Last night I was at the airport and overheard a very upset passenger complaining that AC had ruined her vacation. She was very vocal and the problem became very clear - the AC agent could give her a boarding pass because her passport was going to expire in a couple of week.

How many people know or don't know that for most countries your passport needs to have x number of months left in it. I understand for Italy you need to complete your travel with 3 months left in it.

I guess that travel agents still provide some assistance with travel plans for the regular person AND those who buy on the Internet had better be smart about all the requirements.