It’s nigh on impossible to travel from Orlando or Miami airports to your hotel or rental home without using toll roads. From Orlando airport you’re looking at either $2 or $3 for your trip to the Walt Disney World area, depending on whether you travel north or south out of the airport, and from Miami airport it’s around $25.
And then as you explore the Orlando area during your trip you will inevitably travel on toll roads.
Nowadays, each rental car has a toll transponder attached to its windscreen that is automatically recognised when you travel through or under an automated toll sensor.
So, with the tolls being aggregated up and then billed to the card that you gave at the rental counter (you consented to have your details passed to the toll-billing company in one of the many rental agreement signatures you gave!), you at least don’t need any cash to navigate the tolls.
And you’re not going to run up a huge charge over the course of the week or two weeks that you are in the area. If you stay in the Orlando area, then your weekly charge may be around $10 to $20, plus an extra $50 if you flew in and out of Miami airport.
However, where you can get stung is on how your car rental company charges you for administering your toll charges!
In addition to your actual toll charges, your car rental company will charge you a per day or per toll administration fee (depending on the car rental company) – you choose which program to sign up to at the rental counter before you pick up your car.
Whichever choice you make and whichever company you’re with, the costs soon rack up. Here are a couple of car rental companies and their toll charge options:
We’d recommend you take a look at your car rental company’s toll payment options before you travel and work out which option you think will work best for you. It’s one less thing to think about when you get to the car rental counter.
Most visitors renting cars in Florida, including us initially, just accepted these car rental charges (in addition to the tolls), as there wasn’t a sensible alternative.
Now there is, but only if you fly into Orlando airport (MCO).
It’s called the Visitor Toll Pass, and we love it because:
And it’s really easy to use:
Couple of points to be aware of:
It really is a great service and, depending on how many toll roads, express lanes and toll bridges you use, the Visitor Toll Pass can end up saving you a small fortune in car rental company fees and higher toll charges.
The Visitor Toll Pass is awesome, but it is only available if you fly into and out of Orlando airport.
If you fly into and out of other Florida airports – such as Miami and Tampa – you can still eliminate your rental car company charges, however it requires a bit more effort, time (before you fly), and a (relatively) small up-front cost.
With a pre-purchased Uni transponder by E-PASS (that attaches to your rental car’s windscreen) and an E-PASS account, you can, just like the Visitor Toll Pass above, decline your car rental company’s toll program at the counter and have your toll charges billed directly to your E-PASS account.
The process for setting a Uni up is as follows:
Frustratingly, you can’t open your E-PASS account before you fly because you have to have the licence plate of your first rental car to hand, which of course you won’t have until you’re at the airport, standing next to your car!
However, the good news is, once you have the Uni transponder, E-PASS account and app all set up for your first car rental, you can then add future car rentals via the app when you pick the cars up, rather than having to phone E-PASS each time.