How Does Cashless Tolling on the New York Thruway Work in Rental Cars
The new cashless tolls on the New York State Thruway are up and running. But what happens if you're driving a rental car?
The new tolls take pictures of the tags on your car. If you don't have an EZ-Pass the Thruway Authority bills the registered owner. What if the registered owner is a rental company?
If you rent a car and travel on the New York Thruway, you won't be getting out of paying the tolls. Rental companies are passing the cost along to you and probably with an additional fee.
AVIS advises customers they will automatically opt into their 'e-Toll service program.
Customers will be charged $17.00 plus GST/HST per rental, plus incurred kilometer charges and video tolls at the maximum prevailing rates posted by the toll authority. The charges may take 4-8 weeks after the rental to be billed to your billing account or credit card/debit card on file.
Enterprise won't charge customers more if they use their own E-Z Pass. If they don't have an E-ZPass they can use Enterprise's TollPass Service that costs anywhere from $4 to $5 per day plus the amount of tolls.
“Do not add rental car information to your E-ZPass account. However, you can use your E-ZPass Tag in any vehicle of the same class. Please ensure that your E-ZPass Tag is properly mounted as per installation instructions in all vehicles in which the Tag is used. A Tag that is not mounted properly may prevent the Tag from being read in the lane. If your Tag does not read, you will be subject to the terms of your car rental agreement that apply to E-ZPass usage, toll transactions, and/or violation transactions.”
You can avoid additional fees if you go to TollsByMailNY.com before your rental company is charged. But don't wait. Transactions from more than 48 hours may already be on the rental company's account. Just enter the rental car's license plate number and dates you traveled on the Thruway to pay online.