I think missydarlin answered your questions well. I just have one small aspect to add that might help.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rjque:
Ideally I’d like to just feed the partner rep the flight numbers so it would help to know if there will be problems before hand. </font>
If you're working with AS Partner desk, expect Great Service. In 2001, and on AS Miles, and going First, this was our itinerary:
PDX-SFO on AS
SFO-LHR-CDG on BA
MAD-LHR-LAX on BA
LAX-PDX on AS
This September we're going to South Africa:
PDX-SFO on AS
SFO-LHR-JNB on BA
JNB-LHR on BA, with a 2-day break
LHR-SFO on BA
SFO-PDX
We even had to make date changes after we first booked the award and the Alaska Partner Desk folks were absolutely stellar performers. The best service, hands down.
Good luck, and have a fantastic trip!