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With few exceptions, it is not necessary nowadays to pay a travel agent to book your trip. Should you be paying for help anyway? The industry publication Travel Weekly, which, granted, is written mainly for travel agents, recently called attention to the newfound attention travel agents are getting in the media. Stories from Forbes, The New York Times, and various TV networks others have all focused on the idea that using an agent might not be such a day idea after all, even if it does cost extra. In theory, travelers today have more information and booking capability at their fingertips than ever before. So there's less need than ever to pay someone else to book your trip. In theory. But with all of this possibility comes added complication, especially given the dizzying, often counterintuitive ways that travel purchases (flights especially) are made nowadays. The "unbundling" of airline travel, in which a long list of possible fees cost extra in addition to the cost of a flight, is one complication. We're not talking about chump change either. Spirit Airlines just announced it is charging up to $100 per carry-on bag. Fee-tracking tools from services such as NerdWallet can help clue travelers in on fees, but it's still a chore trying to figure out which airlines charge what fees, and how much. This week, Joe Sharkey's New York Times column, meanwhile, covers the scenario in which, as odd as it may seem, booking a circuitous series of one-way flights can be cheaper than a simple round trip. While some travelers love strategizing and searching to beat the system, many understandably don't want to be bothered. Presumably, most Budget Travel readers are DIY travel planners. Ditto for the independent-mind backpackers who travel around the globe with Lonely Planet guides in tow. And yet, in a recent Lonely Planet poll, more than half of those who responded said that they'd happily pay an agent either "a small fee ($30 - $50) to save the time and hassle" or "whatever they ask! I'd rather chew my arm off than sort through all the many online travel options." So maybe a sizeable portion of BT readers now feel the same way: that after a couple decades of booking their own trips, it's now time to give the responsibility back to the pros. Would you pay a travel agent a fee to book your trip? Have you done so recently? If the answer is yes to either, tell us why, and under what circumstances. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: 8 New Hotel Booking Websites for Finding the Perfect Hotel Hotel Bonuses: 3 Deals That'll Each Earn You $50 Tips on When to Book Summer Flights Amid Rising Fares

Big news this week for Southwest and AirTran mileage programs: Now members may convert points earned in one program for use in the other, and vice versa (with one exception). Main advantage: Southwest members can now book free flights on AirTran's international routes to Bermuda, the Caribbean and Mexico, such as Cancun, Montego Bay, and Punta Cana. Simply trade in points earned in Southwest's Rapid Rewards program for credits in AirTran's A+ Rewards program. Insider tip: Even if you don't plan to convert miles, this news is important. Budget Travel expects that a huge wave of Southwest fans are going to trade in their Rapid Rewards points for a chance to fly on free trips to international destinations via AirTran. So if you have AirTran miles and want to do the same thing, you should book your travel as soon as possible before options disappear. Main drawbacks: You can't cash in A+ credits for Rapid Rewards points, which is surprising. Yet you can transfer AirTran points into Southwest credits, with one A+ Rewards credit equaling one Southwest Rewards credit, and 16 AirTran A+ Reward credits redeemable for one standard roundtrip award on Southwest. (But you can't use only eight to get a one-way ticket.) How to do it: Go to a special webpage for Instructions on converting points. The companies, which merged in 2011, say that AirTran will remain a separate brand from Southwest this year—and possibly through 2015. SEE MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Southwest Waters Down Its Rapid Rewards Program (25 comments) Are You Okay With Allegiant’s New Carry-On Fees? (40 comments) United Passengers: How Long Have You Been On Hold? (30+ comments)

When hotels use daily deal sites like Groupon, they're not necessarily trying to make profits. If the purpose isn't to make money, why do hotels offer flash sales? In a Cornell Center of Hospitality study, 42 percent of the hotel operators surveyed said that at least once they had tried a daily deal, which typically knocks about 50 percent off of a property's room or package rates for the consumer. According to a Travel Weekly story about the research, hotels have been using daily deals "as much for marketing purposes as for directly generating revenue." The idea, by and large, is that hotels accept that they're likely to lose money or just break even with the offering of a daily deal or flash sale. But these deals give the properties a way to connect with new customers, who someday will, the hotels hope, become regular, full-paying customers. Based on Cornell's findings, for the most part this isn't happening, at least not yet. The repeat-customer rate, according to the study, is just 11 percent. In other words, nearly 9 out of every 10 hotel guests that arrive via daily deal don't come back if they have to pay the regular rate. Another recent survey, conducted by TravelClick, sheds some further light on why hotels may be reluctant to work with Groupon, LivingSocial, and other daily deal sites: Of the 40 percent who have tried these sites, 38 percent have found it less successful than they had hoped and do not plan to use a flash sale site again. Hoteliers believed that the sales gave up too much revenue to the site operator (25 percent), did not attract the right caliber of customer reflective of the brand (21.7 percent) and did not see enough return business from the promotion (21.7 percent). What does this all mean for travelers? While we're still very much in the early experimental phase of daily deal sites working with travel operators and hotels, thus far the pairing doesn't look especially promising. That could mean fewer daily deals for getaways and hotel packages down the line. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Hotel Bonuses: 3 Deals That'll Each Earn You $50 8 New Hotel Booking Websites for Finding the Perfect Hotel Coming Soon: Groupon for Travel

Great news for book lovers: The Read and Return program at most U.S. airports lets you buy a book, return it at another store location, and get half your money back. The service has been around since 2003, and is offered in any one of the 500–plus Paradies Shops, located in over 70 airports around the U.S. and in Canada. According to their website, books that are brought back in good condition will be resold at half–price, and if for some reason the returned book is not able to be resold, it will be donated to a local charity instead. Just imagine the possibilities. You could buy a book in New York's JFK airport and return it for a half–price refund in Los Angeles. You could then pick up another for the return flight and do the same in your home airport or any other place you fly within six months. Sounds like a sweet deal to me, especially considering the price of a brand new book nowadays. (Sticker shock, anyone?) What do you think about this program? Does it sound like a good idea to you? Have you used it before? Share your thoughts below.