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I never found the GUI query tools to be particulary intuitive once you moved beyond single-table queries. GUI or no, you still need to understand basic relational database concepts to be able to set up multi-table joins in queries that actually produce the results you want.

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In access an expert can set up relationships which will cause them to be automatically joined when a less expert user adds both tables to a query.

Some knowledge is usually required to make sense of the results though but I'd say a non-expert still has more chance with access than any other tool.

I learned about relational databases just from playing with Access at one of my first (boring, nontechnical) jobs. Just the fact that the GUI gives you a valid query for multi-table joins, even if it's not the one you want, is extraordinarily useful if you don't know SQL and want to poke around.

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