there 2 tolls on 528 going to the airport and I missed seeing the sign? I know it wasn't us given that we were sitting at the gate waiting for the plane.

I put the trip was ending for VTP at 2pm and the 2nd toll was at 3:08pm.

 

[gmi3804]

Did it take a long time for your license plate to sync up? The website says up to 90 minutes. We have never used Visitor Toll Pass before.

The first few times I used VTP I didn't sync my plate at all; I got a notification about a half hour after my first use that it was synced automatically.

 

[CarolynFH]

We are back from our trip and used VTP and it worked great. I would use it again with no problems. We took it from the airport to WDW. 1 toll charge on the way to WDW but I have 2 on the return to the airport. The time of the 2nd toll charge on the return is after I returned the car. Is there 2 tolls on 528 going to the airport and I missed seeing the sign? I know it wasn't us given that we were sitting at the gate waiting for the plane.

I put the trip was ending for VTP at 2pm and the 2nd toll was at 3:08pm.

I would report it as an error - I haven't used the VTP but there should be a mechanism via the app, or via the toll road authority. Sounds like that transponder didn't disconnect from your account properly. Since you have documentation of what time you returned the car and (separately) the transponder, it shouldn't be difficult to reverse that charge.

 

[steve_rob]

How quickly does the Visitor Toll Pass app update after you go through a toll? We picked up our car and our hanger at MCO last night, updated it with our plate number, and got the e-mail to confirm it was active.

Since then we’ve been through two toll gates (both Greenway) but the app doesn’t show up anything in the activity page and it’s now 12 hours since. So of course I’m concerned that it hasn’t worked and we’re going to be billed by the rental company.

 

[gmi3804]

How quickly does the Visitor Toll Pass app update after you go through a toll? We picked up our car and our hanger at MCO last night, updated it with our plate number, and got the e-mail to confirm it was active.

Since then we’ve been through two toll gates (both Greenway) but the app doesn’t show up anything in the activity page and it’s now 12 hours since. So of course I’m concerned that it hasn’t worked and we’re going to be billed by the rental company.

Stop fretting. It'll catch up. Once when the rental car company charged us (wrongly), VTP credited us the amount and resolved it for us afterwards.

 

[jstaff]

How quickly does the Visitor Toll Pass app update after you go through a toll? We picked up our car and our hanger at MCO last night, updated it with our plate number, and got the e-mail to confirm it was active.

Since then we’ve been through two toll gates (both Greenway) but the app doesn’t show up anything in the activity page and it’s now 12 hours since. So of course I’m concerned that it hasn’t worked and we’re going to be billed by the rental company.

Same thing happened with us. We went through a toll on Saturday afternoon. It didn't show up until Monday morning. It will show up eventually.