mbresso

I had read from Fodorites using Economy Car Rentals ("ECR&quot in Croatia that a "border card" was required to cross from Croatia to Bosnia or Montenegro, or any permutation thereof. It costs about $86 USD as an add-on for car rentals with ECR.

However, when I attempted to rent a car with AutoEurope, there was absolutely no mention of this.

So I am wondering: Is this something that is actually required by the COUNTRY when one travels between those three countries mentioned, did AutoEurope simply "fail" to mention it, or is it sold by ECR as some type of non-necessary add on ($$$)?

Basically is there anybody out there who can definitively say they have NOT had to pay extra to travel over one of those three borders? I don't mind paying the standard/going rate, but I DO mind being taken. Thanks.

mbresso

This MAY INDEED be a sham: Here's an April 2008 news report:

VISA READY TO LOWER COSTS OF CROSS-BORDER CARD PAYMENTS

Published: Thursday 3 April 2008
Visa Europe said it was ready to negotiate lower fees on card payments made across EU borders in a move aimed at avoiding antitrust measures from the European Commission.

Peter Ayliffe, CEO of Visa Europe, said he did not exclude lowering the rate of fees as the Commission might request at the closure of an inquiry launched in March. "When you negotiate, you negotiate," Ayliffe told a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday (2 April), describing the Commission's approach to MIFs as "constructive".

Visa maintains that its fees are justified "on cost grounds" but acknowledges that it has further explanation work to do on the benefits they might bring to consumers.

On Tuesday Internal Market Commissioner Charliee McCreevy echoed his colleague responsible for competition Neelie Kroes by saying that the Brussels line is not in principle against MIFs, provided that they are justified for technical and economic progress or to bring benefits to consumers.

Visa's fees are currently capped at 0.7% of payments carried out with a credit or debit card. The threshold has been introduced in 2002 after the Commission intervened. MasterCard's MIFs range between 0.4% and 1.2% of the transaction value.

Visa underlines that its position differs from MasterCard's, which argued against the Commission's intervention. "We believe that a negotiated settlement is the right way forward," said Ayliffe.

In line with MasterCard, Visa also requested the Commission to reach an agreement with national regulators to prevent MIFs from being challenged by member-state authorities after a possible EU settlement.

To show its commitment to the EU's plans, Visa presented a manifesto in which it commits to abiding by the requirements of the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA), in particular by increasing the spread of debit cards in order to reduce the use of cash. The overall target is to provide one in five euros by electronic means in Europe by 2015, up from the current one in nine.

Positions:
Commenting on Tuesday (1 April) about the Commission's March decision to prohibit MasterCard's MIFs, Internal Market Commissioner Charliee McCreevy said: "The Decision did not conclude that all MIFs are illegal per se. However, Mastercard could not demonstrate that its MIF contributed to objective efficiencies, meaning technical and economic progress, or that it benefited consumers".

Announcing the decision against MasterCard in December last year, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said : "Multilateral interchange fee agreements such as MasterCard's inflate the cost of card acceptance by retailers. The Commission will accept these fees only where they are clearly fostering innovation to the benefit of all users."

On Wednesday (2 April), Visa Europe CEO Peter Ayliffe highlighted the difference between MasterCard and Visa cases on MIFs. "We believe that the current level of fees is justified on cost grounds, but we have to prove the benefits to retailers and consumers," he said. He added that Visa Europe was ready for a negotiated solution, underlining that "the Commission and national regulators should reach agreement among them" to avoid new cases against interchange fees at national level once the EU case is settled.

Announcing legal action against the Commission in March, Javier Perez, president of MasterCard Europe, commented : "MasterCard firmly believes that market forces, not regulation, should drive key decisions such as the setting of interchange fees and retailers' choices over which forms of payment to accept. If left unchallenged, and especially if followed by national regulators, the Commission's decision would not only be bad news for consumers but a blow to the European payments industry."

http://www.euractiv.com/en/financial...article-171303

Michael

I think that your own answer is unrelated to your question. The original question seems to imply that rental agencies tack on a cross-border fee for driving a car in different parts of former Yugoslavia. This is unrelated to Visa charges, i.e.bank charges, for making purchases in another EU country.

Michael

I forgot to ask: are the rates from ECR the same as the rates from AutoEurope? If ECR is significantly lower than AE (which is the case for my rental in Turkey), the cross-border rate may simply be included in the AE rate. Moreover, rates vary widely from one rental agency to another when it comes to rentals in eastern Europe. When I rented a car in Hungary, intending to drive it in Romania, AE gave me a price that was about $200 higher than Thrifty, and it would not meet Thrifty's price, implying that I would find out that there would be extra charges involved once I crossed into Romania with Thrifty's rental; there were none.

mbresso

Thanks for your comments and questions Michael (this appears thus far to be a Michael-only post - haha). Perhaps I shouldn't have included that entire article; it only briefly addresses "border crossings."

In any event, regarding your question, I found that ECR and AutoEurope were basically priced the same, but AE didn't indicate any extraneous fees. I'm just really trying to find out if a border crossing or other ancillary fee is something ANYBODY has heard about when using a rental service other than ECR. You seem to indicate it is so I won't balk at it when presented. Figuratively speaking, I just didn't want to buy a new car and pay for, uh, "undercoating." ;-)

Thanks for your help!

Mike

JEFF_

Mike - I did a day trip out of Dubrovnik by rental car a couple years ago. At the Montenegro border crossing, I had to pay 15 euro or so in cash for some kind of federal highway insurance. I had taken all the coverage AutoEurope and Sixt provided, but the officials at the border said this wasn't covered. It sounded like a scam, but of course, I paid. When I got back to the States and called AutoEurope, they didn't seem to know anything about it--and of course never reimbursed me. Make sure you have some euros just in case.

sessa

We used Economy Car Rentals b/c they were by far the cheapest rental company for our trip to Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia (even w/border card included). I can't remember about the border crossing charges with the other companies we researched, but it is definitely a requirement and they do actually check it at the border.

We weren't asked about any insurance at the border like Jeff was, and we didn't pay for any extra insurance thru ECR. I suggest you confirm that everything (insurance, green card, etc.) is in order when you pick up the car so you will at least be aware if someone is trying to scam you.

mbresso

Thanks Jeff and Sessa for the above, particularly the portion that stated,

"I can't remember about the border crossing charges with the other companies we researched, but it is definitely a requirement and they do actually check it at the border."

I'm just going to go ahead and get the ECR auto and I'm sure I'll be covered. I guess I can consider this matter closed. Thanks everybody!

lanejohann

in june 2006 we hired a car from sixt and drove from zagreb airport to dubrovnik
we crossed over to montenegro and were asked to show our passports - these were stamped
there was another checkpoint about a minute down the road where we had to pay 15 euros
no credit cards were accepted
i left the car to walk a few metres to an office building to process the payment
it was all very stern and official - wouldnt like to get on the bad side of theses fellas!
the guy at the checkpoint told us that this money would be refunded to us when we returned the car to zagreb
not so...sixt just looked at us blankly
and said we shouldve asked for that to be included when we hired the car in the first place
so just for my sake ( because i was kinda mad that we werent told and there was nothing on the form) please inform the rental people of your intentions and be quite certain of your rights