TPAYT

Can you pay as you pass through a toll booth(as in the USA), and do you need correct change?

We rented a car from Dan Dooley and they mentioned something about a separate pay station. We're flying into Dublin and will most likely go through a toll area. Our last trip was on the West coast and we were on smaller roads so we didn't encounter any tolls.

Can anyone explain? Or we'll contact Dooley again to get it straight.

ter2000

Generally, toll charges are paid at the barrier to the toll road. You can pay either in cash, or by using an eToll tag (not available to tourists). For the unstaffed West Link Bridge, if you do not have an account you must pay online (eflow.ie), by phoning Locall 1890 501 050 or through Payzone outlets (www.payzone.ie/outlets).

TPAYT

How soon must this be done? If we have the car for 2 weeks, can we do it when we turn the car in at the airport at the end of our trip?

Cowboy1968

I sneaked into your other thread with your itinerary.
If you still go first to Trim from Dublin airport, you won't use that West Link Bridge section of the M50 which ter2000 mentioned.
The M3 towards Trim will be tolled, but you pass through regular toll booths. Take the correct lane, one that (also) says "Manual" and not only "eToll".
But on your way back from Kilkenny to DUB, you will indeed use the tolled section of the M50. You need to pay by next day 8pm by using one of the options that ter2000 mentioned.

TPAYT

Got it----many thanks.

SusieKay

This caused us much confusion and anxiety as we were driving out of Dublin for the first time in Septemer of 09. Our car rental company (Avis) never mentioned it to us, though when I saw the signs for the tolls on the M50, I remembered hearing about tourists who had not paid and later discovered hundreds of dollars in fines that appeared on their credit cards! We looked and looked, but never saw a pay station. I pulled out the Avis packet we got with the car and found the following insert about the toll:

"Inportant Notice for Customers of Car Rental Companies Regarding Tolls on the M50.
Drivers of all vehicles using the section of the M50 between Juntion 6 and Junction 7 are liable to pay a toll.
There is no cash payment facility available at the tolling point on the M50. Tolls must be paid by 8 pm on the day following the journey. Payment can be made by quoting the vehicle registration number in the following ways:
[email protected]
By telephone using a credit or laser card (numbers given)
By cash at a Payzone branded outlet nationwide.
It is important to retain evidence of your payment as this may be required by the car rental company."

This is the only portion of the info I saved, but I do remember that it stated the car rental company was not responsible for any tolls or fines, and would not assist in any way. The fines start at the time stated, and are cumulative daily until paid. They are charged directly to the credit card you registered with the car rental company.
The nice owner of our first B and B in Kilkenney allowed us to use her computer to pay on line, so we could print a receipt. When we returned to Dublin, we did the same at the Premier Inn. I am sure most all Irish innkeepers are accustomed to helping with this.

Don't know if any of this info has changed since we were there, but this is how it worked for us. I think the toll was 5 or 6 euros.

TPAYT

Thanks---if we do hit a toll we'll check at our first B & B, and seeing that we are staying at The Premier Inn on the return, it's good to know that we can take care of it there.

Since this is a country with many tourists, why do they make it so difficult? In France you may not be able to read the signs(if you don't speak French) but the toll roads are very user friendly.Italy is another thing all together. I guess they make alot of money on the built up fines.

flanneruk

"why do they make it so difficult? "

What on earth's so difficult about picking up a phone and paying?

Far more important question: why do tourists have this absurd expectation the world has to be constructed to make life easy for the stupid, the lazy and people who just love sitting in queues? If Ireland ran its toll system as inefficiently as the French, the queues at its tollbooths would back up to the Northern Irish border.

Ellis13A

"why do they make it so difficult?" I totally agree. At some you can pay cash - so long as you get in the right lane, at others you have to pay by the next morning. Visitors can't get an e-thingy for payment - even Portugal will hire these to you, but perhaps their economy isn't as bad as Eire's? If you don't carry a mobile or have internet access (I don't take my computer on holiday) then how on earth are you supposed to pay?
I was going to visit Dublin for a holiday this year in my own car, but the process is so muddled that I'm going to the North instead. I'll take the ferry to Belfast instead of to Dublin.

daveesl

Gee flanner, get off your idiotic high horse!

If a government is going to put in a toll road, then there should be a method of actually paying the toll when you use it. You so often like to try to bash the U.S., but gee we have this amazing thing where you can pay a toll by simply tossing in some coins in a basket. There is not even the need to have a human collect it. I know that must sound like magic, but really, it works and we have been doing it for decades.

dave

Cowboy1968

Ireland has the toll plaza system anywhere else but the M50 Dublin orbital.
Also the M50 had a regular toll plaza in the beginning. And traffic did back up, especially during rush hours. Except for off-peak hours and nights, this system actually saves time.
If it is any relief, it has mostly been Irish/ locals who got scammed beyond belief after the free-flow system got installed due to malfunctions, wrong number plate scans, wrong penalties, etc etc.

<i>If you don't carry a mobile or have internet access (I don't take my computer on holiday) then how on earth are you supposed to pay?</i>
You pay at any major brand gas station.
You pay at any village's Centra or other grocer.
You pay at any establishment that shows a "Payzone" sticker on its door.
There are thousands of outlets all over Ireland, you don't have to look for one in the Dublin area or close to the M50.

You can't tell me that you will drive almost two full days through Ireland without passing a gas station or never stop for a coffee or to pick up a bottle of water from a village store?

<i>I was going to visit Dublin for a holiday this year in my own car, but the process is so muddled that I'm going to the North instead. I'll take the ferry to Belfast instead of to Dublin.</i>
The tolled section is between J6 and J7. It beats me how you would manage to use that part of the M50 if you wanted to drive from Dublin port or Dun Laoghaire to central Dublin. Also leaving central Dublin to anywhere else won't take you via that tolled section.

ter2000

Hear hear Cowboy. There is one - ONE - junction in the ENTIRE country where you cannot pay with cash - the M50 between Junctions 6 and 7. This is for the benefit of commuters who use the road every day, in order to spare them the enormous tailbacks that ensued when paying with cash was the only option.

As Cowboy outlined, there are numerous ways to pay, or you can just opt not to use this particular road.

For every other toll junction, cash is accepted - even if you don't have the correct change.

This really isn't an issue.

ron

««This really isn't an issue»»

Which is probably why this thread lay dormant for over a year until Ellis13A decided to revive it for no obvious reason.

cadwe

When you pick up your car (or drop it off) at the airport, simply ask the Car Rental Company and they will refer you to
a separate small store in the airport for you either to pre-pay or after-pay your toll. It takes at least 5 additional minutes!
Enjoy

janisj

>><i>this thread lay dormant for over a year until Ellis13A decided to revive it for no obvious reason</i><< . . . and had to register before he could . . .