Toll Pass for Florida

[MacPhin]

I was wondering if someone can shed the light on obtaining and the cost of getting a toll pass for our rental car when we're in FL? THe rental place wants to charge us $7/day. I thought I heard you can get them at different locations. Are the rental car companies trying to gauge us on this, or is it what it is??
Don't want to be a dumb tourist
thanks

[RinglingRingling]

the Sunpass website lists places like Publix and CVS in FL that sell them. Getting one activated in time and getting it to you before you leave, might be harder. I am not really enthusiastic that basically the only route between FL City and the southern end of Miami has gone to "no toll takers".

[catsway]

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass transponders are sold at most CVS drug stores and Publix Grocery Stores. You set up your account online using your credit card.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass are interchangeable.

Using one of these sure cuts down the wait time at the toll booths and actually reduces your tolls

[MacPhin]

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass transponders are sold at most CVS drug stores and Publix Grocery Stores. You set up your account online using your credit card.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass are interchangeable.

Using one of these sure cuts down the wait time at the toll booths and actually reduces your tolls

So perhaps I can use my Easy Pass from up here??? Hummm, I wonder how that works with a different license plate since it's a rental.
Thanks

[gunthermoose]

Toll Facilities Participating in E-ZPass®

Many toll facilities participate in E-ZPass®. For details, please click on the map or one of these links:

Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Jersey - Delaware
New York
New York City Area
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Virginia
West Virginia

[MacPhin]

Toll Facilities Participating in E-ZPass®

Many toll facilities participate in E-ZPass®. For details, please click on the map or one of these links:

Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Jersey - Delaware
New York
New York City Area
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Virginia
West Virginia

don't see Fla. listed there. ;(

[maid memories]

Carol, go here. They're called Sunpasses in FL.

https://www.sunpass.com/selectAcceptAgr ... ransponder

You can get a mini transponder for $4.99, initial load of $10 and you get $4.99 in rebate credits.

I say order one, use your license plate number and then call SunPass Customer Service Center at 1-888-865-5352 and update your license plate info as soon as you pick up the rental.

[RinglingRingling]

or go with the larger one, it can be moved from car to car. Just toss it in your bag as part of the regular "packed for FL" gear

https://www.sunpass.com/displayPurchase ... rAgreement

[MacPhin]

Thanks Leslie..looking into it. I can't believe Budget is charging us 7/day!

[RinglingRingling]

Thanks Leslie..looking into it. I can't believe Budget is charging us 7/day!

another "profit stream". At that rate, I'd be getting off and on at every exit to make it worth it.

[catsway]

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass transponders are sold at most CVS drug stores and Publix Grocery Stores. You set up your account online using your credit card.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass are interchangeable.

Using one of these sure cuts down the wait time at the toll booths and actually reduces your tolls

So perhaps I can use my Easy Pass from up here??? Hummm, I wonder how that works with a different license plate since it's a rental.
Thanks

Actually, there is no need to change the liscence plate info when you pick up your rental car. As long as Sun Pass/EZ Pass get their money, they do not review the liscence plates. They only review the photos of a car's liscence plate if they Do Not pay their tolls. We have two cars and one Sun Pass. We use it in both vehicles.

And yes, EZ Pass is reciprocal with Sun Pass. There are a few locations in Florida that have the EZ Pass sign such as the Sanibel Gateway for example.

[catsway]

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass transponders are sold at most CVS drug stores and Publix Grocery Stores. You set up your account online using your credit card.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass are interchangeable.

Using one of these sure cuts down the wait time at the toll booths and actually reduces your tolls

So perhaps I can use my Easy Pass from up here??? Hummm, I wonder how that works with a different license plate since it's a rental.
Thanks

Actually, there is no need to change the liscence plate info when you pick up your rental car. As long as Sun Pass/EZ Pass get their money, they do not review the liscence plates. They only review the photos of a car's liscence plate if they Do Not pay their tolls. We have two cars and one Sun Pass. We use it in both vehicles.

And yes, EZ Pass is reciprocal with Sun Pass. There are a few locations in Florida that have the EZ Pass sign such as the Sanibel Gateway for example.

[MacPhin]

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass transponders are sold at most CVS drug stores and Publix Grocery Stores. You set up your account online using your credit card.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass are interchangeable.

Using one of these sure cuts down the wait time at the toll booths and actually reduces your tolls

So perhaps I can use my Easy Pass from up here??? Hummm, I wonder how that works with a different license plate since it's a rental.
Thanks

Actually, there is no need to change the liscence plate info when you pick up your rental car. As long as Sun Pass/EZ Pass get their money, they do not review the liscence plates. They only review the photos of a car's liscence plate if they Do Not pay their tolls. We have two cars and one Sun Pass. We use it in both vehicles.

