yeah, I didn't think so...
just talked to my parents, and at their age (70s), they are more concerned with a shorter flight than saving on scamcharges... so it's looking like UA (Y) + AC (J) via HKG-NRT-YYZ for them...

I will set a watch list and reroute at a later date as per your suggestion! Thanks for all the help!!! definitely learned a lot

Also,
With the dates and flight numbers in hand... I'd just call Aeroplan and spoon feed them each segment to build the trip?