Update: While Florida toll roads now all accept E-ZPass, I have found that the roads don’t always charge the E-ZPass in the car, resulting in usurious rental car agency fees.
Additionally, I have not able to register my rental cars to my E-ZPass account.
Instead, I’ve still been using my Sunpass account by registering the rental car plates for the duration of the rental, which has been working perfectly.
Originally posted on 1/24/21:
Related: South Florida Master Thread on DDF
Flying from Miami Airport and renting a car means taking multiple trains and long walks, but it also means dealing with Sunpass tolls. Those were supposed to have been interoperable with E-ZPass years ago, but they are still not.
In general I fly into Fort Lauderdale and avoid the toll roads, but due to reduced flight schedules I’ve had to fly out of Miami in order to catch an evening flight back home.
With Silvercar abandoning their airport locations, there are no rental car agencies without usurious fees for using their built in toll transponders, so I went looking into a solution for a last minute day trip into Miami last month.
On the Sunpass website they sell a “mini transponder” for $4.99 shipped. Officially that must be permanently adhered to the windshield, though people report being able to move it from car to car. The bigger problem was that I wouldn’t actually get it on time.
But I bought it, and then had a Sunpass account. From my Sunpass account I saw that I could add additional vehicles and even assign when they would start and end:
So once I got my rental car, I logged into the Sunpass site and set the car to expire that night when I would return the car.
I never used a transponder, but sure enough, the system billed all my charges to my Sunpass account as I drove from Fort Lauderdale up to my grandparents in Boynton Beach and then back down to Miami. Taking the tollroads saved me half an hour of driving to Boynton and allowed me to return the car to Miami without being slammed by car rental toll fees. It took about 5 days for all of the tolls to show up in my account and they were debited from the $10 balance that I initially funded my account with.
Maybe this was all obvious, but luckily we don’t have tolls to pay in Cleveland and it’s only a challenge that I face when traveling!
But just to make sure, I shared this tip with several DDF members and they were thrilled with it and have used it on their trips to Miami this month.
What’s your Miami toll strategy? Have you tried just entering your rental car’s license plate number on the Sunpass site?
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273 Comments On "[2023 Update] Solving The Miami Sunpass Toll Conundrum"
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Does this work in Orlando?
Sunpass works throughout Florida.
When I used enterprise, they charged me a daily fee of 3.75 any day I used tolls. I ended up using one day so my total bill came out to less than $5.
Not bad.
Not bad for 1 day, but if you go often or want it for more than 1 day, may as well use this method.
That’s great
Enterprise then is better then some other companies, which will charge you the daily fee + tolls for the entire term of the rental even if you only use it a single time on a single day.
National, (which is Enterprise sister company) also charges $3.95 plus the toll for every day that you use it. Not for the entire rental
There is a way to get to/from MIA without taking toll roads. I do that. Yes it takes longer. When I’m on vacation I’m in no rush.
With this method the 2 MIA tolls cost 66 cents and you save ~20 minutes of driving.
A worthy toll, I’d say.
It’s definitely worth the toll, but if you need to stop at a Walgreens to buy the transponder it is possible without paying a toll.
You can buy online before you leave for vacation takes about a week to arrive
But it took u time to set up. If u go often it’s worth it. I go once every few years
Adding a plate takes 20 seconds tops.
Lol, exactly
Every Walgreens, CVS and many other common retailers carry both the portable and the fixed SunPass in stock. No need to wait for online delivery
You would get hit going from Miami airport to those stores.
Plus, why bother with a transponder? There’s no need to shlep it.
Express lanes requires a physical mounted SunPass. If you don’t plan on using express lanes it’s not an issue.
Not true, you can see my I95 Express lane charge in the post.
If it worked for you that’s good. But here is direct quote from SunPass website. Customers must have an active and properly mounted SunPass or other interoperable transponder, as no cash or TOLL-BY-PLATE is accepted in the express lanes.
Real world data points are always better than official terms 🙂
#Fakenews
Dan had a physical mounted sunpass in his rental car. The trick is that the rental car sunpass was billing Dan’s account, not the rental car account.
I doubt Dan linked the rental car’s Sunpass to his account. I assume he kept the rental car’s Sunpass shielded (or maybe there wasn’t one and it only bills by plate), and they read the license plate which was linked to his Sunpass account.
Dan, could you confirm?
This seems a little risky, since the license plate would be linked to both Sunpass accounts, and there’s no way of knowing which one will get billed.
I didn’t shield anything. It just worked.
FYI you can purchase these transponders at any Walgreens or CVS in Miami
Many locations are out of stock, IME.
Oh man
Just rented a Hertz Car from MIA this past Sunday-Tuesday and noticed there was no tag readers in the car.
