Hi maltasr,
I fly something like 50 segments a year with Adria, *and* make 2-3 trips to SFO a year, so let me spill a few bits of wisdom
Originally Posted by
maltasr
My son and I are talking about making a trip to our homeland which would be the area now known as Slovenia. In checking schedules, it looks like the Star Alliance may be the best and quickest way to get there.
That is correct. Go for either SFO-MUC or SFO-ZRH, and then with Adria. If I were you, I'd avoid FRA like plague.
You can also consider routing to ZAG, it's 100 miles away and sometimes flights are much cheaper. TRS is an option too, but usually more expensive, and they can have some awkward departure/arrival times.
Looks like SFO-FRA or MUC and then on to Ljubljana on the Slovenian national airline known as Adria. Can any of our seasoned travelers offer advice on this routing and on the service, reliability, safety of flights on this carrier which apparently didn't exist until recently? Are there better connections/carriers to this city?
Ljubljana is almost exclusively served by Adria. There are a few other flights; AF to CDG, OK to PRG, TK to IST, and maybe a few more, but vast majority is operated by JP.
Regarding JP, you couldn't be more wrong:
Actually, Adria airways is celebrating its 50th birthday in 2011. It has been a Star Alliance member since 2004, and operates a pretty young fleet of exclusively jet aircraft: CR2, CRJ and 319. Their services, in my experience, are just fantastic: Never had a flight cancelled, never had a bag lost, always reasonably on-time. The staff is always courteous and accommodating, and although they have lowered their soft product a little lately (e.g. you get just a bottle of water and a small pastry in Y on <45 min flights), they still run a great operation!
Could I use my Star Alliance (United) miles on Adria Airlines?
Absolutely!
Any recommendations on Ljubljana hotels?
You have already been recommended the Union, which definitely has the best possible location. Regarding Union, take note that it's actually two hotels next to each other (Union Business and Union Exclusive, IIRC). The Exclusive should be a better one, so take care when booking.
Mind you, Ljubljana (as well as Slovenia in general) is a small, quaint city, and a day or two will be enough to see all of it. There's a bunch of other beautiful places in Slovenia too, and I'd definitely recommend taking a trip to the Bled lake (with a visit to the castle built on a cliff overlooking the lake) and Postojna caves and Predjama castle there (built partly in the cave system).
If you'll be staying in the region a while, you should consider visiting some nice sites in Croatia too (heh, I have to be at least a bit patriotic
). Most of it is a few hours' drive from Ljubljana.