(Tribune Media Services) — Carolyn Fletcher’s honeymoon started heading south the moment she and her husband landed in Cancun. No one was there to pick up the newlyweds.

It took an hour for her to convince a van service to deliver them to their hotel. But when they checked into their four-star resort in Akumal, they discovered it was “a two-star, at best,” she remembers.

“The grounds were unkempt and there was trash everywhere,” she said. “Our room smelled of mildew. I sat down on the bed to cry, only to find the sheets and mattress wet from the moisture and mildew. There was mold growing on the curtains, the walls and the furniture.”

Why am I telling you about Fletcher’s post-nuptial nightmare? Because she booked it online.

Some vacations should never be booked through anyone but a travel agent, and a honeymoon is arguably one of them. But there are others, too, as travelers like Fletcher are discovering.

A recent Forrester Research study suggests there’s something of a backlash when it comes to booking travel online. It concludes 15 percent fewer travelers will use the Web in 2009, compared with two years ago — a finding that comforts many travel agents who previously saw themselves on the endangered list.

(People have gotten a little carried away with the Forrester study, though. One headline writer suggested online booking might be the “worst part” of the trip. Right. That would be the flight, actually.)

It’s little consolation to Fletcher and her husband. “While most people will remember their honeymoon with happy memories, ours are filled with disparagement, frustration and regret,” she adds.

In trying to figure out when you shouldn’t book online, I thought I’d ask someone who works for an online travel agency. I put the question to Ginny Mahl, Travelocity’s vice president of sales and customer service. “There is still a place for traditional travel agents, particularly those that have carved out a niche, like adventure travel,” she said. “Depending upon the traveler and their needs, a face-to-face meeting with such a consultant could be wise.”

Of course, she adds, “higher fees will apply.”

Of course.

So when should you not book on the Internet? Here are seven kinds of trips.

Cruising

Travel agents remain your best bet for a floating vacation. Why? Two main reasons: First, cruise lines give travel agencies access to special deals that you probably won’t find anywhere else. And second, because a cruise can get complicated. There are airline tickets that have to be bought, hotel rooms to be booked, shore excursions and lots of options on the ship.

“Often, cruise agents will book group space on popular sailings, which often entitle them to offer their clients bonus items — onboard money to spend, champagne toasts, discounted deposits and more,” says cruise expert Carmen Shirkey. “Plus, because they’ve booked space on the best cruises, other sites may tell you that there’s no availability, when a cruise agent can get you onboard, no problem.”

Traveling around the world

An around-the-the-world itinerary is usually far more complex than a straight-up round-trip airline ticket. Never mind the hotel arrangements and activities you’ll want to plan. Travel agents are best suited to these kinds of vacations.

Blogger and frequent traveler Steven Frischling has taken several around-the-world trips for business. “Last year, in a 3-1/2-day span, I photographed jobs in Philadelphia, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Incheon — departing from and returning to Providence,” he says. “There was no online booking engine that would allow this itinerary.”

When you don’t have the time

If you work with a travel agent who knows your preferences, you might consider outsourcing the research for your next vacation.

“If you’re a busy professional with no interest in doing the research and would rather be dreaming about sipping a Caipirinha on Copacabana beach than doing all the legwork to get there, why not work with an agent?” says Patricia Pinkney, who works for an artisan jewelry retailer. “In this case, they save time rather than money, but ultimately that may be more valuable to them.”

If you’re uncomfortable with the inter-Web

If you’re reading this article online, this probably doesn’t apply to you. Karina Goldrajch, the co-founder of GenMobi Technologies, a security company, says people should stay away from booking online if they’ve never done it before, and particularly if their next trip is a special event, like an anniversary or honeymoon (see Fletcher’s story for more on that).

But even if you’ve booked on the Web before, you should think twice before doing it again. “If you think that the Web site looks fishy, or something looks too good, it probably is,” she says.

Traveling internationally

A weekend in London is one thing. However, if you’re headed off to a country whose name you can’t pronounce, you probably need to stay off the computer — at least when you book. Find a travel professional that specializes in the place you’re going.

