Montrose Travel Helps Passengers Reroute Travel Plans after Japan's 9.0 Quake

Montrose Travel, a $120 million full-service travel and host agency, has been in the travel business for 55 years and counting. With the recent catastrophic earthquake and tsunamis in Japan, the company's motto, "Helping people travel. One at a time," has been called into action as travel agents help reroute client's flight plans and monitor cruise lines throughout the Pacific's tsunami-threatened area, which includes Japan, New Zealand, Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States.

Currently, most airlines, such as Delta, are offering to change their customer's itinerary at no charge. United Continental Holdings, Inc. also announced travel options for United and Continental customers whose flight plans may be affected by the earthquake in Japan. Conditions at local airports are expected to lead to the delay or cancellation of certain flights to and from Japan, including the carriers's hub at Narita International Airport. Other cities throughout Japan may also be affected.

Cruise Lines are also carefully monitoring their vessels in the Pacific on tsunami alert. These include Azamara Quest, which departed Nagasaki on March 11th and was due to have a day at sea before calling at Osaka on March 13th. No alterations to the ship's itinerary had been announced. Cunard's Queen Mary 2 was scheduled to call at Nagasaki on March 12th, after departing Tokyo on March 10th. "Queen Mary 2 [was] in Japanese waters on passage between Osaka and Nagasaki," Cunard spokeswoman Jackie Chase said. "[…] It is extremely unlikely that the ship [would] be affected in any way by the earthquake or its aftershocks."

"Things are changing every day and we just started to get calls from customers asking for options for future trips," noted Director, Operations, Loyalty and Commercial Divisions Miguel Marquez from Montrose Travel.

Crystal Cruises reported that their vessel, Crystal Serenity, had received a tsunami warning in Bali, Indonesia during the middle of its world voyage. Silversea Cruises's ship, Silversea Spirit, was also waiting to see how the situation developed before making a decision on its next scheduled port of call in Hong Kong.

Keeping passengers updated regarding flight plans and changes to travel itineraries is a top priority at Montrose Travel, especially during times of natural disasters. It is comforting to know they will be here tomorrow to back up their promises of today.

For more information about Montrose Travel, contact the agency at 800-MONTROSE or visit their website at www.montrosetravel.com.