With the conspicuous promise of convenience offered by Internet services, more and more people are making a habit of booking their upcoming trips and vacations online. As a matter of fact, in 2004, a survey was conducted about online bookings and result showed that 50% of vacationers below 35 years old booked their trips through the Internet, increasing by 27% from the year 2000.


But which is which, agent or online? Which booking is really better? Actually, it all depends, as experts agreed. It depends on a particular individual what he or she prefers. There are those who find online booking not a problem to them at all while others view the same with travel agents. However, the general rule there is that, expensive and complicated itineraries are oftentimes much better if handled by an agent. In particular, the well-seasoned and more experienced travel agents can provide you with helpful personal advices, can verily coordinate with complex land or air travel connections, as well as make special demands or requests such as a wheel chair, connection rooms or a crib, among other specifics. In short, with a travel agent, you will be assured of lots of benefits with the amount that you paid and may be provided with special arrangements to better suit your needs and preferences.


On the other hand, although online sites are offering convenient and accessible deals on simple trips, a travel agent can acquire and find greater deals especially on complex vacations like multi-stop oversea air trips. For instance, a canny travel agent is knowledgeable about cost-cutting tricks in booking such as finding fares that permit stop-over at no cost or pricing tickets at a foreign currency. Likewise, travel agents may be of help in saving some chunks on your hotel bills by availing of a complimentary sightseeing trip or booking your trip as part of a tour package.


Chris Elliot, a magazine ombudsman of the National Geographic Traveler advised that the more components there are in your trip such as plane, hotels, tickets and etc, the more reason that you get a travel agent. Also, a human agent possibly has the experience of visiting a ship, hotel or part of the town you wish to go to. Certainly, there is nothing more interesting than walking into an agency and talking to an agent who had personally been there.


Moreover, in spite of these online booking websites offering hard data and tips to aspiring travelers on how to find a better bargain, you will really never know exactly about it until you get to your chosen destination. In fairness for some sites, there are those that provide important contact information and details so clients can reach them and ask questions or for more inquiries.

In addition, though there are some travelers who do not mind taking a degree of risk especially after browsing through varied travel websites, others find it more comforting to really talk to a person and personally talk about what they are getting. In comparison to online shopping, booking for complicated trips online may take a lot of time that is if there is a plausible way being offered for a given trip. For time-pressed vacationers, it will be better if you just pay the agent's fee and let him or her find the best option for you.


In relation to online booking, the Internet also provides weekend deals or discount fares exclusive only to Internet bookings. Every once in a while, particular airlines offer special promos to fill their empty seats, in which, most are announced in the middle of a week and tickets must be bought online. Such promos are usually valid for a specific weekend or month only but may be booked ahead like few months or several weeks in advance.


When something goes wrong with your planned trip, you can always have your travel agent find a solution to it, while fellow travelers may be standing in line waiting for a hotel or airline to find them a remedy. No doubt, when it comes to traveling issues, an agent is your ally.

So, for your next trip, will you go for an agent or online? Which booking is better for you?

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