Does anyone know of reiiable travel agencies for domestic flights within South America, who can arrange for open jaw tickets from country to country? Will they help in case of flight delays or cancellations.... that would be important for non-Spanish speakers. I googled and found www,exitotravel.com. Anyone have experience with them? Thanks

I'm heading to South America later this year and I am booking my air tickets myself. Have you considered making the reservations yourself? I looked at this in detail and thought I'd be better off making my own reservations, most travel agents wanted to set up everything (hotels, flights, sightseeing, etc) regardless of whether I wanted these services or not.

I too am worried about flight delays and cancellations. What would you expect your travel agent to do in this case? If an airline isn't operating a flight for whatever reasons the travel agent can only rebook you on an alternate flight. If you're thinking of booking a package with hotels, etc with a travel agent and you encouter a flight delay which causes you to miss a night of prebooked hotel insurance will cover you (if you purchase adequate insurance) not the travel agent. Honestly, I don't see what advantages you'd have if you booked with a travel agent.

Good points, RJames. I just wasn't sure which airlines to use for the South American flights, and it worked out that exitotravel managed to get me prices which were better than what I would have managed to get on my own. As for delays etc, I was hoping that I could get some advance warning from the travel agency and hopefully they would be able to get me on the next available flight without too much hassle for me. Anyway, I hope things work out well for both you and I.

Happy travels
Sandlady

Sandlady, hadn't been on Fodors for a while and just saw your reply. Hope your trip is trouble free, enjoy your South America adventure.