How do most of you book your trips? Do you find you can save money by booking a fly/drive package? We are flying into Rome. Are there fly/hotel deals that save money? Or do you just piece it together yourself via internet or other means?

Hi Ken,<BR><BR>I would research both options before doing anything. For example, start at www.go-today.com. Right now, if you are flying from a major east coast city to Rome before the end of February, they have a package for $569 pp (plus $85 in taxes) for airfare, 6 nights hotel, breakfast, and airport transfers. For March through early June, it's $999. <BR><BR>Then, check airfares. Example, at Orbitz.com, I punched in random dates, mid-week, in February, and came up with $563 just for flights. In April, it came up with $996! Not saying that Orbitz always has lowest fares, because they don't. Try other sites. But you get the idea. <BR><BR>So, research is the key, and package deals often are a good way to go. It really depends on how structured and/or complicated your planned itinerary may be.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR><BR>Karen

Oh, I guess I should have started off by saying that I haven't used an &quot;real&quot; travel agent in years. I do everything on the internet, whether it be package deals or my own arrangements.<BR><BR>Having said that, there are places I would recommend a travel agent - like if you are going somewhere complicated or have a really complicated plan - like in countries where they don't speak English or you need guided tours to get in or stuff like that.

We've purchased all our tickets over the internet for the past 5 years. We only used a travel agent the first time, when we found a terrific agent who subsequently left the agency. But the problem seems that each time we make a purchase we go to a different source--priceline, cheaptickets, bestfares, etc. Of late, we're having trouble finding a reasonable rate for April to Italy. M.

I generally research and book things myself, but I do think that TAs can be one more resource to check out. I don't believe in there being too much information when it comes to possible bargains. Sometimes TAs can suggest an airline deal or find one that was not available on-line.

Marilyn-<BR><BR>Just today I purchased 2 tickets to Sicily for the end of March for $580 (but then there is a $40 charge if you want to use a credit card, see my post for that one!) But even with the charge that is the cheapest rate I have found from Newark to Sicily at that time of year. I found it through a travel agency that deals mostly with Greece. To me, that was a decent rate that time of year.

ttt

As a corporate travel agent, I'm obviously pro-agent. But I'm also a shopper, so my thought is that I would never just cut out a source. You may find that a TA may have some ideas that you haven't thought of. Second part, some tour companies deal only with TAs.<BR><BR>And I agree, for multiple countries requiring visas and complicated itineraries, it's probably best to use a TA.<BR><BR>Good Luck,<BR><BR>Bobbi

I've used two TA's for trips. One was great the other one a bust - so not a great average. The one that was great specialized in travel to Scandanavia and Russia and was able to save me money on flights to and in between those countries - with some charming hotels thrown in to boot. (SAS is a great airline to fly - very civilized compared to some american carriers.)