A travel agent? Really? those things are still around? Is it really that difficult to hop online and make a few reservations? (The only time I would see a travel agent as somewhat necessary is if you were traveling to multiple points, outside the U.S., with many people)

@mbz32190: It's not so bad if you're sticking to a direct flight and a hotel. I could see using a travel agent if I needed to go to another country and plan hotels in multiple cities, different airlines, etc.

I think a lot of ppl are starting to wonder, "What is my time worth?" Do-it-yourself is a great concept, but at some point it makes sense to have an expert do the actual labor... just as some of us who work fulltime decide to get help with house-cleaning or lawn care.

Before online booking was available to individuals outside the industry, I really appreciated the knowledge (not to mention the time) a travel agent devoted to making a trip go smoothly, particularly one with transfers, stopovers, multiple destinations, etc. Right now we can't afford to travel at all, but if we had the opportunity to hopscotch around Europe or something similar, I might turn to a travel agent.

The way I view a travel agent is much like he way I see wedding planners: The fee they take is often balanced out by the discounts you get from their connections.

It really becomes an issue of time for me, and while i don't always use a travel agent, I have the last couple of times I've traveled and not having to deal with the hassle has been worth whatever small saving I might have foregone.

I don't use one personally, but I work for a university, and when we travel we have to. We often end up having to work around last minute delays, and they're more than happy enough to handle all of it (flights, hotels, rentals, etc). It is nice having someone professional, who knows how it all works to handle it for you.

Travel agents are good for specialized travel like group tours and cruises. Often times they will have personal experience and can recommend things to you.

Then again you need to make sure they know what they are talking about on the low-end side: my mom just got back from a cruise and the travel agent assured her that there would be no baggage charge from the airline (Alaska). It took me 15 seconds on the airline's web site to look up the fees. She complained to him and he still insisted that there would be no fee, and after she got back she called to tell him that she paid a fee and he still didn't believe her.

No.

We tried to use a travel agent for a recent trip to NYC. Not only did they not understand that we wanted seats for both children on the flight (one is only 9 months old) but they couldn't be bothered to find us a hotel in the area of Manhattan we specified.

It was far easier to do it ourselves.

@mbz32190: Working in the corporate world we still use Travel Agents to books trips. Alot of the smaller trips (to DC on Amtrak or the shuttle, hotel rooms) I do myself. When it comes to the bigger trips to Europe and Asia I hand it over to them as they can hold a seat if we are not sure we want to take the flight and find hotels and what not near the meeting/conference location.

When you fly international, you can get great deals. For example I booked my flight to Japan for $800 cheaper than the current rates found by Kayak or Airliner's website.

I will never use a travel agency ever again. My mother went through one last year and I ended up having to make a change to my return flight due to work. It was cheaper for me to just book another return flight separately online and deliberately miss the one I originally had booked because it would have cost MORE to cancel the return flight through the travel agency than book a new one online. That is just stupid.

I book a lot of travel at work and we have to go through a specific agency so that they're tracking all of the employees traveling worldwide. (A late employee of the company ended up rebooked onto an ill-fated flight on 09/11/2001 and no-one knew for a good 24 hours what had happened to her. The policy changed a month later.)

But for personal travel? Hell no, only if I was going to someplace where I couldn't function at all with the language. I've been booking flights and hotels online for years with pretty much no trouble. The only thing is, I tend to stick to companies that give me good customer service and are willing to work with me, and skip the ones that won't. (Delta has been on my no-fly list since being pains in the ass in 2005.)

As for time invested... for whatever reason, my fiancé loves organizing travel so ever since we met, I've just let him. ;) It's a time investment that keeps him happy. Go fig!

@SuparnaBabalas:
Heh, we have this nice online travel system where you can build your trip profile, select flights(including what seat you want), etc...

Which then goes to our local travel agents for booking.

Go figure that one.

I travel about every 2 years, I have found a travel agent most helpful.

I tend to check the online agencies, Travelocity, Expedia, and others to get some idea of routing, then talk to a real travel agent to actually make a booking.

I have found that an agen can get a better rate, and take care of other minor details, like seat selection and special meals with ease.

