There are many benefits to using a TA.. and, as much as I love online travel booking.. there are some discounts and deals that are available to TAs that I simply cannot access. Maybe it means I have to learn SABRE or something.. but for stuff like booking travel ex-Asia, some TAs have access to fares that are available to Asian residents only.. and so on. I would also recommend TAs for some vacation packages, cruises, and consolidator airfares for certain destinations (Africa, India). One time I tried to look at fares to Lagos, Nigeria.. and Expedia didn't even recognize the airport code !