I assumed sunpass worked with the license plates on my car (Tennessee for that matter)
Should I be expecting a fine ?
Hertz will charge you $$$ for using the tolls.
Could’ve spent that money on some extra side dishes at dinner
Guess we’ll have to take it up with Hertz after it posts. Flip the scenario and blame them for not having it in their cars …
Only 5.95 per day of use plus the tolls. I fly into Miami and exclusively rent from Hertz 5-10 times a year.
I bring my EZpass, but it only sometimes works
Why pay 5.95 per day when you can just sunpass for free?
why pay 4.99 for SUNPASS MINI
is a PAY BY PLATE account not good enough?
SunPass and Prepaid TOLL-BY-PLATE Customers
Should work, try it out and let us know.
It’s possible to backdated on sunpass app.
In case you still have the plate number of your rental try to add on backdated on sunpass…
Nice!
I just signed up for the $4.99 sticker and it gave me the option to retroactively add my rental.
It did make me add $10 to the balance though….
This post helped a ton. Thanks Dan!!!
used hertz for 2-3 days was charged ConvenienceFee Logo Convenience Fee: $29.97
I typically go to Miami once a year. I also got to Orlando occasionally. About 5-6 years ago I just bought a SunPass transponder for $10. I add the rental car to the account when I get it as you described. Saves me the car rental toll fee plus gives me the better toll rates as well.
I’d recommend anyone who spends time in Florida to get one. Well worth the $10.
Get Epass which works in Florida + 18 other states and you are covered in almost the entire country. Cost is $15 for the moveable transponder https://epass.cfxway.com/epassweb
I got the E-pass and love it. If you are in a hurry, it can be purchased on Amazon. I still am not flying to FL and live in OH. So far for me, the pass works well in OH, WV, NC, FL. It is supposed to work well in other states as well. The biggest plus is that it is suction cup mounted and moves easily between cars. You need to update your account online when switching. The website is a bit wonky, but it is doable.
does it make a differnce what license plate you put in @ time of order?meaning can i still move it from one car to another??
I ordered a Unipass – works all overacross the North East – cost $10 for transponder – removable like an Ezpass. No need for Ezpass anymore as this account will be billed like an Ezpass even I’m NY
Looks like it costs $25?
I got mine this past June as I spent the summer in Miami. Free to sign up and $10 for transponder. I don’t know if they raised the price since then.
Do you get discounts on the tolls same as ezpass NY?
I think that depends on what address the account is registered on.
Thanks for the write up! Just to make sure I’m understanding correctly: you used the sunpass lanes without having the transponder, but because you added your rental car license plate in your sunpass account, they were able to bill you that way? (presumably from a camera scanning your plate)
Exactly.
I assume you must remove it as soon as you return the rental…!?
Correct: I was also even able to add the NYS plate number to SunPass plan
Dan thanks for posting! If driving from Miami airport to the Miami Beach and just staying in the Miami Beach area do you know if the drive incurs any tolls?
I’m arriving Monday. Just to make sure I can buy the Sunpass today but don’t need to physically have the transponder when renting my car?
Yes, you drive by 2 tolls of 33 cents each, each way in or out of MIA.
You can do the same method I did 🙂
Wow you discovered something I was doing 5 years ago?
If you travel often to FL get the 20$ transponder that goes from vehicle to vehicle
Thanks for sharing 😀
But I only looked into it now as I almost always fly in and out of FLL.
Soon even FLL won’t be the solution. They are expanding the express lanes on 95 northward, almost till Boca and probably even further at some point.
Is the return in FLL a better experience than MIA?
Much better
Can I open a Sunpass account without a transponder purchase?
You need to buy the $4.99 transponder it seems.
https://www.cfxway.com/uni/
Works in 18 states
I have been using this for some time and have a great experience.
IMHO its easier then logging in online when renting.
Wait until you get a replenishment charge out of the blue when the next guy rents that car and it wasnt removed from your account properly. Had that nightmare 5 years ago.
Are you sure you set it to expire?
I’ve done this twice already and it’s been auto removed just as scheduled both times.
I tried to do this for fastrak in the bay area with a rental car, but retroactively after I had already incurred the tolls.
the website was slammed and didn’t work and the CSR lady working from home, while very friendly, somehow screwed up adding the plate with the right date range.
I ended up paying Hertz what amounted to the tolls times 2
And just last week I noticed that the rental car was still on my account, but luckily no one had driven it through a toll since.
SunPass sells 2 transponders, the portable one is $19.99, it’s the fixed, permanent one that is $4.99 https://www.sunpass.com/en/about/sunPassTransponders.shtml
Just a warning. I have been doing this for years however today I tried to add my rental plate from ace and it would not add to my account. Do not rent from ace.
