Oh, completely agreed. I'm in the same boat, and for "just get me from A to B as cheap as possible", a travel agent is overkill. A secretary - or administrative

Oh, completely agreed. I'm in the same boat, and for "just get me from A to B as cheap as possible", a travel agent is overkill. A secretary - or administrative assistant - is still worth their weight in gold here, though. Plus, the ludicrous "third party" rule disappears, since they book in your name. But yes, your wider point holds: Travel agents aren't well suited for some kinds of travel. That, I'd argue, is more the business model than an inherent problem with travel agents. If there was somebody whom you could tell "A to B, next week, one of these three carriers, cheapest price, here's my calendar, buy in my name" and you'd pay them a $20 commission to just make that happen, would you still decline a travel agent?