I am required to book all of my tickets through the corporate AMEX on line tool or through AMEX directly. I always get a NW confirmation # immediately, which is nice as I can then select my seats. However it may take 3 - 4 days for AMEX to actually issue the ticket. Not a big deal although my fare occassionally do change.

I do not think this would happen in the OP's case though as his contract is probably with the travel agent. In my case AMEX is just the booking agency, and my ticket is always issued by the airline and that is who my $$$'s go to.