Hillrider,
Thanks for your comments. I'm booking through a local travel agent (who, by the way is charging me a $39 ticketing fee (ouch!). I'm trying to do some research online before going to the travel agent and telling them what to do.
I'll go have a chat with the travel agent. I called the travel agency last night and they gave me some crap about how the connection was too short .... told me to take it up with the people in the office today. How long can they reserve these tickets? I believe fare rules say ticketing must be done within 3 days of reservation. They should be able to hold this for 3 days, eh?