[scottmandue]

I do all my booking online, however I have not been on a big ticket vacation for decades and would consider it if I was visiting Europe or Asia.

My 92 year old mom gets travel points on her credit card and is always badgering about using the points (she is in no condition to travel at this point of her life).

So we are going to fly up to Portland OR. from Los Angeles and I take her up on the points but you have to use the credit unions travel agent.

Long story short we got two round trips and rental car for the week, out of curiosity I checked on the price of the car and the travel agent got a smoking deal that I could not have got booking on the internet.

So apparently there are some insider deals out there.

Another thing to consider is what is your time worth? I love planning vacations and looking online at hotels, restaurants, and local attractions but I can waste hours considering all the variables.