Interesting. This worked fine at Avis, Enterprise, and Hertz.
Can’t say I’ve ever rented from Ace. Too many horror stories from them and Fox. What did they charge for their transponder usage?
They tell me they charge $18 every day you use it plus tolls. I have used fox in the past with no such issues. They also were very slimy about the insurance and luckily I noticed before leaving. Highly recommend staying away from them.
Highway robbery!
Yes, ace locks their plates from registering them to your sunpass account thereby forcing you to go with their tolling fees. AVOID ACE!
A few weeks ago I added my rental plate to my Grandmothers SunPass account. They had an option online to choose your rental car date and times and it worked like a charm. It even allowed me back date the rental to the date and time I picked it up and deactivated it on time as well.
Yep. I just experienced that. About three weeks ago, I rented from Ace. When I tried to add the car to my Sunpass account, I got an error message telling me that the vehicle is already registered to another account. Now, I’ve never had that issue the multiple times I rented from National. Right now, I’m back in Florida and I just added the National Car Rental car to my account with no problem. I don’t understand why Sunpass won’t allow a car designated as a rental car to be added to your account temporarily even though it is registered permanently to another account.
Used this past 3 years. Works like a charm.
Just make sure that if u rent car, the device that’s in there is not enabled if they have switch inside otherwise you may get billed twice or to the rental
Been doing this since 2015. Sunpass sells removable transponder for $20 you can get in publix and elsewhere.
Finally moved to Florida (breath of fresh air out of loony New York) and use that same transponder now
New york smells much better since you left as well
Does it really though? Is it the state and city income taxes? Is it the wonderful leadership of the mayor and governor? Is it the harsh covid restrictions on the frum communities. So what exactly smells better?
I bought a transponder 23 years ago at a Walgreens. I never added a plate and never had a problem. I do a lot of driving in South Florida when I come for Passover or winter break. Sunpass sent me a new transponder about 5-10 years ago when they redid them. The old and the new both have suction cups. It seems like you’re making something that’s very simple into something more complicated.
1. I’d argue that it’s easier to do this than have to remember to shlep your transponder, but that’s likely a generational issue.
2. I didn’t have time to get a transponder and besides, if you fly into MIA you’ll be hit on the way to Walgreens.
This isn’t true you can avoid tolls in and out of MIA, it’s just out of the way.
I live in FL so I have a sunpass transponder stuck to my car. Does this mean I can add rental cars temporarily to my account and use them without the transponder?
Sure does.
Cool! Makes me wonder what’s the whole point of the transponder?
If the rental car company registers their cars license plate with the transponder I imagine it won’t work. That’s why the florida cars license plate may give you issues but if it’s from another state no prob.
It worked for me multiple times with FL plates.
I live in Miami and for many years have had an EZ-pass ($1 monthly fee) for the exact opposite reason; for when I go to the NE.
You should get one from a state without monthly fees!
Which ?
Try MA?
Will check it out. Wonder if it will support NY plans like PASI & PACP if anyone knows please chime in.
Or NY
You can then apply for discounts on some bridges.
North Carolina is free. Quickpass
How can I be sure they will bill me and not the car rental company? If they bill by plate… and if the rental car has sunpass can it be temporarily removed or disabled?
It has worked for me and several other DDFers without issue.
I was wondering the same thing, and still do not understand that part of it.
Does it works even if the rental company has a sticker sunpass on the windshield ?
That’s the part I don’t get. The rentals come with a pass so I would assume that’s the one that’s automatically charged unless it can somehow be disabled.
This has priority over the pass.
My in-laws lived in Boynton for 5-6 years in the development next door, Lake Wynds and davened by Rabbi Ciment. Is your grandfather a resident or a snowbird?
My grandparents snowbird, but they’ve been there since October 2019 due to COVID.
They are in good hands with Rabbi Ciement, that is for sure
,
Absolutely. They learned daf yomi together until COVID hit.
This unfortunately does not work for all rental companies. Advantage is one of them.
Its been a disaster. But instead of strong over $300 in fees for less than $10 in tolls, I left myself some extra time and skipped the toll roads.
Sounds like Ace and Advantage are no-gos. But I wouldn’t rent from those guys anyway…
The cheap car rentals are usually not allowing to use own sun pass so you basically only save a 35- 25 dollars from the cheap ones
Have been using this method for a few years. Can add multiple rental cars once you have the account set up.
But keep am eye out a month or 2 later for some charges on your CC from your car rental company.
There are always 1 or 2 tolls that will for some reason hit your plate and go to the rental company instead of the sunpass.
Interesting, what do you about those 1 or 2 tolls? Can you call Sunpass to fix that?
