flatlndr

Has anyone ordered one of these? https://visitors.viaverde.pt/en/home
From the site:


It looks like a good deal (1.25€ per month when used), better than what I get from the car hire agencies (usually 1.85€ per day)
It looks like you can change the car reg easily via the web, so each time I get a hire car, I could enter a new reg, and then remove the reg after the hire period.

Is anyone signed up for this? Is it as good - and easy - as it looks?

Thanks!

coleio

I'm in the process of getting one as got a few days car hire coming up so then have have a choice of this (if it arrives) one or hire car one. Not too impressed by their website as they seem to have a Portuguese phone number with a different timezone from Portugal. Customer service: 8.30am - 8.30pm (business days - GMT +1)

flatlndr

Thanks coleio. I look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

macliam

I've not used one as a visitor, but as I don't live on the Algarve and don't often use motorways, I have a similar deal for mine.

It works well - the same as any other - and only paying a bit when you use it means it'll be replaced if and when required..... better than making a one-off payment and then finding a duff transponder on your hands.

As long as they deliver correctly and you ensure it's only used for the registered vehicle, you should be OK

bicabica

You might consider https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/ which is UK based and distributes tags on behalf of Sanef. You can get a tag which covers you for Portugal and Spain. If you want to drive on French motorways you need a separate French one. In Portugal you can use it on all motorways.

Of course you will pay a little more but I have been using it in Portugal on my Portuguese registered car for several years.

ARCNET

But you cannot use it with a Portuguese Hire Car.

flatlndr

Interesting point. I found the following on https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/portugal-toll-tags - "Emovis Tags shouldn’t be used on Portuguese hire cars as there are usually already registered with Via Verde through the hire company."

I'll have to write to Via Verde Visitors to see if that applies to them as well.

flatlndr

So much for writing to them. The only customer contact option is via a phone line with per minute charges ... on top of the international calling fees.

flatlndr

Hi, coleio Did it work for you?

Alan PT

Worked with someone who was part of the design team for the VV software, the toll gates don't always get a read on the tag, so the back end may need to (either automatically on ANPR or sometimes with manual assistance) match the vehicle. If there were two tags registered to the vehicle then they wouldn't know which one to match to, that's why it is not permitted

RichardHenshall

Surely, if the tag (or neither tag, if two) is registered by the scanners, the charge is levied against the vehicle registration number? If they then use the registration number to look for a related tag (and associated payment system) there would be no need for the tag at all - you could just associate the payment method with the registration number directly.

I have used the CTT pre-paid anonymous transponder successfully in Portuguese hire cars to pay A22 tolls (removing their transponder and shielding it in aluminium foil). My transponder is never registered to a particular vehicle - if it's there it's scanned and charged, if it's not there it can't be charged.

flatlndr

Thanks. I'm hiring a car from a smaller company which does not supply transponders, so I think I should be ok in that the number plate won't be registered. I just need to make sure I de-register the plates soon after I return the car, so that I don't pay any subsequent to

Alan PT

A22 is the electronic (SCUTS) system, not the toll gates (VV lanes) I was mentioning, it works a bit differently and does have an option to charge to the vehicle (allowing post-pay, since there is no manual payment opportunity on the road). Indeed the transponder is not a necessity for SCUTS, but continual post payment is a huge hassle, as it must be done within two days.

What you are doing should be pretty OK, as I think those gates are almost 100% on reads. You could potentially hit a problem if your transponder fails though (eg the battery runs out). I'm not sure if you would still have the opportunity to manually pay within two days or if they would be "helpful" and look up the hire companies associated transponder account and charge it. Not the end of the world if that happens - the hire company would probably just re-bill the amount to you (plus a nice admin charge)

For standard toll booths with VV lanes, the charge is made to the transponder account and there is no option of post-pay. If you don't get a read, you go to a backup option to find the transponder account associated with the vehicle (matching via reg). You can see in the CTT conditions that it's not possible to use the anonymous transponder on VV lanes

Using the hire company's tag seems expensive, but does allow you to use the VV lanes, which is very useful if you want to go elsewhere in Portugal. All the hire companies I used had a maximum charge for their tag - from memory it was something like 7 or 10 days worth of the daily rentals.

Alan PT

Just be a little careful, as de-registration is not instantaneous (sorry I forget exactly how long, but I think they say it might take 24 hrs). So you might want to de-register a day before you hand it back and pay the last days tolls manually. No problem with normal toll gates, a bit of a pain with SCUTS, but possible. Or if you only really need it for SCUTS anyway then the CTT transponder mentioned above is a good option.

Jon-Bxl

Hi I'd like to clarify one point.

I gave a transponder that works in FR,ES,PT and IT.

I used it for all of the first 3 countries last year on one trip and it worked fine, in fact it's wonderful! We also drove through France on Tuesday, and love sailing through the tolls at 30km/h!

You only pay for the month you use, a small charge. At the moment they are offering 8 months free.

https://www.mango-mobilitesbyaprr.com/en
Drive safe too
Jon