Canada - Using the 407 with a YYZ rental car?

How does that work these days? I have a (Alamo) rental later today at YYZ, and if I want to use Hwy 407, do the rental car companies usually charge the renter the toll after the fact?

Is it worth it, or a big ripoff?

You will get a bill from the rental company in about a month with the actual 407 charge plus a service fee from the company. The 407 charge will likely be in the $10-20 range, and the service fee will probably double the total. Just ask for the fee schedule when you pick up your car.

If you are trying to go to a client meeting, it can easily be worth the extra $$.

Yes, at least in my experience some weeks after you return the car you will get a letter demanding a the tolls + a substantial handling fee.

I would avoid the 407 in a rental car unless I was going somewhere Northeast of the city is deepest afternoon rush hour.

Just did it Monday in a rental. They have a little placard in the car saying that they will later add the toll and a handling fee to your credit card.

Two things from past experience with my rental company:

- The extra fee takes about three weeks to month to go through; they'll send you a letter telling you they're adding it to your card.

- If you drive a short distance on the 407, such as 427 to 400, they won't bother billing you. I have had this pleasant experience about four times in the last year.

- If you drive a short distance on the 407, such as 427 to 400, they won't bother billing you. I have had this pleasant experience about four times in the last year.


Shhh!;):)

Shhh!;):)

Oh oh, I hope I haven't killed the golden goose!

Yes, at least in my experience some weeks after you return the car you will get a letter demanding a the tolls + a substantial handling fee.

Never received a letter from Hertz or Avis demanding payment. Just a form letter advising me the toll would be charged to my credit along with an administration fee. Can’t remember the exact admin. fee but I recall it certainly seamed reasonable. So go ahead and use the 407 if it provides a better route to your destination. To me the extra cost is well worth it to avoid the 401.

Hertz and Avis have always had a notice in the car showing the fees so it’s no shock.

Perhaps you got a demand letter if the rental was settled with cash and the credit card number was no longer on file.

I would avoid the 407 in a rental car unless I was going somewhere Northeast of the city is deepest afternoon rush hour.
Absolutely. I would not use the 407 without a transporder period!

Oh oh, I hope I haven't killed the golden goose!
Better edit your post. Just kidding. :D

What about a car with a US plate? I normally rent from BUF and drive across the border.

Oh oh, I hope I haven't killed the golden goose!

If you have then I will be sending you the bills that suddenly begin appearing from Hertz. Like you, 9/10 bills for driving the 407 in a rental are not passed along to me.

What about a car with a US plate? I normally rent from BUF and drive across the border.

Doesn't matter, they have billing agreements with most US states.

Do they make you pay the toll fee + ETR's own fee (for not using a transponder) AND an extra "processing fee" from the rental company? IMHO, unless you have a transponder or can justify needing to use the 407 stay off it. Thank god I have a transponder.

BTW: If someone rents a car in TO can they use my transponder or do they cross check licence plate numbers to the transponder code?

BTW: If someone rents a car in TO can they use my transponder or do they cross check licence plate numbers to the transponder code?

As far as I know if a transponder is detected they don't look at the plates, there is a real cost to the OCR process for extracting the plate text from the images so they don't do it unless they really have to.

Perhaps you got a demand letter if the rental was settled with cash and the credit card number was no longer on file.

Good point, my experience was some years ago, before I got a transponder.

I got stuck in QEW/Gardiner traffic by attempting to avoid the tolls/service fees in a rental car a few months ago. Never again - took me 3.5 hours from Hamilton to Pickering :(

I can only imagine how much worse the situation have fared if that took place in winter.

I had a Hertz rental from YYZ in October 2006 where I used the 407 to get from YYZ to Pickering and back. I thought I had gotten off without any fees; but in May 2007, Hertz sent me a receipt that equated to about $35 USD including the tolls and the admin fee, as I recall. They charged the same credit card I had used for the rental. Guess they must've been a little backed up at the Hertz administrative offices if it took them 7 months to charge my card for using the 407.

I kept the little card from my rental this week: "Each time you use the 407 ETR, the toll charges are based on distance travelled, time of day, day of the week and video charges. We will bill your rental contract these accumulated costs, plus a single administrative fee of $10.00 plus GST. Your credit card will automatically be charged approximately 1 month after your car rental."

Also, this is the first time I have seen this card in an AVIS rental at YYZ: "Please present your gas receipt if the vehicle has been refuelled." I refuelled at a PetroCanada station on Airport Road and, sure enough, I was asked for my receipt when I returned the vehicle a few minutes later.

Vaguely on topic, I have noticed that Avis cars I have rented recently in NJ have a transponder on them, so you can use the EZ Pass lanes (similar to 407 ETR transponders). They are contained in some sort of case, and if you want to use it, you pull it out so that it can be read by the EZ Pass readers.

Probably won't bother to do it here in Toronto, as they can save the money of buying a transponder and let the cameras figure out who to charge with the pictures.

Greg

Update: Hertz charged me an $8.50 surcharge + accumulated tolls. The $8.50 surcharge was “per rental” Not each time I used the highway and certainly seams very reasonable when you consider some of the fees Air Canada and Aeroplan charge.

And what a pleasure the 407 was to drive when all you were hearing on the radio was 401 lane closures, accidents and traffic backups! Well worth the surcharge!

Also, this is the first time I have seen this card in an AVIS rental at YYZ: "Please present your gas receipt if the vehicle has been refuelled." I refuelled at a PetroCanada station on Airport Road and, sure enough, I was asked for my receipt when I returned the vehicle a few minutes later.

Had the same thing with National at BDL. The checkin guy explained that quite a few customers - especially those driving the big SUVs - will put 20 or 30 miles on the vehicle, not fill it up, but the needle still shows full. Next customer drives even fewer miles, needle starts to move, finds he's out $15-20 just to top up the tank.

