OT - Best Way to Book a Flight/When to Use a Travel Agent?

We're deep into this thread, but I haven't seen this site mentioned yet.  I use it a good bit - I really like the visuals, it gives you a good idea of "what is possible."  There are all kinds of filters that one can put in there, so it is very customizable.

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search

Note that Southwest is not part of the ITA database.  So they won't pop up.  Although, Southwest doesn't currently serve the state of Alaska.

Here's a visual --- I just put in "DTW-FAI, +/- 1 day from 16-May-2023" as a dummy search.  That's probably not your origin, destination, or dates, but an example of the visual.  From experience, if you're flexible the "+/- X days" is often VERY useful in terms of finding significantly cheaper fares.

Recently, I was in Argentina. We were with another couple. I book all of my flights on line. They used a travel agent. All of us had to change domestic flights by Aerolineas Argentina. He emailed his travel agent, and the change was made with no more effort on his part. I had to call a local number, sit on hold, speak with someone who spoke as poor of English as I spoke Spanish. My time, the cost of the call, being able to make an international call, and the change fee were a big pain. It was an extreme effort and time spent by me compared to a simple email.
So, for certain situations a travel agent may be useful. If you will be in the Alaskan bush with Wi-Fi only, it may be simpler to have a travel agent and email them for assistance then to have to spend the time and figure out all the logistics on your own. 

I still use Expedia, and my wife swears by Kayak for finding and booking flights.  There is no reason whatsoever to use a travel agent for flights, hotels, vacation rentals, cars, restaurants, etc.

However, a travel agent can legit help you in acquiring a foreign visa.  All the headaches that you procrastinate your way into creating a crisis situation like driving to the airport without your visa in the book will be avoided if you just pony up for an agent to deal with that for you.  If you don't need any expedited service, I think this can be either high 2 digits or low 3 digits per visa.  Full disclosure, this advice is based on a world circa 2012 and earlier, so not sure if visa getting has gotten easier.

Depends from where you fly. Detroit is a Delta hub, so they are hard to beat for value. I just flew from Detroit to Maui with my family of 5. Thought it’d be cheaper to fly to LAX on spirit or frontier. Then catch Hawaiian or Alaskan airlines to the islands. But Delta got me there for $600 a ticket round trip and free bags which was WAAAY less than the budget/ kayak route. Spirit and Frontier can get you places dirt cheap with no frills, but you risk them cancelling your flight if they’re short on pilots. This has been commonplace since covid and it sucks because they won’t put you on another airline, you just have to wait till they get you on a plane. Sometimes for a day or two. Southwest is fine but out of Detroit I always need to make a stop or two, and the free for all seating isn’t fun if you travel with family 

I have specific preferences for airlines, so typically book directly with them. Alaska Airlines is great, btw. 

Lot of similar sentiments here, but I will never use Expedia or any of the aggregator sites to purchase, most especially for flights or rental cars. I made that mistake for my honeymoon for a rental car in Hawaii. Due to airline mechanical troubles, we missed the first two days in various, unplanned airports. The day before we get finally get there, I call the local rental car to confirm everything is set to go and was told a.) they could no longer guarantee my car would be available and b.) they would keep my money and I could take it up with Travelocity. I got a few strange looks in the airport when people overheard me telling them, “if you guys keep my money and do not provide me the service and do not have a car for me, I am going to steal one of your rental cars. Go ahead and call the cops ahead of time, they’ll side with me”. They had a car ready.

On a less OT note, that was in San Francisco and I was wearing a Michigan hat when the couple in front me in line for coffee started chatting me up. They were like, “oh, big Michigan fan? [yup] you’re gonna love our neighbor who just got hired as athletic director”. They were wrong, I did not end up loving Dave Brandon.

Had another thought on this.

Not sure If you have time but you could get a flight to Vegas. There are plenty of airlines out of Detroit to Vegas so the price should be competitive. Plus you could hang out in Vegas for a day or two if that appeals to you.

Then fly the same or a different airlines to Anchorage. Southwest flies to Vegas but not to Alaska. For example fly Southwest to Las Vegas roundtrip, and Alaska Airlines from Las Vegas to Anchorage roundtrip. May be able to save money by doing this. Could also try Seattle, SF or LA. 

