My point about TAs is this:

If I were doing, say, a fairly complicated itinerary in Africa, maybe combining several safari lodges in different countries, like Zambia, Malawi, where I went last year, I would use a specialist. But if I went to French Polynesia or the Seychelles and island-hopped and stayed at maybe 3 hotels, I'd do the whole thing myself - flights, hotels, everything.

My next big trip is an expedition cruise from Auckland up through Melanesia and over the top of New Guinea and down to Bali. I booked that direct with the cruise company. Then I'm flying up to Hong Kong for four nights, staying at the Four Seasons. I booked all that up myself - I can't honestly see why I would need an agent to do that and I've never been someone who is forever after some sort of upgrade that some TAs offer. I tend to get upgraded anyway at FS hotels because I've stayed at so many of them.