I once called and got it refunded, but other times i just leave it.
This is what I’m worried about. With Avis (and others I believe), they will charge you the daily rental fee + tolls for the entire term of the rental even if you only use it a single time on a single day. So five day rental and one toll of 33 cents ends up being nearly $60! ($11.95×5 + 0.33)
If you fly into MIA, and are staying on Miami Beach (or along A1A), I have an idea to avoid the Airport Expressway (FL State 112) tolls. Drive east on NW36th St, and you’ll meet up with 95 a few miles down. You’ll want to make sure your doors are locked haha.
Not worth it to save 66 cents.
You’ve never met my uncle then…
I figured I go to FL enough that i bought a regular plastic transponder from a CVS in Miami. It was a major hassle to set up but worked fine once done.
I will agree with another commenter that Enterprise is not a terrible alternative. They charged $3.95 per 24 hour usage period (plus toll obviously). I booked thru Costco travel and got a full size sedan for $90 for 3 days. Seamless pickup/dropoff experience from the MIA location.
Yes, that’s a lot cheaper that many rental places. But still, it’s more than free 🙂
Yes, forgot to mention this was a trip where I left my sunpass at home, so not a bad backup. Also very pleasantly surprised with the deal from Costco travel!
Yup, Costco Travel is great!
What is it that makes this work or not work based on the rental company?
Seems like the low cost places already claim the license plates so they can’t be claimed by a renter, while the regular places have transponders, so you can claim the plates.
I bought a state of North Carolina transponder, gives me SunPass, EZPass, and some others. The unit was free, put $20 on it, and the funds never expire. I’ve used it in FL once with no issues, using the same inputting the rental car information, and used a 3m strip to attach it to the windshield of the rental car. One thing you have to worry about is that some rental car agencies use their own transponders, not in a box to block it if you don’t pay for it. If you get one of those you may not have good luck with your own personal unit.
Always better off buying the transponder. And yes, I always enter the rental car’s license plate to the site.
Because?
The portable transponder is $20. Are you saying you can purchase the $5 mini transponder and it will work vehicle to vehicle?
Yes. Either via the online method, or you can remove and reapply the $5 sticker.
I have an EZPass here in New York. I never mounted it on the window. I just hold it up to the window when necessary.
This is without using a transponder.
Yes. Even better. I go to Orlando annually, and never go through a toll during my usual excursions. But this information is invaluable; better than being ripped off by the rental agency.
Hi Dan,
I’ve done it for years. I also use my IPass when I fly into Chicago or NY or NJ
My only challenge is when I go to Dallas. I ask my son in law to add my rental to his Toll tag.
Nice, thanks Dan! Just in time for Yeshiva week in FL! 🙂
Enjoy!
Dan, I understood, but judging from the comments others don’t understand that you never used a transponder. Maybe if you can clarify above that you just used the plate method and it charged to your account WITHOUT using a transponder then others will understand how cool this find is.
I flew into MIA once and got a rental car. The only way out of the airport I could find took me on a toll area, which was unmanned, so I had no way to pay the toll. Sure enough, when I logged onto the toll site it showed a huge charge for an unauthorized use. I contacted them and they removed it once I explained. Your idea would have made things a lot easier and would have also kept me from having to make routes that avoided toll roads for the remainder of my trip. So, thank you!
Clarified that in bold, thanks!
What a super simple workaround!
Thanks 🙂
When renting a car in San Francisco and having to cross the Golden Gate bridge, I tried to pay my toll on their website. It’s been a few years, so I am not sure that I am remembering all the details, but I think I created an account, put in my credit card and added the rental car license plate. The bottom line was that it didn’t work. My card didn’t get charged by the Golden Gate bridge authority and instead I got hit up by the usurious fees of Plate Pass LLC (which I think is an entity owned by rental car companies to hide behind and profit from.) The sooner that there is a reliable way to avoid their fees, the better.
I am from miami. My family keeps a couple extra sunpasses around for when we need to rent a car. We also keep an EZ pazs for when traveling to the NE.
My best experience was with Illinois. They are toll by plate and you can sign up for an account after going through the tolls and add a vehicle as a rental.
Can one do the same with E PASS? (I would rather invest in that eco system so I can get a transponder that works in more places – but be able to use without a transponder like Dans way)
Not sure, try and let us know.
Dan, Do you know which category Fox falls into?
I saw that you said not to use them, but I’ve already reserved and paid…
Not sure, please let us know 🙂
Not a company I’d ever rent from.
thank you very much for the tip. so can i buy one and lend it out to my friends and relatives when they travelling from new York to Florida and rent their own cars by the airport ? how do they enforce the requirement to be on the windshield
Buy one what? Lend out what?
I didn’t use a transponder.
