Here's my best advice about some of the frequent issues that travelers confront. These packages are popular with families and honeymooners, because they leave little else to worry about. If you look forward to exploring your destination and prefer dining and sightseeing where the locals, tour guides and guidebooks recommend, it's best not to include prepaid dining and activities. Take the time to price out all the components of an independent trip and compare that with the cost of an all-inclusive trip. Travelers who don't drink alcohol or have hefty appetites, or those happy just relaxing with a book on the beach, may find that they'll save a bundle by skipping the all-inclusive bells and whistles.
Many travel agencies charge a service fee to issue airline tickets.
More complex trip planning may be based on an hourly fee. Travel agents may save you the amount of the fee or more, because they're often aware of discounts, specials and other promotions involving air travel, car rentals and hotel accommodations. They also can save you the time it might take to track down similar specials on the Internet. This is especially true if you're a beginner to the self-booking process. Deeply discounted Web offers for air travel may be completely nonrefundable, with no allowances for time or date changes should you have to postpone.