Avis in Florida and toll passes

[The real Swiss Tony]

Hi

Have a 7 day rental, picking up in TPA, dropping in MIA.

I think we will have to drive on toll roads at some point. Am seeing conflicting numbers on how much Avis will charge for the transponder rental. Am wondering if I should take the pre-paid pass option as that doesn’t need a transponder, or should I just take the hit?

The one way rental means I can’t easily rent a transponder from a 3rd party.

Thanks for any advice.

[ChasP]

In Florida you dont need a transponder All hire cars work on a toll by plate which for AVIS IIRC charge you $5 admin every day you go through a toll to a max of $25 + the toll charges

You can buy a tolls included package but unless you are going through several a day its poor value. There arent that many toll roads unlike Houston where a week cost me $150

[davefl]

Buy your own Sunpass Mini for $5 https://www.sunpass.com/en/about/whereToPurchaseSunPass.shtml

If you’re an Android user, create a 2nd Google Play account with your hotel’s address in FL, switch to that account in the Play App and download the Sunpass app before you go. You can create an account ahead of time and then add the transponder ID when you get it.

You can also buy the Sunpass Mini from various sources on ebay but it’ll cost you areound £20

[The real Swiss Tony]

Thanks both. I have been getting conflicting pricing from Avis.

I also saw this https://www.sunpass.com/en/tolls/rentalVehicles.shtml

Which suggests I can create an account, pre-load it with funds and all the system works from is my license plate. Am I reading that correctly?

[Froggee]

Hi – I literally just picked an Avis car up at Orlando and my jet lagged brain remembers pay as you go being $6.95 for each day you incur toll charges (plus the tolls) or $59.95 unlimited included tolls for the rental (10 days in my case)

[The real Swiss Tony]

Thanks. I’m looking at I think $30-$35 of tolls at the non-discounted price. I’m erring towards the unlimited idea, but Avis tell me (rather unhelpfully)

Avis also offers e-Toll Unlimited, which includes the cost of tolls and convenience fees. If you choose e-Toll Unlimited, you agree to pay a daily flat fee of $10.99 – $25.99, depending on checkout location, for each day of the rental period, regardless of whether or not you incur any tolls, up to a maximum of $54.95 – $129.95 per week.

That sort of spread will have Travelex wondering what they’re doing wrong, but is also generally unhelpful to me, as a $20 premium for convenience is very different to a $100 one…

[JDB]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Thanks. I’m looking at I think $30-$35 of tolls at the non-discounted price. I’m erring towards the unlimited idea, but Avis tell me (rather unhelpfully)

Avis also offers e-Toll Unlimited, which includes the cost of tolls and convenience fees. If you choose e-Toll Unlimited, you agree to pay a daily flat fee of $10.99 – $25.99, depending on checkout location, for each day of the rental period, regardless of whether or not you incur any tolls, up to a maximum of $54.95 – $129.95 per week.

That sort of spread will have Travelex wondering what they’re doing wrong, but is also generally unhelpful to me, as a $20 premium for convenience is very different to a $100 one…

If you are concerned, you can opt out of Avis e-toll altogether and pay the tolls directly online using the number plate, although you have to do that prior to the monthly invoice being issued to Avis (which is easily enough done). The fee range you mention is location specific, so you can check in advance with your pick up location how much it will be.

[davefl]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Thanks both. I have been getting conflicting pricing from Avis.

I also saw this https://www.sunpass.com/en/tolls/rentalVehicles.shtml

Which suggests I can create an account, pre-load it with funds and all the system works from is my license plate. Am I reading that correctly?

I wouldnt risk the pay by plate on a prepaid account and you pay the undiscounted rate.

[The real Swiss Tony]

OK, just tried a dummy booking and the Avis US website shows $12.99 a day, discounted to $9.28 so I assume that’s the $65 for the week deal, which is wearable. At the end of the trip, not sure I want to be driving round Miami in the dark trying to avoid the toll roads…

Thanks again all.

