Did anyone else buy their EZPass out of state to save money?

[Anonymous]

Noticing that certain states (like Maine and some others) do not charge a monthly fee. Some charge for the tag, some states have certain upfront costs, so there is a lot of variety out there. Does anyone else buy their EZPass out of state to save money? Any issues? Which state is the best?

[Anonymous]

I live in PA. No monthly fee unless you want a monthly paper statement.

[Anonymous]

I've had Massachusetts no-fee ez pass for years to avoid Maryland's monthly fee, but now Maryland is free so I'm switching because I need new transponders anyway.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t even know that some have a monthly fee. We have NY EZPasses because we used to live there. We’re in VA now and the only issue is that we don’t have the “Flex” option, but we haven’t had much use for it, so no big deal currently.

[Anonymous]

I think you can avoid the monthly fee in almost all states if you have a credit card linked to your account that automatically adds funds when you dip below a certain level.

[Anonymous]

I'm in VA and there's no monthly fee that I'm aware of. I do have my credit card linked.

[Anonymous]

I live in MD but am thinking of switching to VA so I can get an EZPass flex. I would have to pay a monthly and my MD tolls would go up but it would be nice for my family trips across the river.

Does anyone have a handy link to a website that aggregates the costs and benefits of the various state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in VA and there's no monthly fee that I'm aware of. I do have my credit card linked.

+1. And we got the FLEX EZpasses before there was a charge for them.

[Anonymous]

Yes. We live in MD and got ours from VA because they offered Flex, and didn't have a monthly fee. MD dropped their monthly fee once Hogan took office, and offers lower rates on some MD toll bridges for MD EZpass owners, while out of state EZPass pays the cash rate.

[Anonymous]

I intentionally drove to a Giant in VA to buy one in order to avoid the monthly fee that Maryland was charging at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I intentionally drove to a Giant in VA to buy one in order to avoid the monthly fee that Maryland was charging at the time.

just do this, buy an extra one and pair it with car on a VA account.

best of both worlds. get the MD discount. but have the EZpass flex option in VA when you need it.

just leave it in the junk drawer and swap it out when you have cross the river.

[Anonymous]

Wait, are the MD tolls lower with a MD EZ-Pass? How much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, are the MD tolls lower with a MD EZ-Pass? How much?

It's usually a buck or two, depending which facility. I couldn't find a single table but you can check each bridge/tunnel by clicking on the links:
https://mdta.maryland.gov/Toll_Rates/rates_Index.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in VA and there's no monthly fee that I'm aware of. I do have my credit card linked.

VA charges $1 per month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in VA and there's no monthly fee that I'm aware of. I do have my credit card linked.

VA charges $1 per month.

This is untrue. Virginia charges nothing. You are required to prepay the first $35 in tolls, but it all goes on your account as a credit.

As if 2018, Maryland residents could buy VA transponders (to use on HOT lanes with the flex option) for $16. Not sure if that has changed.