So if you can enter a license plate for a rental car, what’s stopping you from entering any random persons plate so their account gets charged instead?
Huh?
The only thing you would be able to do is add their license plate to your Sunpass account and pay for their tolls. A generous offer indeed!
how do you opt out from using the rental cars toll transponder?
Not sure, but this method worked without opting out on Avis, Enterprise, and Hertz cars.
I’m surprised you guys didn’t figure this out years ago I could have told you about it years ago I just know personally that when I rented a car in Miami and I needed for the tolls a while ago I just logged into my account and added a rental car and it was fine
Next time you have a tip, post it on DDF. Didn’t see anything here:
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=452.0
Clearly, many people had no idea.
@dan
Not sure where to post but being this about Florida I am asking Here.
Do you know when the best time to get good car deals in the west palm beach area is mid march to the end. I don’t think there is any Spring break this year do you think Prices will drop to like $15 to $20? Checking now they are anywhere from about $35 to $48 per dayor higher.
MIA UBER -> Bright line train to FLL or WPN -> Uber to your location.
Will save you more money and time.
I bought a $20 transponder many years ago and I bring it along whenever I fly to Florida
I once flew in to Mia and put into the go’s to avoid toll roads, due to my mistake I turned too early and got got stuck on a road with a .33 toll. There was no way I was going to pay $75 (15/day x5 days)for administrative fees for a .33 toll. My third option is to cancel he credit card due to fraud and you won’t get charged highway robery. Problem solved
Charging back a rental car charge will get you on their DNR (Do not rent) list.
I didn’t charge them back, just canceled the card so they can’t charge me the absorbent 75 service fee for a .33 toll. It’s a small rental company so no loss if I’m on their dnr list.
Same outcome.
thanks !
I purchased a few years back the hard plastic transponder in wallgreens and bring it with me when I go and place on windshield in rental vehicles, never had a problem or had to enter in plate numbers online.
Your solution was when doing this last minute without having the time to receive the transponders the mail. If I’m doing this in advance is there another way to go about this?
You can bring the transponder or use my method.
I have been using a suction Sunpass for years. Interestingly, the situation I faced on my most Miami car rental this past November, may have been problematic with your tag less approach.
When I tried entering the rental car info into the Sunpass app, I was told that the car is already registered to another Sunpass account and it wouldn’t allow me to register it. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe the car was registered incorrectly to a non-functioning account and no Sunpass was paying the car’s tolls? Was the car still registered on a different renter’s Sunpass? If so, I felt that there may be a gazeilah issue. Also, maybe that renter may undo the charges. Either way it may appear that I went thru the tolls without a Sunpass. To be sure, i affixed my Sunpass the windshield.
Where did you rent from?
Budget thru Costco.
Florida uses SunPass due the fact that EZ pass charges Avery account holder a $1 monthly fee. SunPass has no monthly fees associated with it.
Fake news. There are states with free Ezpass. Just signup with MA for example.
For EZ Pass – you sign up for the state that will give you the most bang for the buck. For instance, I live in NJ, and if you get a NJ EZ Pass, you get discounted rates for some NJ toll roads. I am in NY often, and for me, it was worth getting the NY EZ Pass because the savings on the verrazano bridge that is available for NY EZ Pass holders is substantial and outweighs any discount that they give on the NJ toll roads.
Thank you very much Dan. I’ve been meaning to do this for years. We went thanksgiving and I rented through budget. I know I went to key biscayne 4x and the bridge is $2.25 each time for a total of $9.00. I was only billed $10.95 so far which is much easier to take. I am renting with Hertz on Thursday out of Fort Lauderdale, I’m going to try this out.
I have EZ pass. What’s the best thing to do in Fll and GA? Thanx
Does this toll/transponder information also apply to renting a car in FLL or MIA, and driving down through the Keys?
Yes.
Does this with work with Sixt?
Avis specifically says in the contract for Florida you may “use your own adequately funded, properly mounted and compatible electronic toll device to pay for all tolls, (iii) pay the toll authority directly through any available online or other service…” It might be an issue for Fox and others but Dan’s tip will work for Avis.
whats the best option for Fort lauredaile?
Sunpass rental fees were around $15
Pretty much the smallest expense of my vacation week!
Some rental agencies charge that per day.
I’m surprised you never knew this, I went to FL with family a year and a half ago and was wondering what to do, I figured this all out fairly quickly with no forum help. We rented 6 cars and had them all on one account, although it wasn’t flawless, some tolls didn’t get picked up by sunpass and went through Hertz. we fought all convenience fees from Hertz but paid the tolls they had.
Pretty simple. I don’t like flying into MIA, so I never researched it until now that the FLL-CLE flights became sparse due to COVID.
