Travel agent question

[StillHope]

Our family have been using an agent for tickets to Hawaii for years.
Someone who has this as a side business.Just someone one of us knew.No questions asked.

Now when I have to use United ,the most expensive flight to Hawaii

(sometimes twice as much - I've already posted about it) -LAX -Kona,

I'd really like to know if an agent can save you money,or it's just saving time ?

I have plenty of time (several months ).

Note : At this time I don't need a reference to an agent,

just general idea if an agent can actually save you money if a choice of flight is limited to one