Indeed and, adding insult to injury, the lady who eventually booked the ticket(s) for me put the director I report to in Cc, possibly in a fairly pathetic attempt to make me feel guilty about the situation as a whole (given also the hefty overall cost for such short flights). Needless to say, I had already spoken to my director (in order to seek approval for the new itinerary involving 2 separate tickets and indeed the ridiculously high cost) and he was clearly not impressed by the CTA's poor show.

G