Some sites try to complement their online service with their offline one, so a confirmation is just a phone call away. Better still, you won't have nonchalant agents who give you half-baked answers when you walk into their shop, or irate ones slamming the phone down on you. With websites, information is available 24 hours a day, which you can print out and do cross-referencing on different sites. The manager refuses to budge, citing company practice. The customer threatens to sue, but she will have more to lose in terms of time and money.
Some websites also allow last-minute cancellations.
It allowed me to do a late cancellation, and even sent me a polite email assuring me that no charges have been incurred. Not only do local travel agents need to brush up their service, but more urgently, they need to pick up the relevant IT skills to survive in this competitive industry, especially when there's more fingers in the pie now. Sounds good to me. Apart from the usual travel sites, there's also a couple of useful sites that can help stranded or sick tourists. Called 'Have a Good Trip', the guide was put together by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, and contains travel tips and information about the Singapore Embassy, as well as a list of Singapore's 63 overseas consulates.