Car Rental Trap in Denver: E470 tolls! (Lakewood: rental car, credit)

[Quietude]

[I have been meaning to post this for a while, since being bitten badly by this semi-scam; was reminded of it after a trip out to DIA today. I suggest it's worth making a sticky for this forum, or maybe adding to the "Things we have to tell newcomers" post. Deleting this intro would be appropriate in that event...]

Hello, Visitors. If you rent a car in the Denver area, especially from the airport, be aware that there's a nasty little trap in local conditions waiting for you. It's called E470, the local express highway.

E470 loops around the eastern rim of the Denver area and is very convenient to get from the south to the north, into downtown Denver, and to the airport. Your GPS will direct you to it at every opportunity.

The tolls are modest, especially for a few visiting days, but the trap here is that they are automatic, billed to the registration address of each vehicle's license plate. There is no manual option to pay tolls. If you drive on E470, your license plate will be noted and a bill sent.

If you are driving a rental car, the bills will be sent to the rental company. If you are savvy and the rental agent explains every option, one of them will be "prepaid tolls" at a rather inflated figure ($49.95 at Dollar, when I rented). It seems like another frivolous add-on and far too many drivers probably skip it.

If you do not sign up for "prepaid tools" or whatever the agency calls them, and you drive on E470, you will get a bill about a month later for the tolls... and a stiff "administrative fee." In my case, with Dollar in August 2017, I had five tolls totalling $11 or $12... with a $15 service charge on each. The bill was $91 in all. I suspect this represents substantial revenue enhancement for the airport rental services.

So. Visitors. If you rent a car in Denver, especially from the airport, study your likely driving patterns in advance and if E470 will be a useful time-saver, pay for the toll option in advance. If you do not, stay off of E470 at all costs - there are ALWAYS other highway and surface street options. Set your GPS to avoid toll routes. You will regret saving those ten driving minutes... every time.

[StealthRabbit]

There was a long thread about this already, and locals 'dissed' the sad experience of frequent travelers (Of which I have been burned a 2 times, but ONCE was terrible. (I had a month long rental car ($5/day) from Denver that I used out of state, EXCEPT for <10 min on E-470, at 2AM arrival). Consequentially I had to pay the 'rental car admin fee' ($45) + a DAILY $8.00 fee for E-470 access, even tho I was not in Colorado for 29 of the 30 days (and had receipts / cell records to prove it).

That was 8 yrs ago... there is now a way to PRE-REGISTER your rental car (If you do so BEFORE using E-470, AND you have an existing acct with CREDIT at Express Toll).

again... as you mention.. the 'average' tourist / in frequent visitor is likely to get raped / burned / trapped / hung...

Many international places have alternative ways to cover tools on non-boothed tollways (such as within 24hrs at a roadside store / fuel stop). No such options for E-470 (that I am aware). would be SO EZ to be more 'traveler friendly' simple kiosk at airport and at each end... enter plate number, deposit a few bucks. No fees, no collection companies, no credit holds, not rental car bans (uncollected fines stay residual in your profile MONTHS after you have settled)

Nice deal (for the rental companies and Tolling Agency)
If you have a 7-20 day rental it is pretty foolish to have to pay $10 / day for a transponder, that you use twice during your stay...~10 - 15 min total)

Of course many international folks coming to DEN are not gonna have a USA (unique) cell phone to 'pre-register' on a system that is very difficult to find and PRE-PAY to a credit level BEFORE you leave the airport.

[vwgto]

Originally Posted by Quietude

[I have been meaning to post this for a while, since being bitten badly by this semi-scam; was reminded of it after a trip out to DIA today. I suggest it's worth making a sticky for this forum, or maybe adding to the "Things we have to tell newcomers" post. Deleting this intro would be appropriate in that event...]

Hello, Visitors. If you rent a car in the Denver area, especially from the airport, be aware that there's a nasty little trap in local conditions waiting for you. It's called E470, the local express highway.

E470 loops around the eastern rim of the Denver area and is very convenient to get from the south to the north, into downtown Denver, and to the airport. Your GPS will direct you to it at every opportunity.

The tolls are modest, especially for a few visiting days, but the trap here is that they are automatic, billed to the registration address of each vehicle's license plate. There is no manual option to pay tolls. If you drive on E470, your license plate will be noted and a bill sent.

If you are driving a rental car, the bills will be sent to the rental company. If you are savvy and the rental agent explains every option, one of them will be "prepaid tolls" at a rather inflated figure ($49.95 at Dollar, when I rented). It seems like another frivolous add-on and far too many drivers probably skip it.

If you do not sign up for "prepaid tools" or whatever the agency calls them, and you drive on E470, you will get a bill about a month later for the tolls... and a stiff "administrative fee." In my case, with Dollar in August 2017, I had five tolls totalling $11 or $12... with a $15 service charge on each. The bill was $91 in all. I suspect this represents substantial revenue enhancement for the airport rental services.

So. Visitors. If you rent a car in Denver, especially from the airport, study your likely driving patterns in advance and if E470 will be a useful time-saver, pay for the toll option in advance. If you do not, stay off of E470 at all costs - there are ALWAYS other highway and surface street options. Set your GPS to avoid toll routes. You will regret saving those ten driving minutes... every time.

Agree, burned by this as well. As I recall, poor signage. By the time I realized, it was too late.

[2bindenver]

It's not just here. I didn't know I drove on a toll road in Maryland until I got the bill.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

It's not just here. I didn't know I drove on a toll road in Maryland until I got the bill.

Yep it’s sh!tty. I travel all the time for work and if the rental car companies ask me if I want a toll transponder, I always take it. I got nailed in Chicago and Boston before learning my lesson.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

Yep it’s sh!tty. I travel all the time for work and if the rental car companies ask me if I want a toll transponder, I always take it. I got nailed in Chicago and Boston before learning my lesson.

I was never asked and had no idea Denver had any tolls. Northeast, you bet yer booty... but even there, it's with obvious toll plazas and payment options. A FastPass transponder made life easy for a resident.

Frankly, the tolls here are so low and sparse (probably just to/from DIA for most visitors) that the agencies could just eat them, up to $5 a day. But hey, why be fair when you can tack on a full day's charges or more?

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

There was a long thread about this already, and locals 'dissed' the sad experience of frequent travelers (Of which I have been burned a 2 times, but ONCE was terrible.

Please. I've told people who're planning to visit Denver to avoid E-470 at all costs for this very reason. I personally have never 'dissed' anybody.

Originally Posted by Quietude

Frankly, the tolls here are so low and sparse (probably just to/from DIA for most visitors) that the agencies could just eat them, up to $5 a day. But hey, why be fair when you can tack on a full day's charges or more?

Isn't E-470 one of the most expensive tollways per mile in the US? It's $9 one-way to go from Smoky Hill to I-76 (15 miles). You can drive the entire 236 mile length of the Kansas Turnpike for under $15.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Quietude

I was never asked and had no idea Denver had any tolls. Northeast, you bet yer booty... but even there, it's with obvious toll plazas and payment options. A FastPass transponder made life easy for a resident.

Frankly, the tolls here are so low and sparse (probably just to/from DIA for most visitors) that the agencies could just eat them, up to $5 a day. But hey, why be fair when you can tack on a full day's charges or more?

I got burned even with the toll plazas. They were unmanned and took only coins. No credit or paper money options.

[Cfella]

I moved to Lakewood 2 years ago and my wife has gotten 2 tickets mailed to her from tolls on E470. We have no idea where these tolls are but they were so small we just paid them and don't care.

[Moonwalkr]

If you use something like Waze to navigate, you can change your settings so that it always plots a route without tolls.