Is it better to find airline tickets online or through a travel agent?

Ruth, the price you quoted doesn't sound too bad to me (I'm paying just under $1500 for Detroit/Rome and back). If you are a AAA member, you can use their travel service for a lower agency fee. You may find a cheaper flight online, but if you want to get frequent flyer miles or credit card points, you probably will be looking at the same flights as the travel agent you contacted. I read a news report yesterday that fares are going up.

Hi Zoe, Thanks for sharing. Actually, after I posted, I was shocked to find the SAME exact itinerary on the Lufthansa site for $200 less! Maybe because it is minus the agent's fees. But it was easy to find.
Have you had experience flying Lufthansa? What airlines would you recommend? Ruth

ruth - Try using one of the big flight search engines online. I like www.kayak.com The nice thing is that they will search multiple sites and give you the results. Kayak then takes you to the actual website to book the flights. I don't know your exact dates but I just searched for 5/15 into Venice VCE and 5/30 out of FCO Rome and American had flights for 1068.

That American flight for $1068 has 2 stops each way and takes over 19 hours. Not good. United and Delta both offer better options for slightly more. The Lufthansa price is $1651 for those dates ( I used a departure date of May 15). We fly British to Europe from Seattle, but not if going to Venice. I haven't flown Lufthansa for years, but I think they are more likely to offer nice service than United or Delta. However, that United flight might be a codeshare on Lufthansa, since it goes to Frankfurt.

Hi Ruth. You'll have to search until you find something "reasonable" (not only fares but also the total time it takes to get there). If you only look at Lufthansa, your options are really limited. I use Kayak.com also - it's a great search vehicle. You can also go to airlines websites and see what you'll find. I've found okay pricing on Aer Lingus and Iceland Air (for Paris in September, but take a look for Venice in May).

Iceland Air works for Paris, but not for Italy. They do not fly there, so it would add an extra flight segment to use them from Seattle.

I just did a quick search on Travelocity and there are flights in the $1200 per person range for your itinerary. Short connect times of 1-2 hours.

hi ruth We need the dates to help more. I got May 11-25th for $1350 in venice and out rome and if you go into milan and out of rome for $1004.

you should look at Continental out of Newark to Milan and back to Newark from Rome

I thought I would give more information, as many of you wonderful people are checking dates and prices for me. I plan to leave on May 12 from Seattle to go to Venice and come back to Seattle on May 25 or 26 from Rome. (Actually,I would prefer to leave from Naples, as we are staying in Sorrento, but we need to take a bus from Sorrento to Naples and that might not make a good connection. We don't want to stay overnight in Naples.) Otherwise, we plan to take the bus from Sorrento to Rome and then fly back to Seattle from Rome. Thanks for your help, my friends! Ruth

delta 1220 and 1231 on kayak usairways 1328 on delta webite $1180
http://www.delta.com/booking/findFlights.do#top that is the one sounds good book it now

Ruth: Most travelers book flights through big internet websites. Right now, I prefer Kayak.com. There all pretty generic, however. Sometimes you can get a less expensive fare directly with an airline. My U.S. Air flight 3/27/12 was $705 into London and returning from Rome. I'm a very budget traveler, and I've never paid anywhere near $1,700 to Europe. A change of dates might bring much lesser fares. The only time I would not book with an airline is if they were a financially weak airline. Then, a booking travel agent has the responsibility to get you home if the airline goes out of business. I was in Brighton, England when Braniff went bankrupt and left thousands of people stranded all over the world. Pan Am was the only airline that was nice to us, and brought us home at no charge. Now, they're gone.

Ruth, The reason people here can help you is because the information is all there for the taking for free. There is no information a travel agent knows that you can't know in minutes, if you simply know where to look. All you need to book tickets is a credit card. But I certainly understand if you have little interest in sleuthing out this information. That's why travel agents still exist. But for them to be able to eat, you will be paying them for their service. It's your call in the end. I don't even have to look to know there will be fares to be had for under $1700/pperson. However, there might be some unpleasantness to endure for a cheaper flight. Again, that's your call. Have a great trip!

from the West Coast to Venice in May that price is not bad for Lufthansa
Lufthansa, British Airways... can be a little more expensive than the domestic carriers but I think it's generally worth it

Ruth has another thread with lots of good suggestions specific to Seattle travel, like Toni's here. Also advice to not try to compare to low fares people got from the East coast. I am going to top that one so people will post comments there, since it appears Ruth has moved beyond the travel agent question.