Plenty of Sunshine in Every Booking

When I used to chat with one of my favourite employees at our gym, I learned that like myself, she was born with a passion for travel. Her exceptional customer service and passion to wanderlust made her a great candidate to pursue a career as a professional travel agent.

After two years of what felt like prison being trapped in Canada, and then the possibility to travel again seeming feasible, I desperately tried to contact the agent who booked the trip for my boyfriend (now husband) two years ago when we eloped at the RIU Republica in Punta Cana. The representative, who worked at a commercial travel agency, must have been flooded with calls and emails, as I never heard back from her. An agent contacted me from her agency, but I did not feel confident booking with her whatsoever. With all the changing travel restrictions and testing requirements due to the pandemic, I needed to be assured I had an agent present to answer my questions and lay out everything I needed to know prior to and while travelling.

That’s when I remembered my friend from the gym, and she mentioned her Mum was a travel agent, like she hoped to be. I asked my friend for her mother’s email, and within hours of reaching out, I heard back from Kathleen at Plenty of Sunshine Travel.

Plenty of Sunshine Travel is a local business in Mount Hope, owned and operated by Kathleen Penner. Plenty of Sunshine Travel has won awards including the Hamilton Spectator’s Reader’s Choice Award Diamond Winner for Best Travel Agent and Travel Agency in 2021. After many years booking trips for her family and friends, Kathleen officially started her business in 2018 and is a certified member of TICO (Travel Industry Council of Ontario). Kathleen holds many specific travel certifications and specializes in all types of vacations on the water including Ocean Cruises, River Cruises, and Expedition Cruises.

Like many small businesses, Kathleen’s business mainly operates through word of mouth. Of course, if you come by her podcast on YouTube when searching an informational travel video, then you can easily find her contact information there too.

I was impressed by Kathleen’s prompt response times when I sent over inquiries. Right away I felt a huge sense of confidence booking with Kathleen. In her initial email she mentioned

“My phone is always on and beside me, while my clients are headed to the airport, if you have a flight delay or an issue, I can help you instantly - regardless of my business hours! I am here for YOU 24/7 while you are away.”

You can’t beat that sense of security when traveling, especially during a pandemic.

Our wedding at the RIU Republica, March 11, 2020

I was concerned about the name on my passport not matching the name on my vaccine passport. When I purchased a ten-year passport less than five years ago, I never in a million years expected I’d be married and change my last name three years later. My vaccine passport matched my married last name on my Ontario health card, while my passport was still under my maiden name. Kathleen informed me of all the necessary documents I’d need and at what check points I’d need to provide them.

Any question I had, Kathleen was happy to respond clearly and in detail, or call Sunwing herself to confirm.

We decided to go back to the same resort where we eloped two years ago, at the RIU Republica in Punta Cana. This ‘adults only’ resort is massive, has reasonable food, and was one of the more affordable all-inclusive resorts, besides ones in Cuba.

Kathleen offers to check you in for your flights and book your seats ahead of time and keeps her phone by her when she knows her clients are headed to the airport. She also provides detailed instructions for what you need to do and what forms you need to fill about before arriving at your destination. This is an important benefit when you book through a travel agent, as upon the return flight home, there were several travellers in line with us who didn’t know they needed to fill out the Dominican E-ticket before arriving at the airport. The E-ticket is a measure the Dominican government has implemented since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon arrival, Kathleen checks in once to make sure you arrived at your resort smoothly. She is then available to answer inquiries in an impressively timely manner. Even while on vacation herself, I was impressed by her happiness to help and respond to any questions I had.

For this vacation, we chose a simple, all-inclusive vacation package, but booking with Kathleen certainly made our holiday relaxing and worry-free. On our next trip, if it involves multiple destinations, remote location transfers, and more challenging logistics, I am confident Plenty of Sunshine Travel would walk me through it every step of the way. After the ease of booking with Kathleen for my trip to Punta Cana during a pandemic, I will be sure to choose Plenty of Sunshine Travel either a pre-arranged package vacation or a custom, one-of-a-kind adventure!