Is it better to go through a website for travel or an actual travel agent to schedule a trip to Brazil?

Asked by jcknight (79) September 23rd, 2007 from iPhone

I want to go to Brazil for my spring break this year, so being cautious I decided to check out some prices through Orbitz and Priceline. Now I’m probably gonna go with 5–10 people so its a decent sized group and for a week prices were ranging from $2,000 to $3,500 per person. I’m not to particular or where I stay in Brazil as long as if I wanna see a major city attraction or the beach, it doesn’t take longer then an hour to get there. So would doing the online sites be better, or should I see if a local agent can help us out. If anybody has been to Brazil by the way, any tips or things to consider would be really helpful.