Tolls in Portugal

Wow, $3.95 is a lot. I paid a little less than $2 from Europcar. The transponder is great. You drive through the toll plazas at 50-60 kph while everyone else is stopped and fishing for coins. So it's probably worth it - lots of toll roads.

That is high. If you can cancel and get a quote from Auto Europe, you would likely pick up the car from Europcar and save money on the transponder. Other than the transponder, you will have to stop each time and pay manually.

Unless it’s changed in the last year since I was in Portugal, some of the tolls, such as those in the Algarve can’t be paid in cash. You need a transponder, avoid the toll roads altogether or you need to go to a Post Office before you head to the airport to pay. If you incur any toll fees on your last couple of days, this won’t show at the PO, so they will charge your hire company and they will claw the money back from you - probably plus an administration fee.

Change hire company as Avis’s fee sounds high.

Not to nitpick....but you are spending a good sum of money for a flight, hotels, meals, etc......and you are fussing over what appears to be $16 over Europcar's option, and $32 total for the trip, basically the cost of a bottle of wine or two. That to me still seems like a good deal to avoid messing with waiting in line to pay cash at a toll stop, or questioning what to do if no manual payment is available.

Thanks to all for the reply’s and advice. I appreciate it.

Rented from Amoita in Lisbon drove into Spain (Green Card) and returned car to Faro after more than 7 days. No significant excess fees. Not all roads are using transponder. We drove 2 WEST to EAST roads with the transponder going off. Amoita charge for the transponder is 20 E with 15 E of the 20 loaded for fees for transponder roads (see current website). The road IC4 in Algarve is a must for flexibility and speed (transponder).