Tolls on the A22

[joeysoap]

Travelrent added €25 to my car rental this time. also said that if I exceeded this they would charge the balance to my cc. at 9 pm on saturday night he advised me to use the motorway and added that it would take me 2 hours to Lagoa on the 125. We needed some groceries anyway and knowing that Intermarche would be closed we just used the 125 to stop in Guia. Got to Guia approx 9.50 , did some shopping back on road at 10.10, slight delay at Fatacil, no problem in Lagoa, in Cvo approx 10.40. 125 was busy but traffic was moving at a slowish (ave 75kms per hour at a guess)but steady pace. everyone behaved themselves. (I forgot to ask what happened the balance if I didn't use up the €25. unlikely there will be a balance anyway as we have a lot of airport runs in the next 3 weeks)

[Miriam]

Hi,

Myself and my husband are really looking forward to our stay in October, however, am anxious about the tolls. We visited Altura in January and found it all very confusing.

Please could someone advise on the best way to understand them. We fly into Lisbon, drive to Porto and then make our way back to Carveoiro.

Thanks in advance

[joeysoap]

Hi,

Myself and my husband are really looking forward to our stay in October, however, am anxious about the tolls. We visited Altura in January and found it all very confusing.

Please could someone advise on the best way to understand them. We fly into Lisbon, drive to Porto and then make our way back to Carveoiro.

Thanks in advance

Sounds a lot of driving! read elsewhere on this forum that the tolls from Lisbon to Cvo are around €20. (ryanair fly from porto to faro, probably as cheap as hiring a car)

on recent visit we hired a car for 17 days. were given the option of motorway driving (ie transponder on windscreen)or not. opted for the transponder. charged €25. Use it or lose it basis. As it transpired we had 4 airport return trips (most using Alcantarilha, a few using Guia) so figure used up most of not all of the €25. Credit card impress was returned on return of the car, so no further bills expected.

[Tony Knight]

Hi Joeysoap

I was interested to read that you were given the choice of either using the A22 motorway with the transponder in the vehicle, or the old 125. We hired two cars for two weeks in July and we were only going to use the A22 for the journey from Faro Airport to Carvoeiro and the return at the end of the holiday. We weren't given any choice on collecting the cars, but asked to pay 18.50 euros for each vehicle for 'registration' of the microchips therein. I said that I wasn't happy to pay a daily charge for equipment that we were only going to use for two journeys. We have taken this matter up with brokers here in the UK who say that the rental company state that the microchip in the vehicles was charged as an 'option' which enables the hirer to drive through the toll booths without the inconvenience of joining long queues to pay for your toll. I am somewhat confused by this reply since, as we know, there aren't any toll booths on the A22, and in using the word 'option' would suggest that there were other choices available. I am therefore pursuing this matter further on the grounds that we were badly misled by staff at the hire company when collecting the vehicles at the airport. Watch this space for further developments!!!!

By the way, which car hire company did you use, and was it through a broker here in the UK?

Tony Knight

[TomUK]

I think we're already seeing what many of us suggested might happen when the tolls were introduced. Some car hire companies seem to be making a nice profit by making a charge for transponders over and above the actual toll charges incurred by drivers who only use the A22 a couple of times during their hire period. If a company charges €25 for the device (as some do) and a driver racks up only half this amount on his travels along the A22, presumably the company only pays the amount registered on the device and pockets the unused balance.

[joeysoap]

I think we're already seeing what many of us suggested might happen when the tolls were introduced. Some car hire companies seem to be making a nice profit by making a charge for transponders over and above the actual toll charges incurred by drivers who only use the A22 a couple of times during their hire period. If a company charges €25 for the device (as some do) and a driver racks up only half this amount on his travels along the A22, presumably the company only pays the amount registered on the device and pockets the unused balance.

yep, thats my reading too, but I knew that there was going to be a fair few journeys on the A22 so in our case it made sense.

By the way, which car hire company did you use, and was it through a broker here in the UK?

Tony Knight

We used Travelrent: It was a shared hire and Travelrent don't mind how many people drive the car, who picks it up or who leaves it back. (but the car excess insurance companies do so be careful on that point). The chap at the airport did push the transponder, but in this case he was pushing an open door as we knew that there was going to be a fair few airport runs during the hire period. We were originally quoted €375 for the 17 days and with the transponder costs added this rose to €400. We are back out in October and it will be interesting to see how they react if we decline the transponder then.

[sam]

Recently returned. Used Rent Auto via Economy car hire. No mention of tolls on collecting car. I asked if the car had a transponder - no. As I did not intend to use the A22 this was not a problem. Used EN125 - about an hour each way to Carvoeiro - no problems.
Concerned about the lack advice to holiday makers who do not know about the tolls.

[TomUK]

We used the N125 all the time. No big delays anywhere except the obvious places such as the last kilometre or so approaching the airport where all the airport traffic converges. Other slow moving areas were passing through Olaho where the 125 is quite narrow and traffic lights abound. Travelling west, the lights at Lagoa can cause a build up at busier times and further on, Odixiere is another narrow, traffic light ridden town. Otherwise we found the N125 ok to drive along.
We did notice that the A22 was very quiet whenever we passed over or alongside it. As we passed across the N125 bridge at Portimao over the Arade estuary with fairly heavy traffic in both directions, my wife noted that during the 30-40 seconds it took to cross the bridge, not one vehicle crossed the A22 bridge further upstream. Be interesting to know by what percentage the A22 filling stations takings have dropped.

[jimmyp]

There was a report earlier in the year of a 60% (I think) fall in revenues at the A22 service stations. That is no surprise. However whilst the 125 might be ok now "out of season" it was anything but in August - 1 hr 45 mins to Vilamoura!

[DaveK]

We arrived at the start of the A22 from Seville last Monday and registered our UK car number and my credit card with the Easytoll system. Very simple to use but I have just checked the ticket issued and found that the number plate recognition camera had misread our number. The registration number begins BT11 but the camera had read B711. There is a website to correct mistakes but this is not accessable at present. Does not give a lot of confidence in the system! We have only used the A22 a couple of times for speed but it will be interesting to see if we were picked up. Just hope there is not a 32 year old UK car with a number the same as mine bar one digit cruising up and down the motorway

[cereza]

Sounds like you've had a result Dave?

[DaveK]

Yes, hopefully. I await my next statement with interest. Another odd thing is that the system will only accept credit cards. Our Portuguese debit card was not acceptable.

[EMM]

A PT debit card would not work as the system is for short term visitors driving non PT reg cars.

Its a vrey good way if they want to for the authorities to check on the period non PT reg cars are in the country and find the overstayers.

[cereza]

A PT debit card would not work as the system is for short term visitors driving non PT reg cars.

Its a vrey good way if they want to for the authorities to check on the period non PT reg cars are in the country and find the overstayers.

I can't see any logic in all that at all but there again when did logic enter the equation for these tolls?

[cereza]

I used the N125 today and it was very easy. The only scare was when I was suddenly overtaken by a mini bus carrying about 10 elderly people which must have been doing about 150 kph The passengers all looked oblivious to the driver's antics !!!