My last trip, except for a flight with Ryan air was almost $200 less expensive with an agent than online.

I have since sent other people to see her and she has saved them anywhere from $50 to over $200 on their bookings.

This is the third agent I've used and the best of the three. I will use her again.

Ryanair does NOT deal with travel agents, in case you were wondering.

@mbz32190: There'll be travel agents around as long as there's people out there who still write checks because they can't figure out how to use the card reader at the checkout.

Most major companies still use them too.

Like many others, for business trips I have to use the corporate travel department (who then uses "Axiom" which used to be American Express Travel). Of course I could get a better deal in most cases, but my employer does have control issues.

The last time I used a travel agent for myself was in late 2001 when I went on a cruise. The agent got me much better deals than I was finding on my own.

We've always used an agent to book our international flights, as they can find the best deals. Domestically, it's a toss-up.

@larrymac: That's been my experience as well; the agents can often find deals that websites apparently aren't privy to.

I worked for a travel agency about ten years ago. Flights are simple enough anyone can do it, and were not very profitable. It was the cruises and the resorts and trips involving large groups where the agent's experience was worth the price.

A agent is good when you can call them to fix your problems. If flights are canceled or delayed, or if you get to your destination and the resort hotel has overbooked and is saying you didn't sign up for all-inclusive when you did... a GOOD agent will have the documentation, an authoritative voice, and some leverage to see to it that only 15 minutes of your trip are ruined, not the whole thing. They can also learn from their customers' experiences, and know what places to recommend and which to avoid.

If you don't need their help, do it yourself. If you do need help, then make sure you find a good agent.

As I understand it, trips booked through a travel agent will have a certain amount of travel insurance automatically attached. When Jetsgo suddenly declared bankruptcy in 2005, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded across Canada, the people who booked through a travel agency were able to get booked on new flights at no extra cost. With the airline industry the way it is today, your carrier going bankrupt is a non-zero probability. Surprised this wasn't mentioned in the article, maybe it's only a Canadian thing?

I used a travel agent to book a flight/hotel/car for me today. I've never had any problem with using an agent. Even though I can, and do, find all the information on flights and hotels and cars myself, it's often easier for me to call my agent and get a recommendation for a hotel in an unfamiliar area or they've often been able to quickly compare prices amongst many hotels/car rental companies for me.

@sebastian_dangerfield:

Flights purchased on credit cards (at least in Canada) have the same protection. So you can get the same insurance, 2% rewards, and no travel agent fees all at the same time. :)

When I've traveled domestically and to Canada, I've done all the work myself. But I imagine if I was doing a multipoint trip in another country or in a part of the country I'm not familiar with, I might have someone else do it for me. If I'm investing x number hours of time planning my vacation, it might be worth y dollars instead

@shepd: I don't think that ALL credit cards include flight insurance. I was just reviewing my credit card options with my bank and they had "travel insurance" as a selling point on some cards but not others.

A good travel agent isn't just someone who books a plane ticket for you. I think we can all do that. But they have a sense of when prices will go up or down and whether you should book now or wait. They know which layovers are best for getting from point A to point B when there are dozens of different combinations of how to get there. They know the right places to stay for you and your budget when you're going somewhere you've never been. And on and on.

In a concrete personal experience, a domestic flight we had recently was delayed (and we would miss our connection) before we ever left the house for the airport. Delta customer service (in India) said he had rebooked us for a later flight but actually put each of us on separate flights at different times, with 9 hour layovers, after a 30 minute conversation where he couldn't understand my English and I couldn't understand his. Thanks a lot. A phone call to my travel agent and we were both rebooked for a better flight with ZERO hassle in under 5 minutes. Give me a travel agent over travelocity, etc. every single time, I don't care how simple the trip seems.

How about a time travel agent?

The travel agent my company uses has saved my bacon numerous times.

One in particular: record snowfall shut down Vancouver airport last December when I was trying to get to Toronto. My flight (on a 777 with 350 confirmed passengers) was cancelled. I could've spent the entire day waiting in lines trying to get on a flight as standby (they literally told all of my flight's passengers to go to a single other gate and try to get on that flight....chaos!), but I just rang up the company agent who got me a confirmed seat on a flight 2 hours later. Had a relaxed lunch, and got on the flight.

