No, Im not an agent or a troll! I looked on line with Expedia and Orbitz for a ticket from Boston to Mexico City. It ran about $750. I called a local agency that specializes in Latin America. They quoted a ticket for $450. THe only drawback was with this ticket you couldnt accumulate frequent flyer miles. With miles it was $590. I read in Budget Magazine that it was a good idea to shop at these local ethnic travel agencies. I guess so! My last few trips have been purchased on line but from now on I'll definitely shop around before I buy my next ticket. Hope that this helps someone

Carlos: With a level of uncertainty & restrictions as well, I've found I do better most of the time booking through a travel agent rather than online. Online is fine for travel research for your chosen destination but that's about it.

I couldn't disagree more. Travel planning is a lot like cooking, if you enjoy it, it's great fun, but if you hate it, it's nothing but a chore.

I enjoy planning my trips, so in pre-Internet days I would send away for brochures, read guidebooks, etc. By the time I got to my travel agent, and I tried several, each one would try to steer me toward standard packages, with complete disregard for my tastes and interests.

Once I got online about ten years ago, I've done all my travel planning online, gotten some great deals, and have never looked back.

Carlos you're dealing with a specialty market in the case of your Mexico trip. Agencies can make deals with the tour industry personnel in Mexico which might not be available to the average online client.
Same is true in South America, Russia, China, etc.

The generalizations about travel agentsnot giving better rates than online shoppers is just that....a generalization. For a trip from Chicago to Denver you won't find much an agency will do to beat online deals.
The farther from the mainstream, the more likely some agency somewhere will have an angle.

What I am saying is that is doesn't hurt to do some comparative shopping. I could be mistaken, however, I believe that agents contract from the airlines a certain amount of tickets for some destinations such as cities in Latin America at a cheaper rate. This is why the agents' tickets MIGHT be less expensive than even what you might find online. I just checked today Orbitz, Expedia, and Cheapesfares and they are still $250. more expensive than what I was quoted from the travel agent. These savings can go pretty far in Mexico!!!!!