Comparing Tibet travel agencies - SnowLion and Dhondup

We're a group of 2 American women hoping to travel to Tibet from late April - mid May 2012. We're in Kunming at the moment, planning to apply for our permit in the next couple days. The itinerary we're shooting for involves a basic loop around Lhasa (Nam-tso, Reting Monastery, Tidrum Nunnery, etc), culminating with the 5-day Ganden Monastery to Samye Monastery trek -- about 17 days total.

We've gotten great responses and reasonable quotes from SnowLion Tours and Dhondup (www.tibetguide.com). Both appear to be Tibetan owned and operated and have strong reputations. Can anyone recommend one of these agencies over the other, especially with regards to trekking expertise and professional policies in case something goes wrong (since we're attempting the trek in early season, we need a guide with good contingency plans)?

One distinction is that SnowLion has told us it will take 15-20 days to secure a permit, while Dhondup seemed to think it could be done in 5-6 days. We've been following the permit situation and know that it should take longer than usual right now...

Thanks in advance! Any advice is much appreciated.

p.s. - we also got a strong recommendation for Tibet HIghland Tours, though they haven't responded to our inquiry yet. Can anyone back that up?

For each travel agency to apply for permit at different speeds, depending on the travel agency is professional

I saw a news that can go to Tibet in April,
http://tibetantrip.blog.com/2012/04/10/tibet-will-reopen-for-foreigners-in-april-2012/

Snowlion and Highland Tours (make sure its the original) have been recommended on here for a long time. Never heard of the other.,

I've used Tibet Highland Tours before, and am using them this year as well. They have always been very responsive, accommodating, helpful, informative, etc...

Dhondup from Tibetanguide has good reputation within some travellers..check older blogs...

Dhondup was my guide in 2009 and has become my friend in all these years. I was the first one to recommend his services here. Last year I made a one month trip around Tibet with his company too. He is an independent and small operator, but he does his best for his customers. He is tibetan.

Note that his correct website is http://www.tibetanguide.com.

I can not recommend him over the other travel agency as I have no experience with it. But I can tell you that I trust him and he is honest.

Both Tibet Highland Tours and Snow Lion Tours have been recommended on this forum and in guidebooks for years. I have also been hearing a lot of good reports about Dhondrup as well. I am sure that any of these Tibetan owned agencies will provide a good, safe trip for you.

Thank you everyone for the positive and helpful responses.

We decided to go with SnowLion, but would highly recommend Dhondup and Tibet Highland Tours as well based on their great service during our initial inquiries.

We are thrilled to be going to Tibet!

Snow Lion is an excellent, well-run, Tibetan owned business. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

If I had it to do over again I would choose Snow Lion.

Definitely Snow Lion. Their service fast and excellent. We was in Tibet in December 2011. They did Tibet permit for 3 days and sent it to our Chengdu Hotel by express post. Although their Tibet Guide wasn't very familiar with history of Lhasa he was perfect with history of other places out of Lhasa.