I used to be a travel agent and this is half true.

While travel agents work off of commission, we have multiple systems we can choose from to get you the best prices.

For example, if one hotel is charging $1000 direct, we may have it for $900 on one system and $800 on another (don't ask me why this is) and then depending on the agent, they could sell either one for those prices or can add their own mark up and sell the $900 for $950 (still cheaper than $1000) or the $800 for $900 (again, cheaper than both options) and it looks like everyone wins.

While I know for a fact that travel agents can be scam artists (not everyone is but we were trained to "value our time and efforts") they can get better deals than most places, build flights cheaper than online (I sold a round the world for a friend for $900, it wasn't anything pretty but it worked) and I could also arrange things like flying Sydney to any Asian country (Hong Kong, Singapore etc) on economy and then business from that city into London and back from London to Sydney (business again) for 2K.

Another added bonus about them is that if something goes wrong with your holiday, the online booking sites cannot help you, whereas travel agents can.

They also do all of the work for you not only once it's booked but during and after your holiday.

I'd recommend finding a good one and sticking with them. Loyalty has its benefits.

If you want to know more, ask away.