Booking online is great if you don't run into any problems on your way. As soon as 350 people are trying to get 2-4 gate agents to bend to their will, all bets are off.

@mbz32190: Yes, they're still around. It is not difficult to "hope online and make a few reservations." It IS difficult to get in touch with anybody at Expedia/Travelocity/etc. who gives a damn when you're in Istanbul and your hotel reservation has mysteriously been lost. A travel agent, OTOH, can be reached and can help you out. If you think the online agencies can handle that for you, happy travels and good luck; you will need it.

At this point I use Expedia and Travelocity only for airline tickets within the US only. It's fine for that. Well, that and checking for good rates so I can show them off to my travel agent as the price to bear.

We booked our honeymoon through AAA. The travel agency service is free (or rather, we were already paying for it with our membership fees) and they got us a better deal then we had been able to find on our own.

For Disney vacations, we won't book any way other than with It's A Small World Vacations. The 'agents' don't get paid, they are Disney Visa cardholders, and their wages are the points they get by booking their clients vacations on their credit cards. Then the clients get all the perks of having booked on a Disney Visa card. It's win-win.

I used Expedia and Travelocity until the first time something went seriously wrong -- and discovered that nobody at Travelocity who could do anything could even be reached. All I had was a call-center worker in India who had no idea how to reach the management at a hotel in Turkey, much less how to straighten out my problem.

Since then, I use travel agents for anything more complex than a simple flight. If you are with the right person, the extra charges are minimal (we're talking less than $50) and the peace of mind is irreplaceable.

I've had good and bad experiences with travel agents (so far 1 good, 2 bad) and I've booked a lot of trips myself over the internet that worked out ok too (for basic, no frills travel). I agree that when you have a good travel agent, its fantastic and they are worth their pay. But when you get a bad one, it can really spoil things, since imo, you're paying for that agent's expertise and when you find out they screwed up, you paid for nothing.

Frankly, I'd love to find a good travel agent (the one good one I used was in another state).

Where I'm from, travel agents generally plan trips to only two or three same countries a year, don't know the difference between Austra and Australia, and don't know anything about flights.

I've had much better luck organizing everything myself, then again, it's just me and my SO, who's very very very experienced with travel. Maybe once I have kids or start traveling with a group of people, a travel agent will be easier.

I have booked many trips online and never found the process to be a "giant pain in the neck" nor have my friends mentioned frustration. Sure, you need to do some research on your own, but sites like Kayak.com do take alot of that off your hands.

I suspect the only people using travel agents are those without internet access or older adults who are not comfortable online. My gut tells me I would pay a premium with an agent, something I refuse to do.

@georgi55: Those uber-cheap fares have their own strings attached, though. If you got a ticket on JAL/ANA and you're trying to get mileage those really cheap tickets (in their own words, "consolidator fares") only earn 50% mileage. Worth it for the extreme discount, though.

@mbz32190: I actually work for a Travel Agency and I can tell you that our fee for the discount we negotiated with the hotels, Air, and Rail companies is nothing compared to what you save. Also if something happens and a flight is canceled or delayed... Who do you think can get you on a different flight faster? The person at the gate or your Travel agent?

I love Expedia...when I'm flying direct. However, my partner and I are taking a trip to Spain next year, and we are planning on multiple stops around the country. I don't know anything about Spain, and I've got travel guides, but I would love to talk to a travel agent about possible packages or recommendations or just some inside scoop about the country that would make my travel experience better.

I know how to book a flight from SFO to Madrid, but what about getting to Barcelona? And destinations beyond that? Booking multiple flights or trips on the train, booking hotels, looking for the best deal...I'm sorry, I work for a living, I have a life after work, and if there's a travel agent out there who can help me, I'm very happy to pay them to do their job and find me a good vacation. I used to work with a lady who had a travel agent license. I don't know if these even exist anymore, but she said it was a very specialized business, almost like being a realtor. I would trust that over the deals I can find on the web.

