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Over the six-year history of our annual list of top travel specialists, we've noticed something curious: Some readers use a specialist for one trip (a journey through Egypt, for example) and then return to the same person for subsequent trips outside the area of specialization (say, Peru or China). That's because a travel consultant who understands you is sometimes more valuable than one who knows your destination uniquely well. Just as there are benefits to seeing one medical general practitioner and visiting specialists as needed, there are advantages to finding one travel agent who can book many of your trips.

So this year, we examined what a generalist can bring to your trip planning. With two Condé Nast Traveler reporters heading to the same country at the same time, we asked one to have a travel agent design the itinerary—expecting the higher cost for this service to pan out with an ideal experience—and the other to plan it on his own. The destination was India and the time of year November, one of the busiest months. The assignment: Spend six days and seven nights in Rajasthan, exploring the Golden Triangle—Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra—as well as the legendary camel fair in Pushkar. Stay in accommodations offering the best combination of comfort, ambience, convenience, and star rating. Allocate your time as you wish, but try to accomplish the following: View the Taj Mahal at the perfect moment; explore a colonial fort; ride an elephant or a camel; stay in a palace hotel; book at least one room with a great view; have an authentic dining or culinary experience; meet an interesting local outside the tourist bubble; shop for something made only in India.

The reporters, Brook Wilkinson and Gabe Struck, had both spent the past two years interviewing and evaluating hundreds of applicants for our list of travel specialists. As former backpackers who had each traveled to more than twenty countries, they were keenly aware of what a travel agent can accomplish and what can be accomplished without one. There were other similarities. They are both from Upstate New York and were even in the same graduating class at Harvard. There was one significant difference, however: Brook had never been to India, whereas Gabe had spent three months there. Moreover, while working for Harvard's Let's Go series of guidebooks, he had edited and written portions of its guide to India.

Gabe booked his trip using the Internet and the phone, while Brook approached the travel agents in the same way we advise readers to, by contacting several consultants on our list and choosing the one with whom she had a good rapport and who understood her goals. Without ever revealing her real name or employer, Brook found the best fit with Frontiers International's co-owner, Mollie Fitzgerald, a travel agent who arranges journeys around the world. Mollie's wide range of expertise makes her a well-respected generalist, and her agency appears on our list as a specialist in four categories. With well-connected Mollie competing against India aficionado Gabe, this experiment was hardly scientific, but it would pinpoint some of the benefits—and drawbacks—of using a travel agent.