Viagero, I will keep the toys firmly in the cot for the time being. And will first try to remedy the situation using the advice of others.

Guy Betsy, you're right: my TA is no brain surgeon to put it kindly. I just thought that if I could give her all the right questions, CX would be able to do the rest. Will find another TA.

JohnAx, I have resisted your suggestion, as echoed by number_6, up to now - to my own cost. I will take your advice sooner in future.

Trouble now is that the TA sits with my booking, and on some flights the A or D availability is now zero, so I can't really start from scratch with another entity. How to transfer the booking without offending my dim (but occasionally very useful) TA?