But the agents say their clients accept the cost in exchange for saving time and getting someone who

Justin Yax has booked plenty of trips himself using myriad online travel sites. But for a tour of Italy in 2009 and his honeymoon trip to the South Pacific next month, he went old-school and turned to a travel agent.
Also, consolidation decreased the number of visible storefront offices, and many of the remaining agents switched channel island tours to a lower-overhead work-from-home model, says Nina Meyer, president of the American channel island tours Society of Travel Agents.
Agencies made US$95 billion (S$119 billion) in sales in 2011 - about one-third of the US travel market, according to Connecticut-based travel research company PhoCusWright. While the majority of the revenue comes from business travel, the leisure segment still accounts from more than US$20 billion.
channel island tours At American Express Travel, Vice President David Patron says bookings through agents were up 12 per cent in the first half of 2012 from a year earlier. The company is neck-and-neck with Expedia as the U.S. market leader, according channel island tours to the Travel Weekly Power List.
In fact, many in the travel business want to be known as advisers or consultants rather than agents. They play up the idea that they are managing both your time and your vacation investment instead of just booking packages and getting tickets.
What we're seeing is more of an indication of information overload, says Dwain Wall, senior vice president of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based CruiseOne, which has 750 franchisees and another 500 contracted independent agents. I think consumers are more confused when they're done than when they start � and what information they can trust when they're on the Web.
High-end Frontiers Travel in Wexford, Pennsylvania, for example, will collect about $250 for planning channel island tours the typical weeklong trip itinerary. Other agencies have a sliding fee, and all say they will charge more when booking something complex, like a destination wedding.
But the agents say their clients accept the cost in exchange for saving time and getting someone who is plugged into their destination to be sure all the pieces are in place. That could be anything from hiring a guide familiar with the Paris antiques scene to scoring a last-minute room in London for the Olympics.
Business has never been better at Frontiers, which relies heavily on its relationships channel island tours with the destinations, co-owner Mollie Fitzgerald channel island tours says. High-rollers continue to roll high, she says, noting the recent booking of a last-minute, $64,000 trip around the world.
Most of us lead busy lives and would pay a professional for expert advice channel island tours - think doing your own taxes versus using a CPA, says John Clifford, a travel consultant with InternationalTravelManagement.com. Yes, you'll channel island tours pay a professional fee, but can often save several times that amount in the end.
Justin channel island tours Yax has booked plenty of trips himself using myriad online travel channel island tours sites. But for a tour of Italy in 2009 and his honeymoon trip to the South Pacific next month, he went old-school and turned to a travel agent.
Also, consolidation decreased the number of visible storefront offices, and many of the remaining agents switched to a lower-overhead work-from-home model, says Nina Meyer, president of the American Society of Travel Agents.
Agencies made US$95 billion (S$119 billion) in sales in 2011 - about one-third of the US travel market, according to Connecticut-based travel research company PhoCusWright. channel island tours While the majority of the revenue comes from business travel, the leisure channel island tours segment still accounts from more than US$20 billion.
At American Express Travel, Vice President David Patron says bookings through agents were up 12 per cent in the first half of 2012 from a year earlier. The company is neck-and-neck with Expedia as the U.S. market leader, according to the Travel Weekly Power List.