But if you did know about it, why not post on the forum to help people out? Clearly this is news to many…
It never occurred to me that this wasn’t well known, and not already posted on DDF…
I’ve only been to FL a few times, so didn’t know the practical difference re tolls between MIA and FLL.
My trip I mentioned was to Orlando, so I saw on Google maps that from MCO to our rental house we’d need to go through tolls, so I did some quick research.
I added my own car (in LA with a CA plate) as it needed one car to be added, but my car never went from LA to FL… I just used it for a few rentals.
coincidentally, this past Thursday, a family member messaged me what he can do about tolls in FL, I logged back in and added his car, as there was a few dollar balance left on my account from last year…
BTW, I changed the payment method to cash, so it doesn’t bill my cc on it’s own…
Check this one:
https://www.myncquickpass.com/en/home/index.shtml
and FYI, avoid FOX car rental.
A simple NY EZ Pass works in 19 states. And gets the discount in the NY Metro area …
All these other states, will not get the NY metro discounts. So stick to the NY EZPass and get a Sunpass for Florida …
Dans post was specifically for Sunpass lanes, which Sunpass is the easiest option as they allow you to add rental cars even retroactively …
Oh man! Finally! Thanks Dan
The 4.99 is sold pretty much at all grocery and pharmacy chains. Super quick and easy to set up and the website is fairly solid.
The real conundrum is the surge pricing that can reach up to $15 to drive on i-95 at rush hour.
So just to get it clear , how do you make sure that the system charges “your account, instead of the rentals account by default?
No idea, it just works.
Can you make a write up thru which platform its usually worth booking? From car rentals directly? Or from third party platforms?
Costco travel is great.
Is this even if I have top status with hertz and National?
Also can I use cotsco travel if im not a member?
I have a sunpass for years and until this post always used it without having the car listed and never had a problem (once lost it leaving it in a rental car). Based on this post I listed my rental car and it worked well. Thanks
I always knew this. Its just basics.
In NY EZPASS you can also add plates and it will charge the plate on file without an actual ezpass.
Dan
So one could just buy the Mini, never attach it.
Then go to the website and register the rental car listing the plate # and the relevant time frame of the rental.
Furthermore additional rental cars can be added.
At no time was the Mini attached to any vehicle.
do i have this right?
Exactly
Does it work in the Express lanes?
Yes
What’s the difference if I check the Rental box when I’m adding a plate online?
You will need to have your sunpass in your vehicle for Epass lanes.
I ordered a Sunpass account and transponder more than a year ago, because I was fed up with paying the rental car Sunpass fees in addition to the tolls themselves.
Sunpass offers two types of transponders: one that attaches permanently, and one that can be moved from car to car. Rental cars are allowed. When you get the car, you log into the Sunpass website, and enter the rental car’s state and license plate number, along with a start and end date and time.
You get an itemized bill of your tolls. Easy and practical!
My daughter and son-in-law recently went to Florida for a few days, so I gave them my transponder, entered their rental car’s info, and saved them $19.95 in service fees!
No need for the transponder.
Just rented a vehicle here in Miami, I opened up a sunpass account and funded it, but when I tried to add the rental to my account it said this plate number is already associated with another account.
Anything I can do ?
Where did you rent from?
Advantage, they were a lot cheaper than the others.
The low cost places like that block this method.
Dan
Are you sure the numbers are correct?
We in NY have the Verrazano bridge or George Washington bridge. Thier toll chargers are… very different.
Florida tolls sound like typos…
😀
U can even add the plates retroactively by putting in a previous date of when you were using the car and it will add those charges to your account and take off the higher charge as well.
Can you buy the transponder and have the charges be retroed back from past tolls, like lets say like a week old if you attach it to your rental car license plate?
Yes. At least from the Sunpass side. If by then your rental company charges you, you may have to deal with it with them.
Does anyone knows if this works with sixt ?
And what about Orlando ?
Thoughts on making a move from Cali to Boca. Any tips on areas to live etc etc…. anything would be greatly appreciated. Don’t think I can take California with a Biden administration.
Thanks as always your method worked retroactively here in Orlando
if this wont work whats my best bet to handle miami area tolls?
I’m trying to open a sunpass account (for a future rental) and it wants Vehicle and License Plate Information in order to open the account.
Use any car.
Thank you so much Dan. YOu saved the day on our trip!
Dose anyone know which companies block this meathod
Advantage and Fox have been mentioned.
I did this but no charges are showing up on my account. It’s been about 24 hours. How long should it take?
Up to a week.
FYI I tried this with hertz yestersay and got an error message “the plate number is already associated with another SunPass account” so YMMV
I used my sunpass for rental cars all the time. I now have the Uni Pass and it seems to be more difficult to add a rental via the app but doable.
