pattyroth

Thanks rialtogrl. So here's the deal on the business ticket. I got the information from a post by milecards. It involves an old policy that Continental had and when they merged with United, the policy remained in effect for United Flights using their award miles.
1. Call United to reserve Saver Economy Space, but ticket it at Saver Business Class price. (Remember this is when they don't have any award seats available in business.)
Then have them wait list the economy reservation for business class. (You can usually get your miles refunded later if the business class never materializes.)
2. Request ticketing on the return trip as Business Saver but confirmed Economy. Then ask to be wait listed as Business Saver. "wait listed" should appear on your reservation.
3. If needed, the agent can look up: DRS Reference Page MPWAI, line 37.
The agent I talked to had never heard of this, so the references proved invaluable and she was gracious and thankful to learn this!

rialtogrl

Thanks for the details on that Patty.

SomewhereOutThere

Great trip report! Thanks posting it. Love your travel style. I am in the early stages of planning a May 2015 trip to Croatia & Slovenia. Is there anything you would have done differently in Croatia or Slovenia if you had it to do over again?

pattyroth

SomewhereOutThere---Thanks! I'm not sure I would have done much differently, other than maybe add another day to give more time to drive to Sarajevo in Bosnia. I personally wouldn't recommend Medugorje, but my husband enjoyed seeing it. If you like beaches, malybe add a day there in Hvar or Korcula, but we weren't drawn to them, since we live near the ocean. We did like our bed and breakfasts and hotels and the rental car worked out great for us. I'll think about it and add more if I come up with something else.

SomewhereOutThere

Thanks pattyroth. Our trip will be about 2 weeks, about the same length as yours, but we will travel to fewer places, as we do better with a slower pace, staying at least 3 nights at most stops. I’m still working on the itinerary & trying to decide whether to do a one-way auto rental for the whole trip or combine auto & public transport. Would love to know more about your car rental & driving experience. I’ve read that some companies won’t allow you to drive into Bosnia-Herzegovina. Did gemut have any issues with that? Did you have insurance coverage thru your credit card or did you buy an insurance pkg thru gemut? Did it cover you in all countries? How did the tolls work? Did you have to stop at booths & pay cash tolls in Croatia? Did you buy a sticker for Slovenia? Finally – if you don’t mind, can you give me a rough idea of the rental car cost for 2 weeks & a rough idea of the total cost you incurred for tolls? Thanks in advance.

pattyroth

Somewhereout there. So Gemut worked beautifully with us but we were a bit chicken with the rental car insurance and decided ahead of time to take their extra insurance. That way, we would have no deductible due with any problems and we assumed there was a significant risk of problems. They had no problems with us driving into either Bosnia or Montenagro. You just have to be sure to tell them where you will be driving. We had about 5 days without a car and then another 2 weeks with a car. I think it was about $ 340 for the car rental for two weeks and another $ 300 for insurance. That's not exact, but pretty close. If you need exact figures, I can get them. No extra charge for dropping the car off at a different location since it was in the same country where we picked it up. Dubrovnik to Zagreb. (We would have had insurance through our credit card, but my husband felt more secure with the other insurance. I think it was worth our peace of mind.) No damage to the car. We did buy a sticker for Slovenia just before crossing the border from Croatia. I think you pretty much have to do that or risk a $ 150 ticket. There was a place with a sign indicating they sold the vignette for Slovenia. The tolls weren't bad. When you see the sign "Payage" just pull up and press the button to get a ticket and pay later. Pretty simple. We did use cash but I think we also used a credit card. Either is okay. Tolls weren't much--from around $ 2.00 to $ 4.00 usually, not adding up to much.

kja

@ SomwhereOutThere -- gemut ARRANGES car rentals, it isn't the company that actually owns and rents the vehicles. IME, if you are clear about your needs, they will do their best to meet them insofar as possible. And that means you MUST tell them whether you plan to cross any borders, whether you need vignettes or how to purchase them, what your insurance needs are, etc. Whether you will face a drop off fee depends on the actual car rental company; make sure you cover that in your discussions with gemut before signing anything.

Whenever renting a car abroad, I strongly urge you to consult your credit car companies first -- many will provide coverage, but ONLY if you DECLINE other coverage. You MUST know YOUR particular options.

For information about tolls, consult routes on viamichelin or mappy, which generally provide that information.

Also, check your guide books to learn whether you will need an international driver's license BEFORE your trip.

Note that IME, public transportation in Croatia is generally comfortable, convenient, and affordable. You'll need to decide when / where a car would suit you better. If you haven't already seen it, the Rough Guide provides excellent transportation information.

@ pattyroth -- I hope you don't mind that I jumped in here....

rialtogrl

Don't forget to add fuel to the expenses. Fuel is expensive in Croatia.

pattyroth

Yes, fuel lis expensive but we were pleasantly surprised at the great mileage we got with the Peugeot. Gemut does contract with rental car companies but I would imagine they would all work with you beautifully as did ours.

SomewhereOutThere

pattyroth - Thanks for the info. I don't need more specific cost details - just wanted an idea. The info you sent was perfect. Regardless of credit card coverage, I agree that full coverage gives you a certain amount of peace of mind and can be worth the cost when you are out of the country. We were in a minor fender-bender in Italy some time back - and were glad we had full coverage. Few more questions - Did you make all of the rental car arrangements with gemut via email or did you talk with them via phone? Was your GPS built-in or an accessory? Did they set it to English ahead of time? (I ask because we had problems with that in France last year)

kja - I appreciate your input too. We're familiar with contract services. We've rented cars via Autoeurope in Ireland, Italy, and France. I believe they always contracted out. I've also used mappy a number of times. I have one guidebook and will purchase several more before traveling. But the firsthand experiences on this board have always given me insight and a comfort level that I can't get from guidebooks. Thanks for the reassurance about public transport. We used all public transport in Spain a few years ago & really enjoyed it. Each mode of transport definitely has its own advantages & disadvantages.

pattyroth

We made most of the arrangments by email but my husband had a couple of questions that I called them about. Andy called me back and was very helpful and friendly. The final arrangements were by email. The GPS was built-in to the Peugeot. We had not requested it nor did we pay for it and it had a choice of languages that we could choose from. I'm sure they would be happy to set it to English for you, but I just played around with it and figured it out eventually!