When I started flying professionally about 25 years ago, commissions were paid on tickets to these very knowledgeable people called travel agents. It was quite quaint.
Now our fares are 20 bucks cheaper, but we spend hours trying to understand the system and listen to fools post on Internet forums instead of having a pro do the deed.

If you fly every week, you learn the tricks. The infrequent flyer is the one who was hurt by the demise of the professional travel agent.

I'm lucky to have an ex travel agent on staff, whom I pay to retain her TA credentials. She has seriously bailed out staff several times on IRROPS....