ajca

I find using classictravel.com very useful to see what properties in a destination are on Virtuoso and what inventory and rates they have for my travel dates (basically I like to do the research myself). I will book directly online through them if it's a quick business city stay. Less friction than emailing back and forward with a TA and probably the same or similar result for that kind of stay.

For long or much more expensive stays, special occasions, complicated requests/situations or where I'm going somewhere new and putting up some serious $ - I will work with a Virtuoso agent and find their contributions invaluable. So it depends on the nature of the trip really.

Just my 2c.