Anyone know if this works with Thrifty?
Rented from Alamo. “This licence plate is registered to another sunpass account “
@Dan
You asked me to post my experience with Fox Rental.
BH I followed your instructions, they tried to convince me that it would not work, I persisted and I got charged on my Sunpass account for the toll that I went through and I did not get any charges from the Rental company.
Thank you
Thanks folks! I recently came back from FL and had a rental from dollar. I declined their too pprepay for $10/day plus tolls and just received a bill from them for about $10 in tolls and nearly $90 in “admin fees!” I just signed up for the Sunpass using Dan’s instructions and put the plates in retroactively. I’m very curious if this will work.
Quick update: I just got off with sunpass and they are saying that I need to deal with the rental car company because it was already billed. I’m wondering if anyone had dealt successfully with this.
when driving from nj to orlando do you need a sunpass?
I am going to Orlando and renting two cars. Can I add them both at the same time to the same account? Even if I only buy one transponder?
Just make sure to remove the rental car once you are done or you may end up getting billed for the next person
You can set an end date when you add it! No need to do it again.
Over Christmas we drove to Orlando since our SW flight was cancelled. I took ez pass instead of charging the rental. Needless to say I was double charged. Had to stop payment on my credit card. But because the toll cost was so little I think chase just ate the fees instead of fighting it.
Didn’t scan in one of the toll plaza when I used mine and rental car agency charged me for that . I had to open a case with sunpass and after two months, they refunded the amount , but the admin fee wasn’t refunded . Regular scam it seems
Registering the rental plate is the way to go.
I had the same story in Miami, the EZ pass wasn’t charged and I was not able to add it to my EZ pass account, however I sent a screenshot from my Sunpass account to Hertz and they refunded me the admin fee.
Must easier to get a sunpass.
I bought the sunpass 7 years ago and use it everytime I go to Florida which is a few times a year. Its an awesome little device. Has suction cups so u can move from one car to the next. Just make sure the rental car has the ezpass door to off (if the car comes with it)
Flying to NY. Can I use a sun pass to pay the rental car tolls?
I also almost always use budge car rental no issue. And fly to west palm traveling to boca and Miami if need be
Just signed up and bought one-Thanks dan
I am sick and tired tired of paying a $10 surcharge for a 70 cent toll!!!!
I have a question that I owe hertz $100’s maybe $1000+ for tolls but they don’t seem to be coming after me or charging my card..not complaining just curious if anyone else had this? And B/ Enterprise put me on no rent list for returning to wrong location and disputing the extra $2k the penalized me for so how to deal with that? Thanks for listening/reading:)
Hertz does like to send people to prison…but more likely will end up with a DNR.
Disputing a legit charge will get you on the DNR list. Not sure there’s a fix for that other than writing a letter begging for mercy.
🙂
My strategy was to move to Miami and link my own plate
I drive in NY with my Mexican plates and never get a bill. Checked online to see if i have any unpaid tolls in there system and looks like their system doesn’t have Mexican plates Is it safe to assume this is the same for Florida?
I thought there was a travel advisory about traveling to Florida? Is it safe to go?
it’s very dangerous. I recommend visiting inner city of Baltimore or Chicago. Much more culture there.
As a Florida resident I can say that sunoass sells a sunpass with backwards capabilities to EZpass. Maybe EZpass does too? Also if you just do the license plate registration into your sunoass account you don’t need a transponder at all. So you can get a mini, register the car and done. When you enter a car it lets you add as a rental and set automatically, the active dates don you don’t have to remember.
You can purchase a mini transponder online or in any Florida gas station or CVS or Walgreens or any other pharmacy then carefully remove the mini transponder from the package and cut the plastic back of the package which will be slightly larger then the transponder remove the
backing and attach the transponder to the plastic case you cut and then tape the sides of the plastic to the windshield with small strips of clear packing tape and then you can remove it or move it from car to car as needed.
There’s no need to. Takes 20 seconds to register a rental car.
would be a need for the cheaper rental companies
You can buy a similar product with suction cups made to move from car to car
You can use the Florida SunPass here on Ohio Toll Roads. Which I did–until I found out that it was charging me exorbitant rates in Ohio! Like 4X the cash rate, at least. The reason I was avoiding the Ohio EZPass at the time was that SunPass does not charge a monthly rate to have, unlike EZPASS. So I always take my SunPass with me and put it on my rental car in Florida. BTW– I have never bothered to add my rental license plate to my SunPass account, and have never been charged a toll fee from Hertz, but haven’t tried it with any other rental company.
I use the NY MTA EZPass for OH. No monthly fees and discounts on NY tolls.
