Originally Posted by view-with-a-room

Been there, done that. No, one airline sold you a ticket for a flight on another airline and the other airline has discretion over whether you board the plane or not. 3 hours prior to departure from LAX for a flight to China the airline concluded the the flights did not meet the requirements of China Visa Free Transit. Two hours later and $200 later the itinerary was changed and the airline allowed me to board the flight. The other option was to cancel the itinerary prior to departure for $200 with the miles returned; but I would be sitting in LAX without a flight. AC can free up award space but Lifemiles needs to ask for AC to free up award space. No guarantee either airline will work with you. The trip is months in the future, not days or weeks in the future. The change will require manually processing so the processing may take day or weeks. The front line staff may or may not be aware of efforts to address the issue. Itineraries change so the airlines are fond of addressing issues with complex itineraries multiple times.

No issues with the hang up, call again; but be strategic. If Lifemiles tells you to call AC, call AC. If AC tells you to call Lifemiles, call Lifemiles. State point blank you are calling the airline at the request of the other airline and at some point the issue will be escalated. AC can contact Lifemiles if the issue continues without resolution; but the request from AC to Lifemiles will be to contact the passenger. AC cannot fix the ticket or the issue with the ticket, Lifemiles owns the ticket.