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

You don't find too many travel agents these days, but I think they have still carved out a niche for things like Disney trips, tour groups, African safaris, etc. -- basically things where some experience, coordination, and knowhow has some value.  For the run of the mill point-to-point travel, though, they're a bit obsolete.

Nothing to do with your question X BUT many years ago, I think in the late 1990's, I was invited to a conference held by Arthur Anderson and the keynote speaker was the author Tom Peters.  He began his remarks by saying "introduce yourself to the person to the left and right, front and back of you because one of the five of you will be looking for a new job next year".  He said this was the way he began all guest speaking engagements.

He then said the prior year he was invited to the national travel agent convention for some reason and had to change his standard opening remark.  This was at the dawn of the internet mind you, so his introduction to the travel agents was "introduce yourself to the person to the left and right, front and back of because sometime in the next two years ALL FIVE of you will be looking for a new job.  The internet will completely eliminate your industry."

He was right.

Never use a travel agency. Added cost for no more info than you can get on-line. 

Using the aggregate tools is great to set a baseline, but once get an idea of what airline/flights/etc you want to take, go look directly on the airline sites. Most of the aggregate sites have some limitations to get the lowest price (i.e. you may not be able to pick your seat, you may not be able to refund if needed). Looking on the airlines site you might find the same flight for $25 more per ticket but have more flexibility. 

XM - I travel a fair amount.  Though I technically book through my company's travel agency - I make all the reservations online.   So, what do I do?

I look at the airlines I prefer to fly - and, go to their web sites first.   I check out price, schedule, and - if you have an option - which airports to fly from / into.   I usually fly out of O'Hare - but, I do have a couple of other options, if necessary.    Since this is personal travel - and, you'll be traveling as a group of "three or more" - those sites can provide pricing information.

I have not used a travel agent to schedule travel in years - so, I cannot provide any insight about that.

I don't know if this helps - but, I hope you have a great trip - and, experience arranging your travel accommodations.

Travel agents...PFFT!  I'll stick with my trebuchet, thank you.

Weak sauce, XM.  Jet fuel is for sippin'.

However, beat Illinois, Go Blue and so on and so forth.

Safe travels...we too would love to add Alaska to our "been there" list some day.

We book directly through the airline (not married to any particular one) as it's always easier to address a problem directly.  We'll shop for flights during weekdays. Pricing seems to be lower.

Adding my voice to the chorus -- for domestic travel, a travel agent isn't going to be very helpful.

What's most helpful in decreased travel costs is flexibility.  The more flexible you can be, the better.  You might find that the flight from Saginaw is much cheaper than the flight from Detroit, even though you change planes in Detroit.  Coming from up north, I don't know if you're looking at TVC, APN… but if you're looking at summer travel, that's high season for up north and high season for Alaska also.

I second the suggestion for Google Flights.  It's got a pretty good search and is intuitive and easy to use -- and then it takes you right to the booking site.  Most of the time, for simple domestic travel, booking directly with your airline is the way to go.

Good luck!

What's a travel agent? Is this 1992?

Can't speak for Travelocity, but if you have some flexibility as to your arrive and return days, Google Flights has a feature that'll give you the best prices within a few days to find the best price.  

This is also speaking only for myself, so please consider that, but for my entire adult life, I personally only have ever packed what I need in a good backpack and stored it under the seat and that included a two week trip abroad.  Put underwear and socks in a small zippered bag, shirts and one pair of pants in a medium zippered bag and you're pretty much set.  I think most people really only need about 1/3 of what they actually pack and it's nice to not have to deal with luggage and associated fees.  That said, if you have small kids or other specific occupational/medical needs, then that of course goes out the window.

If you have AAA there is zero reason not to use them. A group of us went to Greece 2 years. We were the only ones in the group to use a travel agent. We had zero issues the whole trip. Everyone else had flights cancelled, luggage lost, missed flights. Travel agents make everything much easier.

I only use a travel agent, but I also have lots leatherbound books, and my apartment smells of rich mohagany. . 

Aside from some great advice here, I also recommend you have a look at applying for a travel credit card around the time you're booking a big vacation. 

Many of them offer huge bonus points for a flat amount of spend in a certain timeframe, and if you were going to spend that money anyway, take advantage of it. Moreover, many rewards programs (like Chase Ultimate Rewards) actually enable you to redeem points at a higher redemption rate compared to airlines. 

