TPG staffer's tale: The rental car blunder that cost me dearly

Today, I’d like to share one of my rookie mistakes that ended up costing me when I rented a car.

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Renting a car has always been a stressful experience for me. Having lived in New York and San Francisco for most of my adult life, I rarely needed a car or even had one. However, since the pandemic began, while staying at my father's ranch out west, I've found myself renting cars more frequently. I don't have personal car insurance, so I always use my Platinum Card® from American Express to ensure I have primary coverage.

Honestly, I've always feared that an accident could leave me liable for damages caused by any rental car, but that wasn't what got me this time.

It was the bridge tolls! I had intended to ask the clerk at Hertz in Santa Rosa, where I picked up the small economy car, about the tolls, but they were not very friendly, and I completely forgot. Nobody mentioned it when I checked out either. It would have been helpful to know, considering there are several bridges with tolls in the Bay Area and an increasing number of toll lanes as well.

I needed to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and soon realized that cash was not an option for the $8 toll as I approached San Francisco. The Golden Gate only accepts FasTrak (in fact, due to COVID-19, no Bay Area bridges are accepting cash at the moment). That’s when I realized I was probably going to receive a ticket or incur some kind of fee.

A network of cameras monitors license plates as they cross the bridge, and sure enough, a few days later, I received an alert from American Express indicating a charge had been added to my card. Instead of the $7.70 fee I would have paid with FasTrak, it ended up being a staggering $29.30!

That’s more than a 300% increase. Ouch!

I attempted to understand how the company responsible for tolls and tickets arrived at that figure, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of their website.

The third-party company handling the charges is named ATS, and here’s how they present themselves:

"ATS Processing Services, LLC is affiliated with American Traffic Solutions, Inc. (www.atsol.com), a prominent provider of traffic safety, mobility, and compliance solutions for state and local governments, commercial fleets, and rental car companies. ATS offers products such as photo-enforcement programs, electronic toll enforcement management, violation processing services, and fleet title and registration services (www.atsol.com/solutions)."

I tried various methods to track my bill, but I had absolutely no success regardless of how I entered the information.

Hertz does provide a way to avoid some of the most burdensome toll-related upcharges, but it’s not particularly easy to locate or comprehend. Their "PlatePass" system enables you to utilize cashless lanes or all-electronic toll roads without needing a personal transponder or paying the toll authority directly.

However, as illustrated in the image below, it doesn't apply to all Bay Area roads and express lanes. Additionally, it incurs extra charges. You’ll not only be responsible for the toll itself but also face a daily fee of $5.95 each time you use it. That can add up quickly, though not as swiftly as the additional fees imposed by any third party, as I discovered.

In this instance, I truly felt taken advantage of by Hertz. They didn’t mention the PlatePass option during checkout, even though they likely realize that most drivers in the Bay Area will need to cross toll bridges or roads at some point in their travels. They also failed to inform me that some bridges no longer accept cash.

We invite you to share your own travel mistake stories by emailing [email protected] with "Reader Mistake Story" in the subject line. Let us know how things went awry, and if possible, how you rectified the situation. Share any insights you gained from the experience and advise others on how to avoid similar pitfalls.

We also welcome you to share your best travel success stories.

Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not be able to respond to each story personally, but we will reach out if yours is chosen. I’m eager to hear from you, and in the meantime, I wish you a safe and error-free journey!