I have seen a lot of ads for travel agencies lately. I have only ever booked one holiday through an agency.
It was actually pretty good. They did everything for me and all I had to do was hand over my credit card once.
However, I would never use an agency again, unless they had some awesome deal.
Another holiday I booked, I started organising through the agency. I couldn't book on the spot as I had to confirm some dates, but I had a written quote.
The next day I went in to pay for it and the accommodation was gone. The only thing I could do was go for something $500 more expensive.
I said no and went off to look for things myself.
I ended up calling the hotel where I wanted to stay which apparently had no rooms. They said that they had lots and asked if I wanted a river or sea view.
So booked direct to them and even got a discount.
Next was the flights. I looked around and ended up working out that I could get cheaper and better flights if I went with Virgin Blue one way and Jet Star the other way.
I never had this option through the agent.
So I ended up saving money that way also. In total I saved about $800 on flights and accommodation just by doing a bit of leg work myself.