Sundance Travel Agency has lots to celebrate, including 30th anniversary and new ownership

Posted: Tue, Feb 4, 2020 1:04 PM

Planning a trip online can be stressful and mentally exhausting. There's just so much to do: find the right flight, book the right hotel, secure the best deal on a car rental, figure out service fees and hidden costs, and then juggle last minute cancellations. A person needs a vacation to recover from just planning a vacation.

Decorah residents, however, have direct access to a secret weapon located at 401 West Water Street to alleviate the stresses encountered online: Sundance Travel Agency.

Vic and Peggy Pickney started Sundance Travel Agency in the early 1990s. After almost 30 years of creating a business priding itself in personal relationships and having knowledgeable, experienced employees, they decided it was time to think about retiring. That's when Meghan Herold entered the picture.

"We were happy to have Meghan take over the business. She's energetic, quick to learn, and wants to continue what Peggy and I started," says Vic Pickney.

In October 2018, Herold started part-time with the Pickneys at the agency. After investing so much of themselves in their business, the Pickneys wanted to make sure Herold would be a good fit. By July 2019, she was officially the new owner. Herold chuckles now about her previous job at Collins Aerospace, saying, "I used to build airplane radios, and now I get to send people on those airplanes!"

Herold continues, "I feel like I've been given a gift with a well-established business that allows me to do something I love."

Even with the rise of online booking platforms in recent years, Herold remains confident in the ability of the much-loved business to stay vibrant and active. Herold says, in part, she feels this way because there are many people who are experiencing problems with online booking.

"We will have clients call us in a panic because the Airbnb they booked months ago all of a sudden is cancelled and not covered by insurance for various reasons," Herold explains. "There's often a lot of fine print that can get a person stuck."

If something like this happens, the clients are essentially at a dead end. But when people decide to work with someone like Herold, dead ends just don't happen. Sundance also makes it a point to be straightforward with their charges, so people are not surprised with extra costs.

Herold explains, "The biggest misconception about travel agents is that we're out to make a big buck at the traveler's expense. That certainly isn't the case at Sundance."

Online problems, including hidden fees, are just the start of why Sundance Travel Agency, along with other travel agencies across the United States, continue to stick around, and in recent years have even seen growth. Two other defining factors are the one-on-one interactions and the building of relationships.

Herold points out that Sundance employs individuals who each bring something valuable to the planning table. The employees provide a wealth of networking. For example, Inez Brincks, who has been with the agency for 20 years, has a daughter who works for a travel magazine. Another employee, Richelle Halverson, has a home in Cozumel, while a third employee, Mary Flynn, has connections to the Chicago area.

Herold says, "The biggest thing here is that our clients know that we will take care of them and their travel."

Pickney adds, "We don't rely on books or online searches but personal experience to get the job done."

And it's a mighty big, time consuming job. In 2016, Expedia published "The American Travelers Path to Purchase." Expedia reported "American travelers spend 8.7 billion minutes of travel planning and booking." Additionally, travelers planning online will spend almost 23 hours visiting over 140 different websites for just one trip.

As the agency's 30th anniversary year continues on, Herold's focus will remain the same: to uphold the tradition of what Sundance is all about by building relationships within the community and beyond and helping travelers explore the world with as little stress, and as much fun and relaxation, as possible.

To learn more about Sundance Travel Agency, contact Meghan Herold at (563) 382-9578 or at sundance@alpinecom.net.