Nowadays, with airline and hotel reservations, car rental bookings and just about every other travel-related consideration just one mouse click away, many people opt to make all of their travel plans on their own. It’s hard to argue that position that any of these tasks is difficult to do because they’re not. But there can be advantages to using the services of an online travel agent. Here are just a few.

The Internet is great for getting deals, but with travel there isn’t always that same advantage. While you can search for and find deals that look great, they aren’t always any better than a travel agent can get. Since travel services like accommodation providers, airlines and the others are in such a competitive sector of business, there is not a lot of profit margin. Until these providers have booked their services to a certain level, there is often no profit. Higher rates are often offered to those who do their own booking online.

Every airline seat, hotel room night, car rental day and state room on a cruise has an expiration date. If it’s not sold before that date, it becomes lost money to that business. In the interest of filling every seat, room, car, cabin, etc., the airlines, hotels, rental agencies and cruise lines often make the best deals to online travel agents. Think about it. Individuals will only be interested in buying enough airfare, lodging and other amenities for themselves and maybe their travel companions. The travel agents can move many more of these assets, keep them from expiring worthless and help the businesses turn a profit.

Another advantage of dealing with an agent is getting a complete package of services at one stop. Not only does any good travel agent have access to great vacation ideas and some lesser known accommodation packages that can be quite deluxe, they can easily fill your days and nights with the things you love to do while you’re there — and you don’t have to hassle with doing it yourself. If tennis is your thing, why not have clinics, training and even matches included in your package?

Unless you’re very thorough, booking packages yourself can be touch and go. Happening upon a great deal on travel from the US to parts of Europe could mean you accidentally depart and arrive from two different airports in London if you’re not careful. That’s just an example, but things like that have been known to happen.

Booking everything on one’s own means handling many details. Flight times, ground transportation, late hotel check ins, to name a few, must all be coordinated. Since air travel often has its delays, making changes and informing all of the services involved in your travel itinerary can be a chore. Having a travel agent can be like having your own personal travel concierge. He or she deals with the details so you can focus on having a good time.

If you’ve ever traveled with a large group of friends, business associates or extended family, you know that getting everyone situated in the same place at the same time is nothing less than an event. Having a travel agent is almost a necessity. If each person handled their own itinerary, something would undoubtedly get fouled up somewhere. The job is a lot of work and handing it over to a professional in most cases will most assuredly make any group less stressful.

Those who are getting married have an extra incentive to use a full-service online travel agent to book their honeymoon travel — it’s call honeymoon registry. The travel agent that invented this should get a medal! Honeymoon registry works just like regular registry but gift givers can contribute toward your honeymoon. You register for the meals, services and activities you want and people buy them for you as a gift. What could be better than that?

Booking your own travel is certainly doable, but why do it when you don’t have to? Especially when you can spend the same thing and have a professional do it for you.

The city of Tel Aviv has become a paradise for international business travelers seeking to stay in touch with their home offices while they visit the Holy Land. With the many hotspots and free Wi-Fi services offered at hotels, restaurants, fast food chains and cafés, business travelers can check e-mail almost everywhere, make free transatlantic VoIP calls using Skype, and browse the net to keep abreast of the latest news in their respective fields.

The rapid growth in the number of wireless Internet users around the world has created a need for many people to rely on Wi-Fi connections while traveling. The advantage of using Wi-Fi is that it gives business and leisure travelers added mobility and flexibility.

The ability to access the net from almost everywhere has become a necessity for business travelers who want to keep in touch with colleagues and clients regardless of their physical locations, and who want to check e-mail between meetings. Those equipped with smart-phones and other wireless handheld devices, such as Blackberry, can use them all around Israel without difficulty.

A Wi-Fi Alliance survey indicates that 70 percent of current and prospective Wi-Fi users report they are more likely to take their notebook computers when traveling on vacation thanks to the widespread availability of wireless networking hotspots in airports, hotels, parks, and restaurants. Wi-Fi provides a quick and simple means for travelers to change flight and hotel reservations, reserve rental cars and conduct last-minute trip planning. Travelers also find Wi-Fi helps them locate restaurants, gather information about local events and find popular as well as “off-the-beaten-track” attractions.

Unlike Europe and the United States where most places charge for internet use, almost all establishments in Israel’s business capital offer Internet services free of charge. Take, for example, the Atlas Hotel chain. Atlas grants all its guests free, unlimited broadband access to the Web from the hotel lobby, meeting rooms or from private guest rooms using a Wi-Fi hot spot, which is an area that allows high-speed wireless Internet access.

According to a recent survey, there are more than 200 hotspots available for laptop users in the greater Tel Aviv area alone. The majority of these are offered by hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, but visitors to Israel can also access the net at gas stations, hospitals, parks, universities, shopping malls and other places of interest such as Rabin Square in downtown Tel Aviv.

The number of hot spots in Israel has been doubled in each of the previous few years and is expected to continue growing at that pace in the foreseeable future. Any businessman with a laptop computer can check e-mail almost anywhere without having to pay for it.

Here is a list of hotspots in Tel Aviv that offer free high-speed wireless Internet access:

Hotels

The Atlas hotel chain offers unlimited and free of charge Wi-Fi services in six of its Tel Aviv hotels: Basel Hotel, Tal Hotel, Melody Hotel, City Hotel, Cinema Hotel and Center Hotel. The services is available in the main banquet halls, restaurants, pool area, bar and the hotel lobby.

Coffee Bars

Arcaffè chain not only offers real Italian espresso in Tel Aviv, but also offers high quality wireless access in its coffee bars, from Ramat Aviv mall in north Tel Aviv to Rothschild Boulevard at the finance center of the city.

Other large coffee chains – including Aroma, Cup ‘O’ Joe, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Coffee To Go, and Ilan’s offer free wireless services, as do Marilyn Monroe Café, Noah Coffee, Coffee Print and others.

Restaurants & Fast Food Chains

Leading American fast food chains McDonald’s and Burger King offer free wireless services in their branches in Tel Aviv. In addition, there is a Wi-Fi spot in the Brasseire Restaurant on Ibn Gavirol Street near Rabin Square, Kyoto Salsa restaurant and Messa, one of Tel Aviv’s most elegant restaurants.

Convenience Stores and Gas Stations

The Yellow chain, located at Dor Alon gas stations and Sonol gas stations offer free Wi-Fi services.

Public Places

At the trendy Tel Aviv Port there’s no need to enter one of the many restaurants or bars in the area. This prime entertainment center features Wi-Fi Internet access, meaning web surfers and businessmen can take a seat on the boardwalk and connect to cyberspace.

Dizengoff shopping mall in central Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion International Airport also feature Wi-Fi hotspots.

So don’t think twice about taking a laptop on a business trip to Tel Aviv. One is immediately connected upon landing in Israel – not just to the warm, friendly people of the Holy Land, but to all people connected to the net. Home away from home, they call it in the hospitality industry.