Electronic Toll Roads in Portugal

[peterc10]

We are off at the end of March for a month in the sun somewhere. At the moment Portugal is probably the place will be heading for. We have never been there before and I have been reading about the Electronic Tolls, which all appears to be a right pain in the posterior to say the least.

Am I right in thinking the only some of the motorways are solely electronic, and most are not? I don't mind paying tolls when it is sensible, but I don't want to be faffing about with getting pre-paid cards etc.

Looking at one map it suggests that only the A13, A22, A23, A24, A25 and A28 are electronic tolls and most of the remainder are "manual", which I assume means that you can pay at a booth with either cash or a credit card. Is that correct please?

 

[JJ]

The old toll roads have tickets and pay booths (often unmanned).

With the new electronic toll roads, I believe you register your reg number to your credit/debit card and off you go.

Never done this myself.

Sat Nav set to no motorways when in Portugal.

JJ

 

[Yorick]

Have a look here...

Broken Link Removed

 

[2657]

Use this link that explains all::http://www.portugaltolls.pt/en/web/portal-de-portagens/home


The easiest way is to register your vehicle at one of the four points of entry with the machines

DOWNLOAD FLYER .PDF[/paste:font]

EASYTOLL
The EASYToll system is a new solution for automatic payment of electronic tolls, for tourists and immigrants, with the association of a credit card (Mastercard and Visa) to the license plate of the vehicle. The driver, not having to leave the vehicle, enters the credit card in the payment terminal and the system automatically associates the vehicle's license plate to the bankcard. The tolls rates owed are directly debited to the account associated with the card.

At the time of sign up, valid for 30 days, a ticket is issued as proof and must be kept.

The driver is always able to correct license plates numbers or cancel the membership, through the Call Center:

• 707 500 501 (if in Portugal) or
• 00 351 79 555 2128 (from abroad) or
• Broken Link Removed.

The sign up has a cost of 0.60€+VAT and each journey has an administrative cost of 0.26€+VAT.

Sign up at the Welcome Points located at the border posts at the following locations:

A28 - Viana do Castelo; A24 - Chaves; A25 – Vilar Formoso; A22 – Vila Real de Santo António
Pre payment can also be made online in various amounts but please note that post payment is not possible for foreign vehicles on the electronic toll roads.

 

[andy63]

didn't bother registering a credit card when I crossed the border, but as jj mentioned above the sat nav was set to avoid motor ways.
not sure what happens if you are on m/w and have not registered.. ie is it an automatic fine or as I was told that you had a period of grace to pay at a post office... I assume there will be a permanent record of use if you return to the country say the following year with the same vehicle and have used and not paid...
im sure someone knows..
ta andy

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[2657]

didn't bother registering a credit card when I crossed the border, but as jj mentioned above the sat nav was set to avoid motor ways.
not sure what happens if you are on m/w and have not registered.. ie is it an automatic fine or as I was told that you had a period of grace to pay at a post office... I assume there will be a permanent record of use if you return to the country say the following year with the same vehicle and have used and not paid...
im sure someone knows..
ta andy

No period of grace, no post payment, automatic fine it is!! Payment on the electronic toll roads must be made prior to use if in a non Portuguese registered vehicle.

You are correct in assuming that a permanent record is kept as I found out by experience last year.

The system has changed for foreign registered vehicles since the first shambolic attempts to levy the tolls.

From the Portagems website:

"


CAN FOREIGN-REGISTERED VEHICLES USE THE POST-PAYMENT SYSTEM (PAYMENT AFTER USING THE MOTORWAY)?

No."

 

[spitfire]

Just a related question . How do you know from a map which are electronic and which are manned please

 

[andy63]

No period of grace, no post payment, automatic fine it is!! Payment on the electronic toll roads must be made prior to use if in a non Portuguese registered vehicle.

You are correct in assuming that a permanent record is kept as I found out by experience last year.

The system has changed for foreign registered vehicles since the first shambolic attempts to levy the tolls.

From the Portagems website:

"


CAN FOREIGN-REGISTERED VEHICLES USE THE POST-PAYMENT SYSTEM (PAYMENT AFTER USING THE MOTORWAY)?

No."

Cheers that's cleared that up for me .as I said I had heard different tales and was never really sure.
Ta andy

 

[JJ]

Just a related question . How do you know from a map which are electronic and which are manned please

I have not found a way yet...

I emailed TomTom a little while back to ask them if their new map had the electrinic toll roads on them and they didn't know what I was on about!

Might be different now of course.


JJ

 

[andy63]

As an aside to toll roads I found using a map in Spain and Portugal difficult. There seem to be so many ways in which the same road is designated. It has national local and European designations . The sat nav uses one the maps have another.
I always checked the general route the sat nav proposed on the map and if happy just let it get on with navigating.
In main it worked well

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Yorick]

I set my Garmin to avoid tolls but it didn't recognise these automatic ones so I had to be ultra careful.

 

[peterc10]

Just a related question . How do you know from a map which are electronic and which are manned please

The map that came with the Spain and Portugal Aires book shows them in different colours.

And the flyer that Matamoros links to in his post also shows them in different colour

 

[spitfire]

Thanks all

 

[peterc10]

I set my Garmin to avoid tolls but it didn't recognise these automatic ones so I had to be ultra careful.

As I understand it up until recently the ones that are electronic tolls were not tolled at all. So beware of out of date map information.