no longer updated - Tolls on the A22

[joeysoap]

We are still waiting to see what ( if anything ) will turn up on our CC.

me too

[EMM]

I have just looked at this weeks on line Algarve Resident ( www.algarveresident.com ) , phase 3 of the toll payment scheme looks like it is going ahead.

Hire cars will be fitted with transponders and hirers charged for tolls incurred !!

Avis are fitting them to all of their vehicles and it seems that hirers will have to pay E1.50 day plus cost of tolls.,

If the others do this a weeks hire plus tolls ( admin ? ), ( return trip from the airport ) will cost an additional est 20 euros.

[e-richard]

Thanks for the heads up EMM, but I don't think you read that article correctly ?

"They [The Rental Companies] would pay a fee upfront (for a six-month permit) to allow all their cars to use the A22.The rental company will then charge customers a fixed toll fee along with the regular hire fees."

No transponders, no variable toll fees. We, the renters would just pay just a fixed amount (per day of?) rental.

The Avis system using transponders is proprietary to Avis.

[joeysoap]

clear as mud, two statements from the report are contradictory;

They would pay a fee upfront (for a six-month permit) to allow all their cars to use the A22.The rental company will then charge customers a fixed toll fee along with the regular hire fees.


When the new system is ready, customers will need to provide credit card details when they hire the car and sign a contract linked to the tolls system. Once the customer has returned the car, the payments for the toll charges will be taken from the account linked to the credit card.

As with everything else to do with the tolls ...........

[EMM]

I must admit that I did interpret the " proposed " six month agreement as meaning that the hire cars would have transponders otherwise how would the companies know how much to charge us !!

[logicbob]

LICY wrote:
I heard they are changing the toll system for car hire from April. Everyone will pay a small premium (.60) per day and the hire car company then pay the government

Is this the fee that they are talking about?

[EMM]

Nothing has been confirmed other than that AVIS will charge you E1.50 day plus tolls as soon as they can fit the equipment.

We can expect the others to follow.

[Polli62]

clear as mud, two statements from the report are contradictory;

They would pay a fee upfront (for a six-month permit) to allow all their cars to use the A22.The rental company will then charge customers a fixed toll fee along with the regular hire fees.


When the new system is ready, customers will need to provide credit card details when they hire the car and sign a contract linked to the tolls system. Once the customer has returned the car, the payments for the toll charges will be taken from the account linked to the credit card.

As with everything else to do with the tolls ...........

I thought exactley the same, contradictory.
Regarding the so called fixed toll fee being charged & the credit card issue, maybe if you run up a big toll bill over and above what you have paid for the fixed fee they will charge the excess to your card. One wonders also how much this fixed fee is going to be. All so confusing.

[RichardHenshall]

My theories:

The fixed (?) daily toll charge is paid directly to the toll collecting entity (over and above the car rental charge paid to the rental company) and is made directly on the renter's card to avoid any abuse of the system by the rental companies.

The charge is levied every day that the car is rented but not otherwise.

If the (rental) cars are used on the motorways when they are NOT in rental, normal toll charges and/or fines would and should apply. Those who might like to cheat the system by pretending to drive a rental car will have to provide a credit card, linked to a vehicle, for every journey and abuse would soon be identified.

[Bruce Wallis]

My theories:

The fixed (?) daily toll charge is paid directly to the toll collecting entity (over and above the car rental charge paid to the rental company) and is made directly on the renter's card to avoid any abuse of the system by the rental companies.

The charge is levied every day that the car is rented but not otherwise.

If the (rental) cars are used on the motorways when they are NOT in rental, normal toll charges and/or fines would and should apply. Those who might like to cheat the system by pretending to drive a rental car will have to provide a credit card, linked to a vehicle, for every journey and abuse would soon be identified.

That seems to simplify things.....NOT!!

I return to my suggestion of a couple of weeks ago........

Levy a fixed average cost per weekly rental....say 7 euros, then the hire company doesnt need to confuse or annoy their clients with hanging onto credit card slips beyond the end of the rental.

They may win a few, lose a few.....but it seems far more customer friendly, and the wheels keep on turning.....

[RichardHenshall]

As I said earlier, it's only a theory but if the fixed (?) daily toll charge is paid directly to the toll collecting entity (over and above the car rental charge paid to the rental company) and is made directly on the renter's card, there will be no need for the car rental company to retain open credit card slips to cover toll charges, as they will not be charged to the rental company. If it's paid at the start of the rental there is no need for the toll collecting entity to keep an open slip either, having already confirmed identity etc through the payment.

[laserblazer]

The answer would be toll booths. That would provide employment and solve the problem.

[joeysoap]

As I said earlier, it's only a theory but if the fixed (?) daily toll charge is paid directly to the toll collecting entity (over and above the car rental charge paid to the rental company) and is made directly on the renter's card, there will be no need for the car rental company to retain open credit card slips to cover toll charges, as they will not be charged to the rental company. If it's paid at the start of the rental there is no need for the toll collecting entity to keep an open slip either, having already confirmed identity etc through the payment.

A daily charge is what BW is also suggesting but reading the report again could we be hit with both? The rental companies pay a fixed amount for the use of the motorway - and levy this on the customer - and the customer also pays the tolls when they use the motorway,debited to their credit card. This is more or less what I was informed would happen to my credit card way back in December (no mention of levy) and that I would be debitied for tolls and liable up and until I re-entered P4. Trouble is since I have returned a number of posters have been charged for previous rental as Via Verde don't appear capable of seperating different days never mind different times of the same day. Still nothing on my CC

[RichardHenshall]

... reading the report again could we be hit with both? The rental companies pay a fixed amount for the use of the motorway - and levy this on the customer - and the customer also pays the tolls when they use the motorway,debited to their credit card.

Inevitably costs incurred by a rental company find their way into the rental rates they charge - that's business! I would guess that the charge for the six months might be equivalent to a euro or two a week, where the daily charge paid by the renter might be a euro or two per day. I think the article was badly written.

... This is more or less what I was informed would happen to my credit card way back in December (no mention of levy) and that I would be debitied for tolls and liable up and until I re-entered P4. Trouble is since I have returned a number of posters have been charged for previous rental as Via Verde don't appear capable of separating different days never mind different times of the same day. Still nothing on my CC

Unless your rental company was checking (twice a week) (as you were doing) and paying the tolls for you at CTT, I don't see how they would be able to charge you for your tolls without also ending up incurring and subsequently charging you for their fines. Call me a cynic if you like.

[joeysoap]

[quote="RichardHenshall"
Unless your rental company was checking (twice a week) (as you were doing) and paying the tolls for you at CTT, I don't see how they would be able to charge you for your tolls without also ending up incurring and subsequently charging you for their fines

.


I was informed not to bother going to the CTT to pay any tolls, that when I returned the car to P4 my liability would end and that all charges would debited to my credit card (they kept the impress)when they were informed of them. From reading other posts I was not the only one to be so informed. Very plausable it was too and for what it's worth I think they were genuine. I confess that I was 'interested' in what their charge would be for this service .

Call me a cynic if you like.]

Why would anyone do that, I would expect the hire companies to at least cover their costs in this sorry saga.

None of us know what's going on, and this apparantly includes the government, Via Verde, the hire car companies and their customers, and I think we can safely include the Algarve Resident in this roll of ignorance.