This advice may apply in the US, but in Europe this is not always good advice. When you buy through an authorised travel agent, your trip is automatically insured. When the recession first hit hard, a number of airlines went bankrupt. Everyone who bought their ticket through Expedia, Travelocity or an authorised travel agent where fully insured and their holidays/flights were covered, including costs of repatriation. Those who booked with the airlines direct were stranded and had to pay their own way back.
The insurance and/or legal obligations of the travel agent in Europe will sometimes make it worth your while to use them over direct purchasing.
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