When you rent a car, there are almost always costs not included in the advertised price. Sales tax. Vehicle license recovery fee. Customer facility charge. Concession recovery fee. Parking surcharge. Insurance charge. An added fee if you’re under 25 years old. An added fee for additional drivers. Upcharges for satellite radio (PSST! Here’s how to get around that charge) and car seats. Stuff like that. In Orlando, as is the case in other cities, the cost of a toll transponder is often quietly added on, as well. And folks, it ain’t cheap!
The Orlando area toll roads include:
- SR 91/Florida Turnpike
- SR 408/Spessard L. Holland East-West Expressway
- SR 417/Greeneway
- SR 429/Western Beltway
- CR 522/Osceola Parkway
- SR 528/Beachline (They built optional toll roads for the portion of the road between I-4 and MCO several years back, but have yet to implement them. Heads up, though, in case they start them and you wind up in the wrong lanes. Click here for more info.
- I-4, which runs straight through the tourist corridor in Central Florida, is a free highway. However, it now also has a paid toll option.
All of the above roads accept only electronic payments. Most used to take cash as well, but that’s been phased out over the past few years – toll payment is typically done via transponder or toll-by-plate.
Orlando is the largest rental car market in the world, with most major car rental companies located on-site at Orlando International Airport (MCO), so you don’t need a shuttle bus to pick up your rental car. All of them use some form of electronic payment, such as TollPass, e-Toll, or Plate Pass, which tacks on several dollars per day for the privilege of using their system.
Jerks.
How Can You Avoid Paying Some Of These Crazy Charges?
Get a Visitor Toll Pass
The Visitor Toll Pass is a FREE temporary toll pass for rental car customers traveling round-trip through the Orlando International Airport. With Visitor Toll Pass, you always pay the lowest toll rate throughout Florida with no hidden or extra fees. It’s even cheaper than using your own transponder (you don’t get specific discounts when you use your own out-of-state transponder, like E-ZPass).
The Visitor Toll Pass was in a pilot program when COVID hit. After some delays, it went live in mid-2021 and has been saving visitors a ton of money ever since. More info here.
Bring your own transponder (for most, but not all car rental companies)
There are several transponders from other areas of Florida, as well as parts of Georgia and North Carolina, that are interchangeable with the toll roads in Florida. For example, joy of joys, effective May 28, 2021, E-Z Pass can be used throughout the state of Florida! NC QuickPass, Peach Pass, K Tag, T, and PikePass are also all usable in Florida.
Understand your routes and options
Know where you will want to go and how to get there. If you’re going to incur toll roads in your travels, check with the websites of each road and see if cashless tolls are unavoidable (The 408 and 528 are the quickest and easiest ways to go between Orlando International Airport/MCO and the Disney/Universal/theme parks and convention/International Drive areas, and both have cash options all the way through to/from these places – but not necessarily at any exit in between them).
- I know it sounds kind of obvious, but if you want to avoid tolls and possible administrative fees altogether, don’t take toll roads. It CAN be done in the Orlando area…just be prepared to spend lots of extra time on the road (i.e. with no traffic backups, it will take about 30 minutes, give or take, to go between MCO and WDW if you use the 417 or 528, but a good 60 to 75 minutes if you take surface streets and non-toll roads).
- Consider purchasing a SunPass transponder of your own (for car rental companies that allow you to use your own transponder). Other options are SunPass PRO (good in Florida + 21 other states), Uni (good in Florida and 19 other states), etc.
If you have your own SunPass or Uni, you may receive a hefty discount for each toll you pay – the same discount that you’ll get with a Visitor Toll Pass.
You can purchase your transponder by mail and have it delivered (if you have a U.S. address), or you can buy it in person once you’ve landed in Orlando. SunPasses are available in Central Florida at Walgreens pharmacies, Publix supermarkets, CVS Pharmacies, and AAA Auto Club South. If you want to buy one after you’ve landed at MCO and avoid tolls until you purchase it, the closest locations are Walgreens (5702 Lee Vista Blvd.), which is about 3 miles north of the airport, and Publix (4042 S. Semoran Blvd.) which is about 5 miles north of MCO. IMPORTANT! If you buy the transponder in Orlando as soon as you arrive, please note it takes several hours for your SunPass balance to reflect the money you’ve put into your account – as per SunPass: “Please wait until 6:00 AM of the morning following activation before using your SunPass. After 6:00 AM of the morning following activation, your SunPass will work on all Florida toll roads and most bridges.” So if you land at 2pm, buy your transponder at 3pm and go through an electronic toll at 3:30pm, YOUR SUNPASS ACCOUNT MAY NOT HAVE MONEY IN IT YET and you may incur whatever fees & charges your car rental company lists. Purchasing your transponder by mail, ahead of time, will alleviate this issue.
Important info (SunPass):
SunPass customers using a rental vehicle may have their tolls applied to their SunPass account. Customers with SunPass Portable transponders may use their transponders in their rental vehicles. (It is strongly recommended that SunPass customers access their online SunPass accounts or contact the SunPass Customer Service Center to add the rental vehicle subscription to their account for the rental period.) If the transponder is not in your vehicle or functioning properly, tolls from other agencies will not be posted to your SunPass account, and may be charged to you by the rental Service Provider. Please remember to remove your transponder upon return of the vehicle. SunPass customers that do not have their transponders in the vehicle are subject to the tolls, fees and charges set forth below and in their rental agreements.
SunPass also sells “SunPass Mini” stickers for $4.99 but once attached to your rental car, you can’t take it with you when your rental period is complete.
Renting a car in Orlando has its advantages – you have the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want during your vacation/holiday. However, car rental costs can be a bit ridiculous. Hopefully, this article can help you avoid some of the ridiculous fees.
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