Wanted to post a data point which I couldn't find when searching. I originally tried to call and hold an award with no miles in my account and was told that they do not allow it. I am now in a position where somehow my Amex points from my own account failed to transfer initially because I entered my name backwards (mixed up given name and family name), but it somehow worked on the second attempt, but I still couldn't get my fiancee's points to roll into my AM account (I'm an AU on her card).

I called to again try to hold the award for two tickets and they said because I already have miles in my account and there is an obvious problem currently with transferring the miles, they would hold the award for two weeks, which is enough time to resolve the name issue and transfer the points. They actually booked two business class awards and used my correct name on the booking even though my account was incorrect.

Pretty good turnout. I know a blogger has an article that comes up often when searching for AsiaMiles award holds but he didn't really mention how the hold was possible. I figured this might help someone later attempting to do the same thing. No miles, no hold. Some miles, they'll work with you.