I've never used a travel agent since I hadn't really seen the purpose before and I've planned several large trips. Things have been busy at work lately, so I decided I would enlist the help of my Mill Avenue neighbor in Sue from Mill Avenue Travel for booking my honeymoon.
She was fantastic. I was always convinced that I could do "just as well" or perhaps even cheaper without a travel agent, but this trip dispelled me of that notion pretty completely. While Sue's prices were typically exactly what I was finding myself, she was able to assist us with upgrades to the hotel and airfare that I would've been helpless to manage otherwise.
The only thing we paid her directly for was to have her book our airfare, and that was only $35 per person. She managed the entire booking and was also able to find us a fantastic hotel in Buenos Aires in the perfect part of town--a boutique hotel, picking up on the fact that we aren't the typical five-star-touristy-hotel type.
Sue was genuinely excited for us and for our trip, and worked with the cruise line to ensure we got all of our on-board credit after I noticed we had some missing.
Overall, Sue made the trip planning process a great deal easier and it was well worth it to use her services. If you have a trip of any complexity at all, I'd highly recommend her. She's on top of things every step of the way and it simply feels like you have an ally in the travel arrangement process.