NYC area to Berkeley, CA

[Midwest Michael]

There is a deposit fee for the transponder. You'd get it back when you return it, but you'd have the expense of mailing it back if you were planning to head back east. Plus you typically have to pre-load it with $40 or $50, which is more than you'd spend on a single trip.

So, you might save a couple bucks, but it would come at the expense of letting EZ-Pass hold on to your money for a while.

[Lifemagician]

Oh Michael, are you sure? I did not pay a deposit. The account had to have $20 in it. And there are still a couple of bucks in there from 2009.... I will use them next year. But it has not cost me anything else.

Lifey

[glc]

I don't want to beat this to death, but to go from Jersey City to Sioux City via I-280/I-80/I-94/I-90 through Cleveland and Chicago will cost you about $16.50 with an EZ-Pass and $26.20 cash.

[Midwest Michael]

Oh Michael, are you sure? I did not pay a deposit. The account had to have $20 in it. And there are still a couple of bucks in there from 2009.... I will use them next year. But it has not cost me anything else.

I am 100% sure that is how it worked for my I-Pass, and from taking a look, it appears that all of the EZ-Pass states have the same or similar system.

Basically, you've got two choices - you either have to pay a deposit up front or you have to sign up for an auto-renewal, where they will automatically charge your credit card or bank account when your account balance gets down to/below $10 or $20.

In either case, they are holding on to at least $10-20 of your money, and I could see where that would be more of a hassle than it would be worth it for a single trip.

Perhaps you found some loophole, Lifey, but I'm not aware of anyone who gives you a transponder without having some kind of deposit or autorenewal.

[rkw]

I love how active this got! :)

Well, it will help the next person because the minivan DOES have an EZPass. They were excited about telling me how it works. I already knew because when I'm in metro areas, I use ZipCar and ZipCar equips their cars with them too (and then charges the toll to your account later.) I just let them be helpful as they've entrusted their minivan to me.

Now I'm up way too early (I'm going back to sleep soon), but I leave for Cleveland today. I've spent a month in a house with friends. I'm looking forward to a solitary drive peppered with visits to friends and a little bit of sightseeing.

Thanks for your tips and advice. I'll try to check-in as I go.

[Southwest Dave]

Thanks for your tips and advice. I'll try to check-in as I go.

We look forward to updates, have a great trip !

Dave.

[rkw]

Welp, I'm late but I made it across the country just fine.

Thanks so much for your tips and advice!

Now that I'm here, I took a weekend RV trip down to Central California for an air show and then drove to Hearst Castle. I camped overnight in a nearby camp that was a primitive campground (wow). Then went to the castle the next day. Then to Monterey and then back to Berkeley.

I'm now hooked. I'm planning a one-way RV trip up to the Seattle/Tacoma area (I found one of those cheap one-way RV deals and decided to take it.) I'll pop around the site and probably start a thread about that drive as it's going to be a few days for me to get there. I might as well learn from folks with more experience than I have. It helps.

[Southwest Dave]

Glad you had a safe trip and thanks for dropping in with the update. Sounds like you are having fun !