It was our first trip to Europe, and the friend of a friend was making the flight arrangements.

We booked our tickets five months in advance. The fare wasn't great, but we were certain working with a travel agent known to us would be better than doing business with a stranger.

We were so young.

Our "friend" never gave our arrangements another thought. The day of our flight, we found out our seats had not been reserved.


The only two together were at the bulkhead.

For eight hours, my knees were pushed up against a wall.

To put all of the blame on the travel agent would be unfair. In fact, our erroneous assumptions caused the problems.

But there is a lesson to learn: choose a travel agent for the right reasons. If you work with a friend, make certain he or she meets some other requirements.

Click "next" to the right and consider eight statements that are crucial in finding a frugal travel agent.