Most major rental car companies offer their customers the option of paying tolls with the credit/debit card used to rent the vehicle. Using license plate recognition systems, toll usage can be associated with your travel and paid through your rental agreement.
Rental agencies or their associated third-party vendors will assess the fees agreed to in your rental agreement to collect the toll(s).
SunPass customers that do not have their transponders in their rental vehicles are subject to the tolls, fees and charges set forth below and in their rental agreements.
How does it work?
Cameras take a photo of the rental car's license plate as it goes through the toll lane and sends a bill for the tolls to the rental company's tolling program vendor. The vendor collects the toll plus applicable service fees from the customer's credit card, and pays the toll to the road agency. The service fees are retained by the vendor, not the toll road.
For more information on specific rental car programs, please contact your local rental car agency as each agency has separate programs and fees associated with electronic toll usage.
How do different rental car companies handle tolls?
Advantage and Hertz
- $4.95 fee for each calendar day when tolls are incurred plus cost of tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates). There is no maximum PlatePass convenience fee.
- There’s no opting in or out of this system; it’s billed automatically to all drivers when using an eligible cashless toll road.
- Opt-in decision is made when the driver elects to use EXPRESS, SunPass ONLY, E-PASS ONLY or LeeWay ONLY lanes.
*Nothing to decide at time of rental
Dollar/Thrifty
- Are supposed to give customers the option of an all-inclusive toll package or a per-toll charge of $15 (both of which seem to vary based on rental location).
- $10.49 flat fee per rental day
- $52.49 maximum weekly fee. PlatePass® All-Inclusive Tolling must be sold for the length of the rental contract. It cannot be purchased only on certain days. PlatePass® All-Inclusive Tolling is a duration-based model and provides unlimited toll road access for a low daily fee per the length of the rental agreement.
- Customer must either OPT-IN or DECLINE at time of reservation or at the rental counter. If not enrolled at time of reservation or at the rental counter, and user incurred toll charges by utilizing a dedicated or express lane, a $9.99 administrative fee + toll is assessed for each infraction to a maximum fee of $90.00. These fees and tolls are charged separately after the completion of the rental.
AVIS, Budget, Payless
- $3.95 fee per rental day plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)
- $19.75 maximum fee per rental month (30 days) plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)
- Automatically opted-in
National, Alamo and Enterprise
- $3.95 fee per usage day (24 hr. interval) that customer incurs tolls, plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)
- $19.75 maximum fee per rental period plus tolls (at posted cash/TOLL-BY-PLATE rates)
- Participation is automatic.
- Opt-in decision is made when the driver elects to use EXPRESS, SunPass ONLY, E-PASS ONLY or LeeWay ONLY lanes.
- Nothing to decide at time of rental.
Silvercar
Silvercar is the only rental car company that simply passes along the toll costs with no markups.
May I pay the tolls myself?
In Florida, you can buy your own SunPass portable transponders at supermarkets and drugstores for about $20 or the mini for $4.99 + tax. plus a minimum cash load of $10. At that price, most travelers will come out ahead after just a few days. This solution makes great sense when you plan on visiting the same location more than once.
Source (8/15/18): https://www.sunpass.com/en/tolls/rentalVehicles.shtml
Other Articles: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/avoid-rental-car-toll-charges/