Travel

[VaBelle35]

@Lilysmom  I wonder if it has to do with the type of transponder?  I know that on my recent trip to Boston, the rental car (National) had it embedded in the license plate or somewhere in the car, it wasn't a transponder in the windshield like the one I have at home here in Virginia.  There was no way to decline it there either.

In Miami, I know we had to sign away our life to say that if a ticket came in on the car after we returned it, we were responsible and they could charge our credit card.

[VaBelle35]

In MA it's called Pay by Plate as part of EZDrive for MassDOT.

[Lilysmom]

@VaBelle35, ours was a windshield transponder.

I am afraid I am becoming a bit of a cynic about travelling.  It gets to be more and more of a chore to do the airport thing.  If you aren't flying business class, it is like a sardine can the way they stuff you in the planes these days.  There are so many extra fees that it is almost a joke.

The rental companies are notoriously bad on issues like transponders.  It's like you have to fight everyone to take a trip.

My preference these days when going south of the border is to go by vehicle.  Then you can travel at your own leisure and on your own schedule. When I was in Florida, I saw the story about United ejecting the passenger.  It was disgusting.  

I cancelled next year's trip.  We will go somewhere else I think or skip a year flying.

I travelled a lot in my business for 30 years.  Things certainly have gone downhill. 

Hats off to those who still love to do it.  I am losing my appetite for it.  LM

[Lilysmom]

@VaBelle35, I am going to look into this.  We go to Maine and surrounding states at least once a year.  I called our local toll people to see if they were linked in but they aren't.  Thanks for the info.  LM

[Dawnie]

@Lilysmom

Budget/Avis is the worst rental company I have ever used.   I had a highway blowout last year.  Budget charged 468 for the tire and what they say is undercarriage damage.  The tire alone was over 200.   The blowout did not cause undercarriage damage.  I don't know if the tire was previously plugged, how old it was, etc.  The vehicle had 11k miles.  

If you have a blowout , go to Walmart buy a tire!

Others have experienced the same issue when not purchasing extended coverage from Budget. 

Budget will never have my business again.  

[Lilysmom]

@Dawnie, thanks for the info.  Who do you use now?

I read an article about car rental companies.  The jist of the article was that most are owned by a few companies.  None of them have great reputations as far as I know.  LM

[jackthebear]

EZPass saves the time of sitting in the lane waiting to pay, why not use it or the equivalent.

here the tolls are going to unmanned/overhead and will mail you a "bill" for the price of the toll 

saves so much time 

[Lilysmom]

@jackthebear, definitely going to check it out.  Beats looking for $1 bills for tolls all the time.  LM

[jackthebear]

https://e-zpassiag.com/about-e-zpass/where-can-i-use-it

[VaBelle35]

I thought of something else today when I was using my EZpass.

When I was in NY/NJ in September using my EZPass, I got an email that my balance was low.  I have auto replenish on when it gets to $10, but in the email there was a statement that said something about out of state toll booths do not have the most up to date information and it can take 48 hours for their data to be updated.  So I didn't wait for the autoreplenish to hit, I just went in and put $100 on it so that by the time I started driving back to Virginia, the information would be updated.

The Verazano Bridge is $17.