Does anyone know if you can get a transponder without linking it to a license plate number. I rent frequently in Toronto and there is the video service fee plus the $10 Avis fee. I would prefer to just have my own transponder. I looked at the 407 website, but I couldn't find the information I was looking for.

I take it you are from out of province. I would call 1-888-407-0407 and ask about this. You may still be able to register a transponder to your car, and just take it with you when you rent a car in Toronto. There website strongly suggests against using a transponder in another vehicle, but it doesn't forbid it.

I will be visiting Toronto for two weeks with a rental car and expect to use the 407.

This document from the Ontario government suggests that you can get a transponder making a cash deposit, and then get the deposit back when you return the transponder: http://www.ipc.on.ca/images/Resources/407-e.pdf But the document is a few years old and I could not find any confirmation of this possibility anywhere else.

Does anybody know if this is still possible?

I will be visiting Toronto for two weeks with a rental car and expect to use the 407.

This document from the Ontario government suggests that you can get a transponder making a cash deposit, and then get the deposit back when you return the transponder: http://www.ipc.on.ca/images/Resources/407-e.pdf But the document is a few years old and I could not find any confirmation of this possibility anywhere else.

Does anybody know if this is still possible?

May 1998. A few years old? LOL. That predates the government selling the highway to private interests, so I wouldn't place much stock in 12 year old documents now. It does say in their site that to lease a transponder, the license plate has to be in your own name, so I think the precludes a short term lease to be used on a rental car. You can call them or drop in to their office on Steeles, west of 27, 5 or so miles north of the airport.

I also notice that, in keeping with the basis of this website, they now have a 4-tier rewards program.

http://www.407etr.com/Rewards/index.html

I also notice that, in keeping with the basis of this website, they now have a 4-tier rewards program.

http://www.407etr.com/Rewards/index.html

I wonder if there are enough Ontarians doing "asphalt runs" to get higher tier status ;P

Does anyone know if the 407 folks have a deal to charge cars with a with New Brunswick licence plate?

In response to some posters:

1. Out of province cars will get billed. This includes you. If you don't pay, most states/provinces have reciprocal agreements that will cause you trouble at license renewal time.

2. You are free to switch your transponder between vehicles, as long as you don't mix up truck and car transponders. If you bring a transponder with you in a rental car, the transponder will be billed and the rental agency will never know that you took the 407.

... 1. Out of province cars will get billed.

That's what I thought, but I drove my NS-registered car on 407 in June 2009 and I'm still waiting for the bill.

Just on a distantly-related note, those who have Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge transponders can now use them to pay for parking at the Halifax International Airport. And on the Cobequid Pass, if you link the accounts.

That's what I thought, but I drove my NS-registered car on 407 in June 2009 and I'm still waiting for the bill.


If you read the papers, standard billing practice for the 407ETR is to wait ten years and then bill you retroactively plus a decade of penalties and late fees:

http://www.wheels.ca/article/782889

[QUOTE=FrequentFlyerYYZ;14449416]In response to some posters:

Out of province cars will get billed. This includes you. If you don't pay, most states/provinces have reciprocal agreements that will cause you trouble at license renewal time.

There is no reciprocal agreement with Ontario and any province or state when it comes to "ownership" type charges, i.e. parking tickets or toll road fees. If you are the registered owner of a car in Ontario and you do not pay Ontario fees then you will go to "Plate Denial" which means you cannot renew your permit and plate. Ontario does not have an agreement to try to collect fees from other jurisdictions. So if you are the owner of a car registered outside of Ontario there is no practical way Ontario or the 407 corporation can collect their fees. Now it is quite possible other jurisdictions have these kind of agreements such as Quebec with Nove Scotia or New York with New Jersey, but certainly not Ontario. With rental cars, it's likely that the rental car company will pay the other jurisdiction's 407 bill, and then bill the customer, however, the other jurisdiction will not try to collect a bill coming from Ontario.

Now for moving type violations, e.g. speeding, disobey a traffic light, impaired driving etc. Ontario currently has reciprocal agreements with all the Canadian provinces and two U.S. states, New York and Michigan. So if you receive a speeding ticket in New York it will show up on your Ontario driving record possibly with demerit points as well.

That's what I thought, but I drove my NS-registered car on 407 in June 2009 and I'm still waiting for the bill.

Don't worry about it, I probably paid the toll for you.

Drove on the 407 a couple of times in the early days and paid the bill for it. Now, about every 24 months, I get a bill in the mail for some random amount (always small, like a $6 total bill), because my car was apparently caught entering/exiting the 407 while I was in, say, Europe.

Don't worry about it, I probably paid the toll for you.

Thanks. I appreciate it. :D

That's what I thought, but I drove my NS-registered car on 407 in June 2009 and I'm still waiting for the bill.

Just on a distantly-related note, those who have Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge transponders can now use them to pay for parking at the Halifax International Airport. And on the Cobequid Pass, if you link the accounts.

Good to know. I recently had an Ontario Avis rental that had NS plates. I am fully expecting the $25 + $15 Avis charge for using the 407 last month, but then again I wont miss it if it doesn't come...

So as it turns out, it still is possible to get the "anonymous transponder" without any connection to a specifiic person or vehicle.
http://www.407etr.com/Products/transponders_anonym.htm

You basically have to give a $50 deposit on the transponder and prepay $200 against tolls. When you return the transponder you get the $50 back plus the unused balance on the tolls.

The major negative is that you need to go in person to the 407ETR service center at Steeles and the 427 to organize it. But if you plan to be in Toronto for some time with a rental car and anticipate using the 407, it may be worth doing.