A travel agent may help you find that low price.(Chicago Tribune)

The never-ending quest for the lowest air fare can send you screaming from your computer. You can search Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and airline Internet sites. But often, unless you're searching for something simple _ like a Chicago-New York fare or another easy non-stop city pair _ you can quickly become exasperated. And you're still not certain you're getting the lowest fare.

Just last month I searched Orbitz, Travelocity and United for a fare to New York. I wanted to fly from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to Newark, N.J. I wanted to leave on Monday and return on Wednesday, and I didn't want to be flexible about departure times. I found almost identical fares on all three sites, and just as a capper, I called United reservations. The short of the story is I got a round-trip fare of $214 _ $24 less than the Internet fares, and in a fraction of the time I spent online.

Had my trip been more complex, I would have called on a knowledgeable travel agent to do the keyboard tapping and searching. But more than that, a good agent can often find bargains you never dreamed of because they know where to look. But there will be instances when a dramatic bargain fare doesn't exist.

Roger E. Block, executive vice president of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, last month asked its network travel agents for examples of how they helped their clients save money. Some examples of their diligence:

"A client called me on March 20 and wanted a flight to Reno on the 24th," wrote Cynthia Dalton-Rogers, a Carlson agent in North Charleston, S.C. "The lowest rate the airlines wanted to sell her: $1,900. I took her information and explained to her we did have a late booking fee of $50 to shop and find her a good deal. Bottom line is, after shopping with three tour companies, I found her a super package with Continental Airlines Vacations, leaving on Monday and returning on Wednesday. Not only did I find her an airline ticket, but she got a two-day Alamo compact car and two nights at the Atlantis Casino for a price of $677, and that included our service fee."

Tricia Johnson, a Carlson agent in Eden Prairie, Minn., offered this incident. "My clients had been checking online for their daughter and a friend for a trip from Detroit to Anchorage. They needed specific flights, as they were traveling with a party that had already purchased their tickets. The Northwest Airlines flights they desired were pricing at $620.20. I checked my CRS (computer reservation system) and was able to book the same flights, but on Continental Airlines instead of Northwest (they were a code share flight) and was able to offer them a fare of $343.97. This was a savings of $276.23 per ticket. The online booking engine they were using, which was supposedly checking all carriers, did not offer this fare, or even close."

In yet another example, offered by Kathy Etzkorn, a Carlson agent in High Point, N.C., "a corporate client called to book a business trip from White Plains, N.Y., to Cleveland on May 7, returning the same day. The round-trip fare ...