Any connecting flight moves you up the list. For example, if you are doing yyz-yul-cdg you will be ahead of anyone of the same status just doing yul-cdg.

Regarding the R>0 glitch. It has nothing to do with whether or not you've checked in or not. Within 24 hours it will never hand over the inventory. Happened to me again on Friday, but I was able to remove and re-add myself to grab the seat online.

I mentioned to the concierge and asked if they were ever going to fix and she said that it will only get fixed if the SEs complain.