Another Toll Pass Tip: To help make the SunPass Mini and other “thin” toll (and parking) passes totally portable, I’ve had good luck using Sticker Shield, which is $9 on Amazon.
You can also buy a TxTag to use while in Texas, similar to the SunPass mini.
Amazing that it has start and end date EZ pass does not. During my heavy renting days I got fed up with paying tolls twice and put covers on the plates so I just didn’t pay the toll at all. In NJ it’s a $50 dollar ticket, that’s one trip to NYC
How do they know who you are if your plates are covered, to send you the ticket?
aren’t the license plates from the rental company enrolled in ezpass automatically
I think yes but for Sunpass(major companies) for some reason no
weird
It works for Sunpass for all the major rental companies.
Just move to Florida and that will solve your problem.
As long as you don’t mind living in swamp humidity for 6 months and having endless traffic jams and jammed restaurants from snowbirds for the other 6 months?
twice as many people prefer this over the midwest utopia.
Al taam v’reiach.
I think it’s a great place to visit 🙂
I kept my Sunpass account as well. Are Florida tolls charged to Sunpass the same price as when EZ Pass is used? I got the sticker Sunpass. I bring masking tape with me and affix it to the upper left of my windshield on rental cars. I do add the license plate to the Sunpass account in case. For all except one 95 Express trip, the Sunpass sticker was read off of the windshield.
Same price.
Why use the sticker if you add the plates? Been doing this for years and never needed to do that.
BECAUSE WITH STICKER YOU CAN USE FOR ALL MAJOR AND MINOR RENTAL COMPANIES
I don’t understand your point. Are you saying that for some reason with a small rental company that Dan‘s idea of adding the license plate to your Sunpass account won’t work for some reason? If that is what you were saying, can you explain why you think that?
People have reported that the small agencies block renters from using Sunpass, presumably so they can collect more fees.
Had this issue as well, called the tolling agency and proved that I had EZ-pass (showed charges during that period that did go through) and they waived all fees and only charged for the actual toll itself
Used an EZpass tag, but exactly like you said, one or two of the tolls did not read the Ezpass tag and i could not add the license plate to my ezpass acct.
Even in NY i find the bridges/tunnels dont always read the tag and then i get hit with the rental car toll fees.
Are there any tolls in Tampa? Was going to visit next month. I have an ezpass
Sunpass pro for $14.99 portable and works for ezpass as well
Risky part of adding rental car plates to your sunpass account:
I returned my car and still kept getting billed for it even though those plates were removed from my account.
I was forced to get in touch with Sun pass directly (which was no fun) and send them documentation of my rental end date over email and during this whole process I was still getting billed, they weren’t able to block that vehicle from the account until they got the documentation and investigated…
Whole process from rental date till resolved case, took over 6 months and a couple hundred in tolls.
Thankfully they refunded it all but ONLY as credit on my sunpass and not to my CC;(
Interesting. I’ve done this over a dozen times now and never had an issue with the rental end date working.
I just got back from Miami and had two one-way rentals with Hertz. The first rental allowed me to add the license plate to my Sunpass account (and had Louisiana plates). The second Hertz rental (Florida plates) said that it would not allow me to add the plate as it was already associated with a Sunpass account. I had to purchase Hertz’s Platepass.
For future reference if I had the physical transponder or sticker attached to the windshield would that have worked even though the licence plate was associated with another account?
I still haven’t had that issue, but yes, that would have worked.
Thanks Dan just got back from Florida and did this sunpass trick of adding the plates of my hertz car (Florida Plates) & i did a one way from orlando to miami so you saved me a few dollars it even worked retro however it didnt go retro all the way back so hertz said they will waive the convenience fee if i send them a screenshot that i got charged on my sunpass
Very nice write up!
Skimmed through all the comments.
Vert neat trick by adding the license plate number to the sunpass. I knew that can work with Ezpass but cool to know it works with sunpass as well, and can add specific times and backdate. Very neat!
I guess it’s kind of a waste to bring a NY/NJ tag along on a trip to MIA or even bother buying a transponder for $5 or whatever it costs to buy one online. If you can add thr plate number to the account. I guess I’ll try and report back how it goes with National car rental.
Did anyone try adding the plates to their NY/NJ Ezpass tag account?
Or is one better off adding to sunpass account.
I guess what’s been proven is the way to go.
And for all those asking about the fee free NY/NJ ezpass tag. What ever you do. Don’t add any plan to your tag. Buy just a tag and after you get it add whatever you want. By adding plans and act to the tag it will add a $1 fee every month.
As well for those rental companies with the stickers already affixed to the windshield wonder what the best method is to avoid being charged and having it bill your tag instead. Put some silverfoil in the front and back of the glass covering the sticker. Lol