Do Rental Car Tolls Cost Extra? A 2026 Transponder Guide

Do rental car tolls cost extra?

Usually, yes. Most major rental companies add a daily service fee on top of the toll itself, charged on each day you drive through a toll road. Some companies also sell flat-rate plans that charge a daily rate for every day of the rental. Bringing your own transponder can avoid those company fees, but only if it is accepted on the roads you plan to drive and the rental car's own device is kept closed or inactive.

Figures in this article are from October 2026 publications and can change, so check the terms on your own rental agreement before you travel.

How do rental car toll programs charge you?

Most large rental brands enrol cars in automated toll billing. The car either has a built-in transponder, or the toll authority photographs the licence plate. The toll is then sent to the rental company, which bills your card. Enrolment is usually opt-out: unless you take a step to avoid it, the first electronic toll you drive through can put you in the program.

The cost comes from two parts:

• The toll itself. Rental programs often bill it at the highest undiscounted or cash rate, not the cheaper transponder rate.
• The company fee. This is a daily charge added for each day you use a toll road, or a flat daily charge for the whole rental under an "all-inclusive" plan.

A small toll can cost several times its face value once the daily fee is added. One publisher's worked example is a $2.00 toll on each day of a seven-day rental. On a capped pay-per-use program, that is about $14 in tolls plus about $35 in fees.

What do the main programs charge in 2026?

The table below lists the pay-per-use and optional programs named in the October 2026 figures. Company names and terms vary by location and booking.

Two points matter most. First, a pay-per-use program with a cap is cheaper for trips with only a few toll days. Second, a flat-rate plan charges you on days you never touch a toll road. To compare them, multiply the daily rate by your rental days and add your expected tolls.

Some companies handle things differently. For example, one source says that if you decline the company's toll product with Thrifty, tolls are billed by plate at the highest undiscounted rate plus a $9.99 usage-day fee. Sixt's fee varies by state and branch.

Should you bring your own transponder?

For most renters with a working transponder, yes. A personal device is the most direct way to avoid the company's daily fee. When your own transponder reads the toll, the charge goes to your own account at the standard rate, and the rental program is not triggered.

Four conditions have to hold:

1. The device works on your roads. Toll networks are regional, so check before you travel (see the next section).
2. Your account is funded or active. A transponder with no balance can still leave you with a violation.
3. The rental's device is kept out of the way. Keep the rental car's transponder box closed. Otherwise the same toll can be billed twice, once to your account and once through the rental program.
4. You clean up afterward. Remove your transponder and any plate you added to your account when you return the car, so you do not pay the next renter's tolls.

If you do not own a transponder but rent often in toll-heavy areas, one source notes that buying one can pay for itself quickly. It cites a SunPass PRO at $14.95 plus tax.

Which transponder works where?

A transponder only helps on roads that accept it. These are the main regional options named in the sources:

• E-ZPass lists 21 states from Maine to Florida, and west to Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. An E-ZPass does not work in states outside the network.
• SunPass PRO works in Florida and 23 other states, including most E-ZPass states. E-ZPass holders do not need a separate SunPass PRO for Florida roads. SunPass also works on toll roads in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, except the Northwest Parkway. It does not list South Carolina, and covers only the Bay City area in Michigan.
• FasTrak is used for California's toll bridges and express lanes. An out-of-state transponder from another network is not on the SunPass PRO list for California. If you skip the rental program there, check whether the toll agency takes a one-time payment before you cross.

For New York and New Jersey, the picture is more fragmented. The Port Authority's six crossings are cashless. The New York State Thruway is cashless too, and a camera records the plate when no tag is read. The New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are run by a separate authority, and Manhattan's Congestion Relief Zone is a separate charge altogether. An E-ZPass covers the bridges and tunnels, but it does not settle the Congestion Relief Zone charge.

Where do the sources disagree on adding the rental plate?

Some toll accounts let you add the rental car's plate for the rental dates, so tolls are charged to your account and not to the rental company. The sources do not agree on how this works for every account:

• One source says SunPass account holders can add the rental plate and dates, and that Enterprise's TollPass allows you to register the rental plate if your issuer requires it.
• A New Jersey E-ZPass source says a customer may add a rental vehicle with start and end times.
• Newark Airport's renter guidance says not to add the rental car's plate to a personal E-ZPass account.

Because these instructions differ, do not assume one issuer's or airport's process applies to your account. Before you enter a toll road, ask your toll account issuer and the rental company how their systems work together, and follow the documented instruction for your own account.

What should you check at the rental counter?

Before you drive off, ask the agent, or read the signed agreement, for these points:

• Does the car have a built-in or removable toll device, and is it active?
• How do I decline it, or switch it off while I use my own transponder?
• What event triggers a fee? Is it a toll day, or every day of the rental?
• Is there a daily or rental-period cap?
• Which toll facilities are covered?
• How are tolls billed, and how long do they take to post?

On the last point, one source says Avis and Budget e-Toll charges can take 4 to 8 weeks to appear after the rental ends. A clean final receipt does not mean the toll bill is finished.

If you are not using toll roads at all, a navigation app's "avoid tolls" setting can help. Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze all offer one. The setting is a starting point, not proof that every charge is avoided, so check the final route on the road.

What if a toll bill arrives after the trip?

If a toll is driven through a cashless road with no working transponder, the toll authority can photograph the plate and send a notice to the rental company. The company then passes the toll and its own administrative fee to you. Administrative fees vary by company and are separate from any daily fee.

If a charge appears later:

• Ask for the transaction detail: date, time, location, amount and how the fee was calculated.
• Compare the list with your own toll statement, to check for double billing.
• Check that the fee follows the program terms. Pay-per-use fees should apply only to toll days, and capped programs should stop at the cap.
• Check the dates. A toll dated after you returned the car points to a plate or transponder charge made after the rental ended.
• Keep the rental agreement, your toll-service choice and your toll account activity until all charges are matched.

In the US, a written billing-error notice to your card issuer must generally be sent within 60 days after the statement showing the charge was sent, according to one source. Do not wait out a long back-and-forth with the rental company before you act.

Bottom line

Rental car tolls usually cost more than the toll itself because of daily company fees, and you can avoid those fees by using your own transponder on roads that accept it, provided the rental's device is kept closed. Confirm the plate-registration rule for your account, and read the fee terms on your agreement before you leave the lot. For a sense of how rental pricing is built, see how rental pricing works. To compare offers for your dates, you can search live prices.