Tonya Fitzpatrick, who hosts a travel radio show, learned that when she tried to help a family member and her companion after they booked a trip to Costa Rica online. “An international trip is a different animal,” she said. “At the end of the day they incurred more expenses because they booked online.”

Doing something exotic

This is for the trips that aren’t for everyone, such as sailing up the coast of British Columbia and Alaska, as the people who book Maureen Gordon’s Maple Leaf Adventures packages do. (Imagine climbing over the rail of a schooner into a zodiac to go bear watching.)

“When we speak to someone on the phone, we can make sure a trip is right for them,” she says. “And when you’re sharing 92-feet in the wilderness with eight others, plus guides, you want to know everyone around you is happy.”

Special events

A honeymoon, anniversary or class reunion falls into this category. But mostly, a honeymoon.

“Engaged couples have enough to worry about,” said John Peters, the president of Tripology, a New York referral service for travel agents. “A honeymoon is a time where you need to be looked after, not when you should be worrying about yet another item on a to-do list that’s much too long to begin with.”

An agent can make sure your vacation is as close to perfect as it can be, from start to finish. A travel professional can also make sure you’ve booked the right vacation.

Wondering if you should consult with a travel agent before your next vacation? There are some who think it’s always a good idea to phone a travel pro first.

Sheryl Kayne, author of the book “Volunteer Vacations Across America,” said you should “never book online” before checking first with an agent — and that’s especially true of anyone considering a volunteer vacation, which, like a cruise, can get more complex than other trips. “You also don’t want to book a trip before knowing all of the requirements and conditions of the trip.”

Me? I’m not so convinced. I’d turn to a travel agent if I were going somewhere special for a family reunion and didn’t have the time to plan the whole thing. But travel agents aren’t charities, and they make almost nothing on a simple point-to-point airline ticket.

Yes, there are a few trips I can’t imagine planning through anyone except a travel pro. For the rest, I fire up my laptop.

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Here are 10 other possible causes that are not rich

You too care with your car looks like : the car is a means of transport to move from one place to another, but many people don’t view it that way. Instead, they consider it a reflection of themselves and spend lots money instead of driving the car for its useful life.

You feels right: If you believe you deserve to live a certain way of life, they have certain things and spend a certain amount before they have earned, then live, you need to borrow money. This is a significant portion of the debt that prevents him from creating wealth.

Their lack of diversification: There is reason, one of the oldest parts of the financial advice is not to keep all their eggs in one basket. After a diversified investment portfolio makes it much less likely that the wealth they suddenly disappeared.

You started too late: The magic of compound interest works best for long periods of time. If you notice you say, there is always time for the conservation and investment in several years, you will wake up one day to find retirement just around the corner, and there is nothing in your retirement account.

You could not do what you like: Although your work does not necessarily have to be jobs of your dreams, you need to enjoy it. If you choose a job you don’t like just for the money, you will spend more cash to relieve the stress doing work you hate.

You does not like to learn more: You can assume that once they have graduated from college, there is no need to learn or study. This position may be enough to make your first job or maintain employment, but not enough. The desire to learn that their careers and finances are essential if you want to become rich.

Buying things that do not use: Take a look at your home in the closet, basement, attic and garage and see if there is a lot of things you did not use last year. If there is, it is likely that all these things that you have purchased, money wasted, which have been used to increase your equity.

You do not understand value: They buy things for any number of reasons other than cost, it brings you to purchase. This is not only those who need to buy the most expensive, but can also be applied to those who always buy goods cheaper. Rare are the best value, and it is only when you know a good price, the more money to invest in their future.

Your house is too big: If you buy a house, which is more than you can afford or you at the end of the additional spending and debt, increase taxes, maintenance, more and more things that must be filled. Some people try to argue that the rise in the value of the home makes it a good investment, but the truth is that if we are not willing to lower their standard of living, most people who are not, never will be an asset or liquid money that you can use and enjoy.

Source TheStreet dot com