Florida turnpike

[piebaldpython]

Hey you Floridians.....I was down in Florida over Easter and had to take the Florida Tpke one day back-and-forth to the Miama Zoo.

There were NO places to pay a toll on either trip. I thought that really odd and then thought I bet those rat b*st*rds would screw me over at a later date after I turned the rental car in.

The day to be screwed is today as I got a $103.00 charge to my VISA from the car rental company.

Somebody please tell me what how you all pay your tolls on the Florida Tpke? Should I have done something different? This sucks.

[Brian Krashpad]

Wow, that's weird.

Wish I could help but I haven't been that far south in 20 years. Every time I've gone on the Turnpike there's been at least one toll booth before exiting.

I'd contact VISA and contest the charge.

[piebaldpython]

Thanks Krash.......my wife is going to call the car rental place and talk to them later today and find out what the deal is. I have no problem with being charged for a toll, I just don't want to be gouged as though I ran a toll and refused to pay.

I deal with the PA TNPKE and AC Expwy and you can have an EasyPass or....there's always a place to pay a CASH toll.....even if it's exact change. No such animal when I was on the Florida Tnpke. I just figured that they'd catch the license plate and contact the car rental for payment of a toll and then they'd bill me.

I'll keep you posted how this plays out.

[R_of_G]

Sorry PBP, I have no experience with the Turnpike at all but that certainly sounds like an odd situation. Hope you get it resolved.

[ZMAN]

I did a quick google on Forida Turnpike and I got all sorts or info. Apparently as of Feb all tolls are collected by Sunpass. On a plate photo basis. They bill you for a 30 day period to the owners of the vehicle. The area involved is from rout 1 to exit 47.
If you were charged 103 dollars they are either trying to nail you with all of the tolls that car has incurred in the last 30 days or you are paying by the foot. It is pretty funny that by not having to stop at a booth you get the priviledge of paying .25 cents more for each section.
They show a cumulative cost from exit to exit, and I don't know how long you were on the pike.
I know the Mass Pike from NY line to 495 is only 2.10 but the NY thruway is 15.55 from Buffalo to the Mass pike. About 300 miles.
So even with the 2.50 statement fee, you probably should have paid about 20 bucks round trip.
Check it out. If you scroll though the whole thing you get a map as well with a breakdown of charges.
http://www.floridasturnpike.com/all-electronictolling/Toll-by-Plate/AET%20Toll%20Rates%20and%20Map.pdf
On further review I see that you can get a transponder and it is a lot cheaper.
found this as well"
All Turnpike tolls are now collected electronically between the U.S. 1 (Exit 1) and County Line Road (Exit 47) interchanges in Miami-Dade County; no cash or credit cards are accepted. Motorists must use either SunPass or TOLL-BY-PLATE, and everyone will have the benefit of paying tolls without having to stop.

For customers without SunPass, the alternative is TOLL-BY-PLATE, a collection system that takes a photo of a vehicle’s license plate as it travels under tolling equipment installed overhead and mails a bill for the tolls incurred over a 30-day period, plus a $2.50 administrative charge per invoice, to the registered owner of the vehicle.

For those traveling in a rental vehicle, there is an easy and convenient way to pay tolls without stopping. Most rental car companies have programs that allow their customers to charge the tolls to the credit card being used to rent the vehicle. Motorists should check with their rental car company for details. For information about participating rental car companies, go to www.SunPass.com/rentalcar.

[piebaldpython]

Thanks Z-man for the info......we went with DOLLAR RENT-A-CAR and they are part of the SunPass program. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

[ZMAN]

I am glad you brought this up. I did some digging and I am finding that some of the rental companies charge as much as 120 dollars service fee to process a 1.60 toll fee. A guy in Texas was charged 197. 10 for a 1.60 toll. The toll company wanted 70 dollars, and the car rental wanted 120 service fee, and they charge a statement fee as well.
Apparently Avis has a program that is 2.50 a day or 10.00 a week that covers the service fee on all your tolls. They simply add the toll amount plus 2.50 to your credit card. It must be in place at the time you rent the vehicle. Othere are as high as 6.99 per day. Most charge a fee of 25 to process the tolls. Apparently if you have a transponder you can use it on various highways. Best to check if they are compatible.
I do a lot of visits to Florida and I do rent. I will make sure I have something in place. This has only become a problem since they stopped allowing people to pay tolls at booths. Of course the government never realized what a PITA it would be for the rental companies,and their customers.
I will be very wary now of toll roads that do not have collection. I wonder how they will deal with cars from another country.
I do travel a lot in the US on toll roads with my Canadian plate. That would be interesting to see how they track us down.

[piebaldpython]

Well...I had a conversation with the lady and after it was all said and done, I have charge of $40.92 instead of $103.00. It's the best I could do. What she did was issue me a week pass (the amount of time I rented the car for) and that covers me for the week I was in Florida.

I still would rather have paid just the toll for both ways......but that ain't happening with a rental car.

So, you are all hereby warned.......if you go to Florida on vacation and rent a car.....you better darn well investigate what happens if you go on a toll road like the Florida Turnpike.

[Monkus]

"...charge as much as 120 dollars service fee to process a 1.60 toll fee." <----- That really sucks

[ZMAN]

Well...I had a conversation with the lady and after it was all said and done, I have charge of $40.92 instead of $103.00. It's the best I could do. What she did was issue me a week pass (the amount of time I rented the car for) and that covers me for the week I was in Florida.

I still would rather have paid just the toll for both ways......but that ain't happening with a rental car.

So, you are all hereby warned.......if you go to Florida on vacation and rent a car.....you better darn well investigate what happens if you go on a toll road like the Florida Turnpike.
Amen brother: I am warned. I wonder how many people have been firked by the rental companies and don't even know why.
It should be a standard rider on any rental that any tolls are automatically charged to your credit card. That would be it.
We are paying their fees to implement the programming to do this.
Talk to your congess person. It is a total ripoff!