Now that booking your own flight, car, and hotel reservations online is such a giant pain in the neck...

When did that happen? If anything, it's gotten easier with sites like kayak and Sidestep that can comparison shop between the travel sites and the airline/hotel sites for you.

Booking is never a pain in the neck. It's dealing with the vendor's shortcomings (overbooked cars and flights, misrepresented rooms) that's the pain, and something I'd imagine a travel agent could help with.

My travel agent has consistently given me a lower price on my international flights than any website has. So yeah, I still use a travel agent!

@Real Cheese Flavor: So try this one on Expedia/Travelocity then smarty pants:

I need to visit a Northern UK city, I'll need a rental car anyway so either Manchester or Newcastle would be fine. I'll travel out of DFW but I have a meeting in New York I need to attend on the way. An airport hotel at JFK or LGA would probably work best plus I'll need a car service in & out of the city.

For the return trip I'll travel as direct as possible back to DFW but I need that ticket open as I may have to detour on the way back. Oh, can you get me hotels both near my UK meetings & close to the airport you decide to fly me out of? Most of my miles are on AA so I'd like to fly them or a partner but remember a terminal transfer at LHR to BA can take 2 hours or more.

These trips are where a travel agent will save you time & money since we're not all just headed to Disneyland you know.

@PLATTWORX: As posted earlier, you have no idea what a business trip itinerary can look like. You need multiple city flights, rental cars, hotels & transfers. Kayak & the like are great for simple A to B, beyond that you need a specialist.

For last year's trip with my wife we used a travel agent and it was awesome. There is nothing better than just calling someone and telling them where and when you are going and having them do the leg work. She comes back with different flights and different hotels based on how much you are willing to spend. One month before the trip, the airline moves the return flight by one day and what a relief to not have to deal with shuttle, airline and hotel. She took care of EVERYTHING and I happily paid for it.

@mbz32190: I use a travel agent because she gets the same rates that I can, doesn't charge a fee for doing it, and always throws in an extra "gift" for using her.

I've used her for booking 3 cruises. Each time we have had a $25 or $50 onboard credit as a "thank you" that she takes out of her commission.

If I didn't have this setup I could easily do it all myself... but hey, 50 bucks is 50 bucks.

Brian

@KStrike155: Note: the commission is paid by the cruise line, not by me.

Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

@Ben Popken: Ben, that only works if you absolutely, positively MUST be there before you left.

Got a neat freebie though--an overly-long, multicolored scarf.

@KStrike155: I use a travel agent for every vacation, our very first vacation (A cruise) got moved to a different departure port because of storms, AS we were in the air to the original destination. when we got to the airport and turned on our cells we were already left a message from her telling us what happened and that she had arrainged a shuttle for us complements of the crusise line to the other port. many other cruisers were still sitting on hold with the cruiser line when we waived goodbye.

I fly pretty regularly to China to visit my father and I've been using travel agency to book all the tickets. Managed to get the tickets cheaper than I was able to find online. They also offer Visa services which save me trips to the Chinese embassy all the way in L.A.

A good travel agent is pretty handy.

Last year my wife and I were planning a trip to Kauai. We stopped at a local travel agent to see if there were any special package deals or anything. His big reader board out front said that he specialized in Hawaii trips. He tried to book us on a 14-hour flight with layovers in LA and Honolulu, and tried to put us in a hotel that was in an area that we weren't interested in staying even though we told him where we wanted to stay.

We walked out. Went online, found a 6-hour direct flight on Alaska Airlines, a good deal on a hotel in Nihue, and a good price for a rental car. Saved at least $500 and 16 hours of flying/airport waiting time.

Travel agents are there for people who don't know how to use a computer.

I used a travel agent 8 years ago to book a trip to Amsterdam during college. She found as a really sweet rate though an obscure Iceland Air frequent flyer program. Definitely worth it.

If you work for the Federal Government, you typically have to go through one of their travel agencies to book any business travel. However, it also saves a lot of time and headaches since they know the correct accounts to charge and all of that.

I book myself.

Visit the hotel, flight and car all on the actual companies websites.