[The real Swiss Tony]

In case it’s of use, after speaking to Avis at Tampa, I took the default that charged me $5.95 each day I used a toll. I then had to pay the undiscounted toll on top. An itemised bill turned up today – 10 days after the rental – with a total of just over $25, so $12 admin and $13 tolls.

Worked out ok I guess.

[mkcol]

I’m going to use Visitor Toll Pass which you pick up from vending machine (after reserving online) at Orlando Intl MCO.

You’re meant to return it there too, but they gave me an address to post it back to as I return my vehicle to Tampa TPA.

It doesn’t cost you anything other than the actual cost of the toll.

[ed_fly]

@mkol sadly they don’t offer these for collection at tpa yet.

[ukpolak]

Hello,

Please could I ask how you got the best rate with Avis for Florida? We’re planning a fortnight next summer and I have started my search. We have Amex Plat.

I signed up for Avis Preferred today (quoting “centurion” on sign-up per Plat Bens site) and after filling out a web form, got an email back from Avis “master data management” team telling me it has succeeded but to wait a few days for systems to sync.

Whilst my Avis account is President’s Club, I don’t have an AWD (will one come?) and I used K850800 which I saw on a thread here somewhere. However not easy to determine if pricing is any better than if I was a regular customer.

We’ll be renting for a fortnight with pick-up / drop-off at MIA.

I’ll also sign up for Hertz and align the Amex Plat to it later, to see if they can beat Avis.

Thank you!!

[davefl]

ukpolak wrote:

Hello,

Please could I ask how you got the best rate with Avis for Florida? We’re planning a fortnight next summer and I have started my search. We have Amex Plat.

I signed up for Avis Preferred today (quoting “centurion” on sign-up per Plat Bens site) and after filling out a web form, got an email back from Avis “master data management” team telling me it has succeeded but to wait a few days for systems to sync.

Whilst my Avis account is President’s Club, I don’t have an AWD (will one come?) and I used K850800 which I saw on a thread here somewhere. However not easy to determine if pricing is any better than if I was a regular customer.

We’ll be renting for a fortnight with pick-up / drop-off at MIA.
I’ll also sign up for Hertz and align the Amex Plat to it later, to see if they can beat Avis.

Thank you!!

Avis rates change by the day irrespective of your rate code and booking platform. If you want to see a typical variation look at my thread here. https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/avis-wierdness/

Your best route is book early with whatever code you are eligible for then monitor at least once a week to see if you can cancel and rebook for a better rate.

[ukpolak]

Many thanks @davefl.

I just signed up to Hertz Gold Plus Rewards too – wowee quite the process

DOB
Address
Passport number, issue date and expiration
Ditto from driver’s license
Then full Amex card details and a £0.00 to authenticate me

This comes after a last-min car hire in the Costa del Sol last month where reception sorted me a runaround for a couple of days for (what I thought was) a cheap price for no such admin.

Will have a read and do some comparisons. Fun and games!

Thanks again.

[The real Swiss Tony]

@ukpolak I think the big benefit of those loyalty clubs is that it can expedite the pick up process at big airports significantly, rather than delivering blinding discounts.

As noted, prices change – we booked a BA fly drive in late ’23 for this summer. Car hire prices fell significantly so I was able to tweak the booking we had and benefit from the lower price. Even got a bigger vehicle. So get a flexible rate and as @davefl says keep on top of it.

And check things like Kayak which scans multiple providers and booking aggregators. They also look beyond the airport locations which can save you a lot of £££.

And @mkcol I see there’s a $10 fee for not returning the pass. I’m thinking by the time you add in postage, packing and the hassle of finding a post office, you might be better off just keeping the pass as a souvenir!

[ukpolak]

Thanks both – yes looks like I’ll nail down days first and then start tracking prices thereafter. Good call re Kayak as hoping something off-airport will be better value.