Should I use a travel agent or book myself online?
Book yourself for simple round-trips, chain hotels, and single-country trips — the internet is faster and cheaper. Use an agent for multi-country itineraries, complex award redemptions, luxury villa rentals, and any trip where a disruption would be expensive to unwind alone.
Online booking wins on price and speed for standard trips: nonstop return flights, chain hotel loyalty stays, weekend city breaks. Agents earn their fee (or supplier commission) on complexity: award tickets that require synthetic routings, luxury villas with concierge coordination, and any itinerary where hitting a fresh visa rule or an operator strike would cost you thousands to rebook. AVARA sits in the middle — self-serve booking with concierge escalation for group trips and disruption windows.
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Last verified 2026-07-29.