Re: [Debconf-discuss] How long is the bus from Zagreb Airport to the main bus station?
On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 04:44:07PM +0100, Ian Campbell wrote:
> > Also, the bus from Zagreb to Banja Luka is quoted as being "108, 123,
> > 140 HRK" (depending on time of day?). Is that a single journey or
> > return? If it is a single then for the return can we also pay in BAM
> > (how much?) or should we ensure we have some extra HRK in hand?
You have to click the link to the bus station... it doesn't really depend on
the time of day, rather on the operator (bus company) that is allotted at a
specific time of day, but none of the times overlap. Those numbers are for
single journeys, while you can also book a return journey in Zagreb, this is
visible from "Price" (or something) tooltips on the same page. Here's a
summary I extracted for the 24th:
Departs Arrives Price Price Operator
1 dir. return
02:00 05:25 120 180 Autotrans d.o.o. koop Autoprevoz
06:30 09:54 108 160 Croatia bus d.d. u stečaju koop Centrotrans
10:30 13:40 123 202 Pepex d.o.o. koop Labudtrans d.o.o.
12:30 15:50 108 160 Croatia bus d.d. u stečaju koop Centrotrans
15:00 19:10 140 231 Pepex d.o.o. koop Toping trade
16:30 19:40 123 202 Pepex d.o.o. koop Toping trade
20:00 22:40 123 202 Pepex d.o.o. koop Labudtrans d.o.o.
So for example if you arrive at the bus station at 11:00, and ask the clerk
for a ticket to Banja Luka, they will likely offer to sell you a ticket for
the first bus with available seats - hopefully the one at 12:30 in the
fictional example.
Once they sell you a specific ticket, that ticket works with the same
operator - it's not possible to switch to a different operator.
The set of operators is the set of major bus companies, so the two different
contractors for Pepex in the list above don't matter, but the other
differences do.
I just called the bus station helpdesk to verify this.
So if your ideal schedule has a different operator for the return journey,
don't buy a return ticket in Zagreb because it'll go to waste.
Also, I should mention the notion of seat reservations. By default, they
check if they didn't oversell the bus and sell you e.g. a 'Croatia bus'
ticket for this route (ZG-BL). However, there could be another person who
bought a return ticket in the other direction and wishes to use it on the
same day and the same time. If there are too many people doing this, it's
possible the bus could get filled to capacity and someone can't board.
To avoid the latter problem, you can ask the clerk to sell you a
reservation, which is 10 HRK extra and it means that you are definitely
able to board the bus; otherwise they'll deny you the option of getting a
reservation in the first place (because they know how many they sold and
the bus capacity).
But that in turn doesn't help with return journeys because each station
manages their own (they're in different countries after all, expecting
synchronization on this issue is wishful thinking ;). So, you can buy a
return ticket and a one-way reservation in Zagreb, but then when you arrive
in Banja Luka then that bus station there needs to sell you an analogous
one-way reservation.
Hopefully I haven't spammed you with too much information now. :)
--
2. That which causes joy or happiness.
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