Thank you, Dr. HFH, for your comments. Indeed I have learned something helpful. It is very unlikely that I will use the same TA. We have more trips in the pipeline, so fingers crossed to find a knowledgeable and fair price agent. Normally I would do all the bookings directly with the airlines for point to point travel - both cash and points. Only used TA for RTW routes. Will pay fee for TA's time and effort, but want transparency.