Just a PSA.
I spent a LONG time on the phone even though I had already found availability and was ready to feed them to the agent. My BA cross-checked with JAL cathay F and J seats were visible to him but the delay was because he didn't know/believe that NA-HKG-JNB with the HKG stopover counts as one ticket (he wanted to charge for NA-HKG and HKG-JNB as two separate tickets).
Purportedly his supervisor during the first hold told him this but I tried explaining the award chart and routing rule and that there must have been a miscommunication and asked him to check again so he went on hold for almost an hour before giving the OK from supervisor #2.
They offered a couple AS points as an apology for the wait. But PSA: be prepared to be on hold for 2 hours after connecting to the agent.