A travel agency owner and (so far) a 99-country traveler with 24 years of experience commented about the online travel agents and sites.

In her letter, she says, "The internet Web sites 'as you mentioned' do not have all airlines participating, do not service customers who pay cash or by debit card, and do not service special needs customers."

She went on to list the travelers who have, so far, been disenfranchised, and other shortcomings by many Web sites:

* Passengers traveling with pets.

* Mothers traveling with small children requiring assistance.

* Customers with breathing machines that require bulkhead seats.

* Children traveling alone who require escort.

* Companion fares are not revealed.

* Family-plan travel not revealed.

* Senior fares not revealed.

* Grandparent fares not revealed.

* Coupon-book-travel not sold (senior booklets, weekend booklets).

* Seniors who require escort or assistance can't get help.

These are real problems that need to be addressed by the Internet travel community.

If you do your homework with a travel agent, you may be surprised at rates that they can find -- many of them specific to your destination, many of them that might get you to a nearby airport for a big bargain.

Web site booking engines limit the amount of competitive information available to the consumer. It seems that every site has a different "preferred" airline that affects how flights are displayed.

The booking engines of the airlines are expected to be biased, but major sites such as Travelocity.com, 1travel.com, Expedia.com, and Lowestfare.com should show much more consistency in terms of displaying fares. I'm not sure why they don't.

In other cases, the procedure to compare fares is so cumbersome that many just give up looking for the best possible fare and take what they can find.