Planet Travel's team is young, considerate and full of vigor. Provided to China Daily

Friendly and efficient, agency says quality is part of journey

Among the many travel agencies in Beijing, Planet Travel is one that targets mostly foreign tourists.

The company, made up of a group of young people who love to travel, uses English as its working language, and provides travel information and documents in English, to ensure "obstacle-free communication with foreign customers", said Liu Yan, company sales manager.

Its covers most tourist destinations in Asia, and is developing new ones. Its employees have personal experience of almost all the destinations.

Planet Travel provides a package of services to individual or family clients and can be used just to book an air ticket or hotel room.

The company does not organize large groups, to make sure customers "can thoroughly relax and enjoy tailor-made service".

Neither do clients have to go to the company to get the travel plan and pay. Instead, Planet Travel employees will go to the clients.

"If you already have a plan, we will make detailed arrangements based on it. And if you don't, you can just give us a general idea or just name a place, then we will recommend one or two plans," Liu said.

Last year the company had a customer who was transferred to Beijing to work for a year before returning to Germany.

He sent a list of his holidays over the year to the company and based on the list the company made elaborate travel plans for him both in China and the region.

Planet Travel respects and protects customer privacy, as traveling is "a pleasure exclusively belonging to an individual or a family, which is something very personal", Liu said.

"We will not disclose your personal information without your permission. We and our third-party travel service providers may disclose your personal information only when it's necessary to facilitate your travel arrangements and bookings."

Planet Travel prides itself on its efficiency. "We promise to reply to the customer's first email in two hours, and give the price within the same day," Liu said.

Travel consultant Zhou Shuang received a call at night from a client, saying he did not find his checked luggage in Bangkok, and he had to catch the next day's flight to Phuket.

Zhou told him to have some rest at the hotel first, and contacted the carrier, Air China, to make sure that the luggage would arrive in Bangkok on a later flight and be sent to the hotel. Then she informed the customer.

The next day Zhou received a text message from the satisfied customer who said he was delighted to have boarded the plane to Phuket with his lost luggage coming in the morning.

Last year a customer emailed her travel consultant Kuang Jiangnan four days before scheduled departure for Malaysia, saying she was sorry to have to cancel the trip.

She explained that she noticed a term on the website of Malaysia Airlines, saying that non-Malaysian women who are pregnant beyond six months are not allowed to fly into the country. And she was pregnant for 24 weeks, which was very close to that limit.

Failing to contact Malaysia Airlines on the phone, Kuang went to the carrier's Beijing office herself, and consulted the Malaysian embassy in China. The conclusion was the customer could enter the country as long as she had medical clearance.

"We are a personal travel manager of our clients, customizing their travel plans with flexible arrangements and multiple ways of payment," Liu said. "What the customers need is what we will provide."

zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/21/2013 page16)