And yes, EZ Pass is reciprocal with Sun Pass. There are a few locations in Florida that have the EZ Pass sign such as the Sanibel Gateway for example.

Hummm, we have FastPass here in Ma. which is reciprocal with EZPass. However, FLA isn't listed on the FastPass site..oh well.

[maid memories]

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass transponders are sold at most CVS drug stores and Publix Grocery Stores. You set up your account online using your credit card.

https://www.sunpass.com/index

The Sun Pass and E-Z Pass are interchangeable.

Using one of these sure cuts down the wait time at the toll booths and actually reduces your tolls

So perhaps I can use my Easy Pass from up here??? Hummm, I wonder how that works with a different license plate since it's a rental.
Thanks

Actually, there is no need to change the liscence plate info when you pick up your rental car. As long as Sun Pass/EZ Pass get their money, they do not review the liscence plates. They only review the photos of a car's liscence plate if they Do Not pay their tolls. We have two cars and one Sun Pass. We use it in both vehicles.

And yes, EZ Pass is reciprocal with Sun Pass. There are a few locations in Florida that have the EZ Pass sign such as the Sanibel Gateway for example.

Hummm, we have FastPass here in Ma. which is reciprocal with EZPass. However, FLA isn't listed on the FastPass site..oh well.

I say just order one for $15 from the Sunpass site. You'll end up with $15 in credits and nobody is going to check your license plate unless the toll doesn't register, in which case the rental company will let you know. Play dumb tourist. It gets you everywhere in Florida.

[TommyBahama]

Toll Facilities Participating in E-ZPass®

Many toll facilities participate in E-ZPass®. For details, please click on the map or one of these links:

Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Jersey - Delaware
New York
New York City Area
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Virginia
West Virginia

Thats what i saw when i looked it up....here in CT i don't have to worry about daily tolls , only when i go to other states.....but in looks like ezpass and sunpass are 2 different companies...also said if you tried using ezpass ib Florida , it woulsn't register and you will get billed the full amount

only other suggestion....but much longer ism taking 95 to route 1

[WinchWench]

only other suggestion....but much longer ism taking 95 to route 1

Much, much longer...depending on what time you hit Miami! Usually it takes 5-6 hours for me to drive to Key West but once I made the mistake of doing the 95 to US1 route and hit downtown Miami right around 5 PM on a Friday. That trip ended up taking 9 hours to get to Key West.

For years I just did the "pay in cash" option on the Turnpike but now that they are increasingly going to non-manned toll booths I decided to spring for a SunPass before heading to MOTM last year. I picked up a minipass at Publix and had it installed, activated,money loaded, and ready for use in less than 30 minutes. It's also nice because you can set it up to pay for airport parking at Palm Beach, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.

The only thing I would be careful about with getting a SunPass ahead of time to take with you is to make sure the rental car doesn't also have one...if you have two transponders in the car you might get charged twice and that would s*** even more than the fees.

Here's the official SunPass web page about Rental Cars and it lists the different fees etc. Hope that helps!
https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

So if I travel the FLA turnpike from one end to the other am I limited to the exits I can use?

[WinchWench]

So if I travel the FLA turnpike from one end to the other am I limited to the exits I can use?

You can still use any exit you want. The deal with the electronic tolls is you don't have the option to pay in cash. From what I understand, if you roll through one of those and you don't have a transponder for prepaid tolls, a camera captures your license plate #, they use that to get your address and they send you a bill for the tolls. It's basically an option to prepay (you put money on your account and it deducts tolls from that amount as you go) or post pay (billed/paid after the fact). If you don't pay the bill then you get hit with fines and fees. Of course that's just for average private vehicles. Rental cars are subject to whatever crazy fine print the rental company puts in the contract.

[WinchWench]

Thanks Leslie..looking into it. I can't believe Budget is charging us 7/day!

And just to help you with a quick price comparison here...last year when I drove down for MOTM, starting up here in Stuart (about 30 miles north of Palm Beach) and taking the Turnpike all the way down to Homestead cost $7.05 in tolls with the SunPass. So if they are only charging you $7/day for the days you actually use toll roads, that may not be too bad but if they are going to charge you $7/day for the whole week you are in KW, you would definitely be getting screwed! You'd be better off renting the car for the day just to drive to KW, turning it in when you get there and using cabs/scooters/bikes etc to get around, then rent a car for the day just to get back up to the airport at those rates.

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

Thanks WW, I'm headind down to KW in Sept, catching the turnpike at the north end on I75.