10 Reasons Travel Agents Are Better Than the Internet

While you might put travel agent right up there with VCR repair man and video store clerk on the list of jobs that have gone the way of the Yellow Pages, there’s a reason you still see them wedged into strip malls between your dry cleaner and the new VaporZone. Turns out that — even in a world where everybody coordinates their own vacation plans — travel agents account for about one-third of the travel industry’s revenue. Seriously, in 2014. Who knew.

Not only can they do things the Internet can’t, but they also still collect a lot of their fees from vendors, which means... best part, they don’t even charge you! Which is why we’ve compiled these 10 reasons you might want to go old-school and let a travel agent plan your next trip.

1. They know whether you’re actually getting a good deal.
Since 90 percent of the airline tickets you buy are for a domestic flight to see your parents, your knowledge of the relative value of a flight to London is, how shall we say, limited. A travel agent, however, books, like, 74 of those a day and will know immediately if the $600 whatever website told you is a “smoldering price” is actually reasonable.

2. Travel agents know where to go in a city, or know someone who does.
If you don’t happen to be headed to one of Thrillist’s 30 cities, it helps to have a reputable resource available who knows the best restaurants, dive bars, or cockfighting arenas without having to sift through a thousand ridiculous reviews about how the waitress didn’t bring the table enough bread. Since they book trips all the time, TA’s know this stuff like the back of their hands. And if they don’t, they’re one call away from getting you an answer.

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