Help me find a good travel agent

January 9, 2012 7:06 PM

Help me find a super awesome travel agent (for domestic/international bookings)!

I am trying to book a bunch of tickets for a somewhat complicated summer Europe vacation with extended family. This involves people starting from different locations in the U.S. and elsewhere, stopovers etc. It is also for a group larger than I've ever tried to book before (9 people), so I think I need some professional help. Plus, I wonder if there might be some group discounts possible via a travel agent.

We won't need tour packages etc because we are doing the research ourselves, so I'm not looking for big tour operators who specialize in those kind of packaged tours. I'm in Austin, TX, but feel free to suggest a good, reliable travel agent anywhere in the U.S. Any other general advice from similar experience would also be great.

posted by thewildgreen to Travel & Transportation (2 answers total)

Barbara Howard, [e-mail]. She's my travel agent ... and Ben Stein's!
posted by cyndigo at 8:03 PM on January 9, 2012

Just a note for any future users who come across this and consider working with Barbara: She works out of Beverly Hills, and works with clients who can afford to live there. I wasted a week communicating with her before learning the only way she would work with me would be if I ... well, win Ben Stein's money.
posted by troywestfield at 2:09 PM on February 10, 2012