Thanks skipaway & christep for your answers, I had not realized i would be so close to Platinum!

I'll definitely use your suggested path for the leg ORD-YUL, unless someone else finds something more rewarding. I should get to Gold status by the time I complete PVG-ORD, and so the miles accrued after that will be 25% more, if I understand everything right?

I wish I could fly the segment HAN-SGN, but the reason I'm going to Vietnam is to trek/bike/train with a friend from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and volunteer in libraries in between...! Thanks for the idea

Good news is that I already have 1,926 YTD EQM on my AAdvantage account so I'm that much closer to Gold/Platinum.

As for flying on CX, I was under the impression that I could not earn miles, based on the fare table on this page (the "L" class does not appear), but maybe I'm not understanding code shares the right way?