Jophiel was clearly trying to help you and gave you really good information.
This seemed like helpful information you weren’t aware of, and wasn’t the least bit combative:
ETA: I guess I left that post window open a bit too long, since I see this point has already been made several times over. 
If you had a Straight Dope EZPost, that wouldn’t have happened!
Here’s something that would have been helpful, if I’d seen this thread in time.
I drive through Chicago about twice a year, so I haven’t bothered to get an I-Pass. And I don’t need to because the Illinois Tollway has a neat work-around.
I breeze through the open road tolling and then pay my tolls online on their website.
As long as you do it within 7 days, you’re golden.
Yep, you can absolutely do that. (I’ve done so in my wife’s car when I forgot my transponder and forgot she wasn’t on my account.) Broomstick does appear to be aware that you can pay missed tolls for up to 7 days, but I guess nobody has explicitly offered it as a suggestion.
That would still involve giving PERSONAL AND FINANCIAL INFO to a state SHE DOES NOT EVEN RESIDE IN for a BUSINESS TRIP!!!
It’s especially useful for business trips. No need for toll receipts or fumbling for cash, put it all on the company card at the end of the trip. 
This approach also has the advantage that sometimes the scanner doesn’t catch your plate number. Especially with distant out-of-state plates.
Actually, I don’t think it does have that advantage. With their system, as far as I know, you can’t look up which tolls you need to pay. Instead, you have to self-report which toll plaza you drove through, along with date and approximate time.
I used to write them on a notepad as I went through, now I just use my phone to record them
But in theory at least you should be paying double what someone with an iPass would. I assume this would count as a cash toll and not get the discount for the iPass.
I-Pass website also has them all mapped out.
I think I might have mentioned it before anyone suggested it, but yes, it is an excellent suggestion.
I wish, when I asked one of the toll attendants about “what do I do if I miss a toll” I had gotten that response rather than “get an I-Pass”, which actually doesn’t solve the problem of missed tolls in the past. I did learn about it from an information booth at an oasis.
It does take some of the aggravation out of the drive if I know that if I don’t feel I can get over to the right lane safely for whatever reason I have a week to fix the problem.
Also, regarding filling the I-Pass account - I was told erroneously by Trollway personnel that I MUST attach it to a bank account. Of course, I now know that to be untrue, but those are just two examples of how the way the Trollway is run is not at all user-friendly.
Unfortunately, my company does not issue a company card to people at my level. 
On the upside - they’re expense reimbursement process is very efficient, I should be able to get my reimbursement and pay back my personal credit card before incurring any interest fees.
My, if only the Illinois Tollway posted signs after every toll that look like this and read MISSED TOLLS PAY ONLINE illinoistollway.com And if the Tollway website provided not only a handy way to pay, but even a way to identify the tolls you missed.
I’ve driven that exact stretch many many times and there’s a sign after just about every toll booth. Pay online indeed.
Yes, that is correct as far as I remember. Otherwise, an excellent way to game the system.
You game the system as the system games you! And the system, like the house, always wins in the end.
Still, I do like the idea of paying online after rather than putting up with the toll booth nightmares.
Not that it comes up much as we’re an I-pass family, with Mrs. Mercotan’s sainted mother living just off the tollway.
As I said upthread, there’s really no good way to get from southeast of Chicago to Milwaukee and points north without running the gauntlet. For decades we’ve planned our departure times to let us zip thru during off hours. Gary, IN at 4 after dark is Mordor.
Well, I’ve seen how you respond when people are being very friendly and helpful, so I don’t know that your judgment is incredibly accurate.
At the risk of getting smacked with a broomstick… can you scrounge up $10 temporarily? If your work pre-pays you the toll money I assume it is the cash rate. It has got to be close to $20 round trip if not more. Use that to round your total to $30. Then relax and cruise through the I-Pass lanes and get charged half of what your company paid you. If you are opening a store it sounds like you will do this a few times and each time you will be MAKING money. When it is done… turn in the transponder and get your $10 back and you will actually come out ahead.
If you really are living on $30/week per person for groceries, it might be a good idea to cut out the trips to Colectivo for espresso and Chocolate Chisel for “high end” chocolates.
Just sayin
:rolleyes:
I’ve only gone around the west side of Chicago in a plane. I was thinking in terms of Aurora but looking at the map that’s a big detour.