Your computer in your home is always convenient, 24 hours a day. You can book travel online in the middle of the night without leaving home. You won't spend any gas for travel to the office, and you won't waste time finding a travel agent.
A travel agent will tell you what he can do for you, but there are no guarantees that there are no better deals that he didn't find. Booking online gives you the opportunity to do your own research. Comparing prices and offers from many different sites may come up with a better deal. There are no guarantees, but you are more motivated to save money than your agent is, so you may have a better chance of beating his deal.
Booking online gives you the chance to immediately compare prices from many different airlines or resorts. You can use one of the aggregate sites, like Expedia, Travelocity or Orbitz to get a range of prices from different sites all at once. For even better prices, go to the actual airline sites themselves. Often the airline website has the absolute lowest prices anywhere.
If you sign up for e-mails or updates from the airlines that you use most often, you will receive notification when the airlines have online-only specials. These special prices usually last only a few days, or for a few hours, but if the sale happens to fit into your travel plans, you can get substantial savings.
There are many sites online that offer discount coupon codes for travel of all kinds. Whether your vacation is to a family amusement park or relaxing on a beach, there may be a discount code that applies to some part of your travel plans. Do a search in your favorite search engine for "travel discount" and see what sites you can find.
All travel agents charge fees for their services. The charges are built right into the prices. Some online sites may charge a nominal fee for booking, but if you shop directly with the airlines or other transportation sites, there will be no booking fees charged.
