[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

Please provide information supporting your contention that this customer booked the Sri Lankan Airlines segment, or the entire itinerary, through a travel agent, and NOT Delta Air. There is nothing in the original post to support this position. Second, are you stating that Delta Air does NOT have an interline ticketing agreement with Sri Lankan Airlines? If "yes," then is it your position that, assuming this customer was willing to pay the fee connected with talking to a phone agent, that her efforts to book a connection--from Delta, at Dubai, to Sri Lankan Airlines would be rebuffed by said phone agent? In the interest of appropriate disclosure, are you an employee, past or present, of Delta Air Lines, Inc? Again, with all due respect to the original poster, it appears this was a misguided step of placing frequent flyer miles over a rational travel experience. As I previously stated and, based on the statements of said original poster, other airlines--eg: Cathay Pacific, or Singapore--could have handled this itinerary on-line, and more efficiently.