Dec 31 2009 I did a red-eye MR YOW-YYZ-YVR-YYZ for ~$500 instead of the 150 it would have cost me for YOW-YYZ, to qualify for E. All my friends thought i was crazy, they still bring it up even now. But i dont regret it.
There were probably cheaper US MR options, but I didnt want to explain what I was doing to customs....twice.