As others have noted:

1. Use aggregators to scout out the prices and times.

2. Use the airline sites to book your flights or some other site you prefer. I suggest becoming a frequent flyer club member of what ever local hub airline is dominant because it is likely you'll be flying them most often. For people who fly a lot they belong to all of them.

3. So when do you use a travel agent? Unless you are very experienced, they can be very help with international flights - often having a check list for places that require visas, vaccinations, etc. For domestic flights they still have one very important niche role - booking a last moment irregular flight.

What does that mean? A number of years ago, I had the chance suddenly to go the Rose Bowl. ...long story cut short .. got tix but how to get there. All of the scheduled flights were booked, so I called the local travel agent who found me a spot on one of the charter flights carrying a package tour out there - they had three empty seats and since I didn't need accommodation, or a game ticket (a high school friend let me stay in Redondo beach for the spare ticket) they were happy to sell me the ride out and back. This sort of thing or trips where you have to link up different modes of transport and coordinate stays - they can help, basically when you are shelling out more money and it is getting complicated, it may be worth having someone else handle it.

I know there are sites that now handle this but your local travel agent is already tapped into that network.

I too have been looking for plane tickets. I am about to cash out of my Enron stock and I think I have learned a nice little vacation.

This site will make things very easy for you. It lets you select multiple airports in the same search based on how far away you are willing to travel from your destination: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search

Never use a travel agent. Only book one way flights. 

The only drawback is that Southwest is not included in the search. You need to do that separately. 

I will say, while travel agents can often help prevent mistakes, and assist in correcting issues that arise, they're not immune to mistakes themselves. Some number of years ago, I had to travel to NYC for work, and my company at the time required all travel be booked through a particular agency. We're preparing for a huge meeting the next day, so when I get in I go directly to our office, luggage and all. And we don't leave the office until after 2am. My boss and I walk to our hotel, and she checks in, no problem. Then I go up to the counter, and am told they don't have a reservation for me. I'm confused, but fine, I tell the guy I need a room, but am told they're all booked. So I call the travel agent. Apparently while they gave me an itinerary, they never actually completed the hotel reservation. This hotel is booked, and after waiting on the phone, apparently all the others in the area are, too. Now it's past 3am, I need to get up in a few hours, have no room, and the travel agent is no help whatsoever. Finally the guy at the desk takes pity on me and finds a room (supposedly from someone who didn't show up) so I can get a few hours sleep.

I use open ended Google Flights - Put in the dates and the airport you want to fly out of and let'r rip.  It'll show you the cost to every place in the world and you can set limits on price, number of layovers, total trip duration, etc.  This is pretty much how I find every leisure trip I take - always feels good to get great value on the price up front imo.

Google Flights is really good as an aggregator, though you may try the airline's website once you find a good flight there.

I still like the idea of a travel agent though like others have said I'm not sure the value is there.  I have a good insurance broker who got me deals I couldn't find online. Maybe there are travel agent equivalents? I'd like to think so but I'm not sure.

On rental cars: Costco (and likely other membership clubs) offer discounts and perks if you book through their travel portal. In my experience renting through Costco travel on Enterprise and Avis, the total cost is a bit less (seems like the listed price is the same but some fees are reduced) and you get an extra driver for free (normally there is an extra charge to add). Could be worth looking into and comparing to the other services.

The last time I flew was from Kentucky to Houston in January. All I did was do a search on my Microsoft Edge browser to see how long of a drive it was going to be, and the search engine automatically loaded up the cheapest flights and they were direct flights from Cincinnati to Houston. I spent $280.80 total to fly round trip (both direct flights) and just carried on a backpack with my laptop and clothes for the weekend. My best friend and I decided to rent instead of use Uber and flirted with the girl at the rental desk and got the rental car over half off. We know this because we checked another place and then came back. While she was busy with another customer, another agent tried to help us and his rate for rental was more than double, so we just waited till she was available and got an upgrade for free with it.

Based on my tv viewing, I'd be suspicious that travel agents are Russian spies. 

I haven’t read all the comments, but for a trip that sounds like you have some flexibility in timing, try using SkyScanner. You can enter the two cities and dates when you want to travel. It will them notify you of price changes for the general itinerary. When I know I’m traveling 4+ months out, I’ll check prices on SkyScanner, it will let you know whether the current price is higher or lower than typical for the route and then over time will let you know when the fare goes up or down. Helps create a bookend of reasonable rates and then you can buy when you see a fare that works for you.