I am not sure where this belongs but here is my dilemma.

I live in Canada and over the last few years I have collected 80,000 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Avion points through the use of my RBC credit card. The Avion program promises no blackout dates on travel rewards and other catchy marketing gimmicks. However given the ridiculous point to reward ratio it doesn’t seem like my Avion points are really worth anything. For a fully paid business class reward ticket from Toronto to Hong Kong I would need around 800,000 points which in effect means that I would have to spend almost $800,000 CAD on my credit card to earn a free business class ticket to Hong Kong. ( trust me that is not going to happen) The best use of my Avion miles would be to transfer them to Asia Miles on a one to one point ration.(1 Avion point = 1 Asia Mile). I currently do not have an Asia Miles account and given my foreseeable future I am not and most likely will not be much of a frequently flyer.

Here are my questions:

1) If I want to return travel from Toronto (YYZ) to Shanghai (PVG), on CX via Hong Kong (stop over in Hong Kong). It is my understanding that I can buy a Y, B, H or K Economy class ticket and then use 80,000 Asia Miles to upgrade to business class. Is the entire trip upgraded to business class or is it 80,000 Asia Miles YYZ to HKG and then another 20,000 Asia Miles for HKG to PVG?

2) I am pretty flexible in my dates and can commit to dates as far as 6 months out if I have to. Is there a way to find out the upgrade availability for certain dates before I book my ticket? Is there a waiting list for Asia Miles upgrades, and if so what is process of getting my upgrade approved. I really only want to buy a more expensive Y, B, H or K Economy class ticket if I know I will be upgraded to business class.

3) If I buy my ticket from my travel agent as opposed to on-line using the CX website does this make a difference in getting my upgrade?

I only want to transfer my useless Avion points to Asia Miles, if I know I will be able to get an upgrade to Business class on CX.

Of note I have no status with any airline and do not see my self obtain status in the near future.

Thanks for your help.