bigboi

As a Florida resident often renting cars here, here is my experience.

Buy a transponder (if you can rationalize $25 for the portable transponder it would be better so you can move it around between cars). Once you register your account online, make sure you add the rental to your Sunpass account and you should be in the clear for avoiding dealing with a platepass invoice.

If you somehow do end up receiving an invoice from plate pass (happened to me twice when i added the car to my account at the last second before i went through a sunpass lane and i forgot to bring my transponder), you can send a copy of your sunpass account activity to them and they won't charge you.

Good Luck!

ChevyCruze

Guess you're not from around here, since you referred to it as a "hire" instead of a rental.

Where in Florida are you planning on travelling? Orlando, Miami, Tampa, etc. A few cash toll lanes still exist. I can say for certain about the I275 Skyway Bridge from Bradenton to St. Pete as well as the Pinellas Byway if you are headed out to the beach. Think most of the tolls around Orlando also have cash lanes. No idea about the Florida Turnpike or down around Miami.

Do they still sell those? Haven't seen them at Publix anymore and thought I read something a while back that Sunpass was sending out rebates to buy the new window decals in order to phase out the larger transponders.

fliesdelta

Walgreens still has them.

There are no cash toll booths in the Miami area, it's either toll by mail or Sunpass, which is cheaper.

I don't live in FL but travel there often, the $25 I paid for the transponder has been worth it.

bigboi

Weird, all the Publixs down here seem to sell them. I bought one of the decals and got the rebate, but i know that promotion ended about a year or 2 ago.

IntFF

I will visit FL in June for a week and rent a car. I will land at MIA and drive around Miami and up to Jacksonville and back.

Is it possible to open sunpass acct online when I dont know the car plate number? (I could not see onine how to do it)

Assuming above not possible: 3 questions:

1. After I land at MIA and get my rental car (on a Mon 7pm):
Where should I drive to to buy a sunpass sticker Without going thru tolls, or only tolls I can pay with cash ??

2. Will the store that sell the sunpass sticker can also open the acct for me? or I have to do it online myself?

3. Assuming I need to open acct online (after I bought the sticker):
After I land and (hopefully) get the sunpass sticker, I need to get to HGI MIA-West at 3550 NW 74th Ave. Can I get there w/o going via automatic tolls?

I know... many questions... but detailed answers will help many visitors.
Thanks in advance.

Flyfromscratch

Have pretty much the same questions.. landing on April 26th and driving around the whole state till May 4th..

ijgordon

I can't speak to the specifics of opening a SunPass account, although I know that on my EZpass account in New York, I used "DUMMY2" as my license plate (DUMMY1 was taken...). That program specifically allows you to use EZpass even if you don't own a car and it doesn't need to be tied to a specific car as long as the vehicle you use it in is in the same class as the account. But the online system requires a license plate, hence the Dummy. You could try that and then just add the real rental car when you get it.

Also, it's just the FL Turnpike in Miami-Dade County that has gone cashless, some of the other toll roads (e.g., the Dolphin Expressway) still have cash lanes.

Flyfromscratch

You dont even have to do that with EZPass.. I bought an ezpass and used it for over 2 months in a hertz car.. din register any car number at all on their website.. it was just fine..

shadowsjc

Hi all - is it possible to drive around Miami using only cash lanes? Figure I might drive as far north as Holllywood/Ft Lauderdale, and as far south as Biscayne Bay, with the bulk of the driving between MIA and South Beach. thanks!

themicah

No. Most Miami area tollways are cashless. The only way to avoid Platepass in a Hertz car is to have your own transponder or avoid the tollroads altogether.

shadowsjc

Thanks for the tip. Will have to remember to pack my EZ Pass in my luggage!

Flyfromscratch

I hope you are not referring to the NJ Ezpass.. they don't work in Florida.. they have another system there..

CalItalian

I was just there earlier this month. As long as you stay on the congested I-95 and don't get in the express lanes (which are under construction near Ft. Lauderdale), there is no toll to pay (I used other freeways, too, but you have to pre-plan knowing which are). I avoided all tolls in South Florida and I drove from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West (and back to Plantation) using Google Maps with the "avoid tolls" feature (although MapQuest was better in showing where the toll roads are).

Flyfromscratch

I think down south it's not much of an issue.. i will be driving from Homestead to Orlando and on that route, if you do aviod tolls, your travel time goes up by an hour..

themicah

You'll need a Sunpass transponder for Florida. EZ Pass transponders work throughout the Northeast and on the Illinois Tollway, but not in Florida: