Drive to Key West from Miami questions

[Pisgah]

We are renting a car (dollar car rental) at the Miami Airport and driving to Key West for 5 days next week. I am being told I must pay a $36.95 fee (weekly) for the 18 mile stretch of cashless toll road. I will only be on the toll road two times, on the way and on the way back. Is there anyway around the toll road? Maybe a alternative route. How busy is US 1 if we leave the airport at 2:00 PM and head toward Key West? Should I just bite the bullet and pay? Need advice from my Key West CC friends.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

While the fee you have to pay seems high to me ($15.00 each way), I'd buck it up and pay it because alternate routes to Florida City are loaded with traffic and stop lights and are extremely slow, at least based on past experiences we have had. We only pay about eight bucks each way from West Palm using our Sun Pass. Your rental company must be adding in a service charge.

 

Once you get to Florida City there are no more tolls unless you take Card Sound Road instead of US 1 in which case you will have to fork over $1.00 for the bridge.

 

I'd much rather save my precious time to use it in the far more scenic, relaxing and enjoyable Keys. For me what is between Miami and the Keys is just something to be gotten over with quickly. The turnpike from Homestead onward isn't too bad. You pass a fablulous palm tree plantataion. I find it pretty.

 

I hope you enjoy the Keys as much as we always do and hope you will be fortunate enough to see an adorable tiny Key deer or two on your way through Big Pine Key.

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

It has become a real pain for nonresidents since they converted the Homestead Turnpike extension to SunPass only. You can take I-95 to the end and go south on US-1, but you have 30 miles of city type traffic to deal with. From the port there are only 2 tolls ($0.75 each with SunPass) on the turnpike. There is also a toll on the Dolphin Expressway that takes you from the port to the Turnpike (also $0.75 with SunPass) . If you have time, you could get your own SunPass. They are availible at Publix and CVS. The transponder is only $5 or so. When you get back, simply remove the transponder from the vehicle.

 

Hope you have a great time in the Keys

Tom

[irwins0001]

I drive down to the Keys often, and in my opinion I would just bite the bullet and pay. I do think it is a ripoff for tourists and not a very smart thing for the State/Rental car company to do in this economy.

I have taken 95 south to the last exit and taken route 1 from there into the Keys. At 2 PM this may add 40-60 minutes to your trip. What day of the week are you traveling in each direction?

Lastly, the following is from the FL Turnpike website:

 

Registered TOLL-BY-PLATE customers using a rental vehicle may have their tolls applied to their prepaid account. It is strongly recommended that customers access their online accounts or contact the TOLL-BY-PLATE Customer Service Center to add the rental vehicle subscription to their account for the rental period. Customer's prepaid balance must be sufficient to cover the toll amounts, or they may be subject to fees and charges set forth below and in their rental agreements.

TOLL-BY-PLATE Customer Service Center: 1-888-824-8655

 

So, you would need to register for an account over the phone. When you get your rental car in Miami, call the service center with the plate number. Registration should be instant. Make sure of this when you first register for the account. Then, all toll bills should be deducted from your account and the rental car agency should get no bills. Therefore, they will not bill you.

Only you can decide if it is worth the hassle. Please report back to us if you do it and how it works.

[bouhunter]

Some of the car rental companies are taking advantage of this more than others. If you google "sunpass" and find the toll website there is a place where they list each rental companies fees. We booked with National, I think they are charging 2.00/day only for the days you use the tolls, plus the toll. Our first reservation was with Thrifty and they are charging 6.99/day for every day of the rental whether using the toll roads or not. Wasn't going to do that when we're only using the toll roads the first and last days of a 10 day rental!:eek:

 

It is a shame some of the companies are using this as an excuse to make more money. And some of them are charging 25.00 service fees for each toll if you don't make arrangements ahead of time:mad: