Toll with rental car

Question

Has entered the island recently with a rental car ?

How is the toll handled ?

Is it billed to the rental company (Hertz) ? and then they bill us ??

Answer

Driving onto Sanibel Island in a rental car is very straightforward, and the toll system is completely electronic. There are no staffed booths and no way to pay in cash on the causeway, so rental cars handle the toll automatically through the rental company.

When you cross onto Sanibel from the mainland, cameras capture the vehicle’s license plate, and the toll is billed through the rental car’s toll program. In your case, with Hertz, it will go through their partner toll system.

Here’s what you can expect:

The toll is charged to Hertz first – Because the causeway uses license-plate billing, the charge is automatically sent to the rental agency associated with that plate.
Hertz then bills you – They will charge your credit card on file. You’ll usually see two components: the actual toll amount and a toll processing fee depending on your rental agreement.
No action is needed from you at the time of crossing – Just drive through; you don’t need a transponder or SunPass.

Hertz’s billing system typically works in one of two ways depending on the rental terms:

Daily toll program fee (covers all tolls for the days you use a toll road)
Per-use service fee + actual toll cost (they charge you a fixed fee for each day you incur a toll)

For Sanibel specifically, the toll is only collected when entering the island, not when leaving, so you will only see one charge for the entire trip unless you make multiple entries.

In short: yes, the toll goes to Hertz first, and they will bill you afterward. You don’t need to do anything special—just be aware of the Hertz toll service fee structure so you know what to expect. Everything is automatic and very easy.

Toll with rental car

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