Well XM you're in luck, because my mom is a retired travel agent, which basically makes me Anthony Bourdain. You're not going to pay any more for a travel agent booking you a flight than you would doing it yourself, as they are paid their commissions by the travel companies - but they don’t get any commission for booking flights. If you feel overwhelmed by the process it wouldn't be a bad idea to give one a call, and they will help, as they want to build a relationship for when you decide to take Mrs on a cruise for your silver wedding anniversary or take the kids on a European trip to celebrate their college graduation. But, as others have said, with a simple domestic flight they'll actually go online and use the same websites everyone else uses to get your flight booked.

I will go contrary to the majority of people and say there are definite times to use a travel agent, especially for your situation in Alaska.

If your intent is to fly to Anchorage, then everyone else is correct. If you're flying to one of the other relatively big cities in Alaska like Nome, Fairbanks, or Juneau its likely your only realistic option is Alaskan so you might as well book directly through them.

IF however you need to fly to any of the tiny airports in Alaska... that's the time to consult a travel agent.

Using travel agents is still a thing? I'm not being snarky, I truly didn't know that was still a thing unless you had stupid high elite status with a hotel or airline. 

I've never really used a travel agent so I won't have much to offer in that department, but what I've done in the past are two things:

1) I usually try to book on Tuesday afternoons between 12-3. At least at one time, how I understood the game worked was that flights were typically at their cheapest during that period of the week. Maybe that's an old wives tale, but let's put it this way, I never felt like I was getting hosed when I booked during that time period. 

2) I'm not sure if this works for domestic flights, but Scott's Cheap Flights work great as well! We used that site when we went abroad and found some really good deals there. 

We almost never use travel agents but we did when we traveled to the Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia) and were pleasantly surprised. The one we chose we found online and was located in a different state. They specialize in trips to that part of the world and primarily work with the expat communities from there, but it was an extremely smooth process. They were able to get significant deals on flights not accessible to us otherwise and provided pointers on hotels that we ended up taking advantage of once we got there, because they were good places and better rates than the random couple emailing them or walking in off the street could get. 

I have no idea whether an Alaska-focused agent could help in a similar way since it's a domestic trip. But I wouldn't shy away from looking into it and comparing. I believe you wouldn't have to pay for anything up front. 

FWIW I have 3 times in the past 18 months made travel arrangements to go from NY to Botswana or the reverse.  It's a rather complicated task if you aren't familiar with the airlines and routes and want to get there for less than a fortune and in under 28 hours of travel time.

This is precisely the kind of itinerary where one might expect a travel agent to distinguish him/herself from the kayaks of the world and from the airlines.  And I suspect they would have -- if their quotes weren't 40%+ about what I was able to find myself.

I assume that agents are easier to reach when things go wrong and when itineraries are complex - especially if you are booked on more than 1 airline.  Because getting a hold of someone at an Expedia or at the airline -- someone who can actually help you -- isn't very easy.

I think best bet is to book directly with the airlines -- and only one airline, if you can.  I've run into situations where there are two airlines and significantly different prices for the same exact seat -- in one case where there is a code sharing agreement between the airlines and everything is booked as a single itinerary (costs more) and in the other where it less expensive but unclear how the ticket is written, whether you will have to check in twice, go through customs twice, etc.

For domestic travel skip the agent.  I like Google flights personally, and the ability to use nearby airports, look at the price matrix if I have flexible dates, etc. Then, as others have mentioned, hop to the website of the the airline you pick and purchase directly if you want to be treated well if (when) there are delays or other issues. 

It is common practice now for almost all airlines to offer their "cheapest" price first, meaning it won't include even carry on bags and you have to pay additional to choose your seats. You add those during the checkout process if you want.

I book directly with American, which is pretty much the only airline I fly, if I can help it. I left my laptop on a plane last year when they made us change planes and American found it (the plane was in a hangar, temporarily out of service) so I am now even more loyal to them. It's so easy to use the app and the website to do the booking, and then there's the mileage program which I've been a member of for 30 years. This is probably more info than is actually helpful for you, so in short, I just go directly through the airline. The American website is easy to use for this old timer. And they send updates through your phone about flights so you know if there's a gate change or time change. Got stuck in Florida after the Orange Bowl last year because of the weather and American kept us up-to-date on all the goings via text. Very helpful. 

Buy a case of beer and stop over. By the time the beer is gone, you will have this all booked 

Are you 95 years old and by twins you mean the two broads you paid for? Seriously travel agent? You don't know how to use Google flights? I'm a millennial and I feel gross reading this.