ctuttle

You mean do all the things that a GOOD travel agent should do?

Yes I would pay, and I would think in the long run you would save a lot of money over your normal travel agent. However there is a trust factor and after dealing with travel agents that were beyond horrible I would be very skeptical of anyone with my best interest at heart. The airlines have offered "incentives" (I call them kickbacks) to travel agents to sway you to one airline over another. I've had these ethically challenged agents tell me there were no direct flights to a destination so they put me on a connecting flight on their prefered airline. I had to call her and give her the flight number, and only then did she admit there was a direct flight (She didn't see that flight because "it was on the other screen".)

Just because you have a computer and an internet account does not make you a travel agent. I've had to deal with these "travel agents" who have never set foot on a plane or stayed at a hotel.

I think most agents do charge a fee now for booking travel - hate to sound out of it, but since I don't see the bills on that end of the business, I don't know. I think charging a fee isn't a bad thing if a service is provided. If all the person who books your travel is someone with a computer and an internet connection, and you are paying them a fee, if you are a business wouldn't it be cheaper to hire someone and let them use your computer and internet connection. That way at least you would know if they were getting "incentives" to book on one airline or another, and you could use those "incentives" for your business, rather than letting your "agent" take their first flight on your dime.

And another incentive, maybe if you hire the right person they could negotiate better rates with the airlines, hotels and car rental companies, saving the company more than their salary. Isn't that what capitalism is all about?