The SD knew I had a connecting flight, so she let me off as soon as the door opened at YVR.

There was another agent there. She asked "182?" I said yes. She said I had been rebooked on 198, which leaves at 2355. It was 2330. I asked "So I should run?" She said no.

So I ran. NEXUS got me through customs, I had no checked bags, there was no security line (but man carrying all that stuff from transborder to domestic... ugh), so I made it to the gate just before 2350. But there was no one there!

The bridge door was open, so I started jogging down there. There were two AC agents.
"What's your name?"
"cow"
"We were paging you! Come quick, the door might be open!"

But alas, it was not.

So back up to the gate we went.

Here's something interesting: They were holding me a seat in J up until the door closed. So if you ever wonder why a flight might possibly go out with an empty seat in J, even though you're on the waitlist, this could explain it.

They called to see if they could rebook me into Z. They were told they could not. Only M or R.

So my options for YVR-YUL-YOW-YYZ were literally non-existent. There is no possible way to do that on a Saturday. So I thought about skipping either YUL or YOW. That was either impossible, or there was no space on the flights - I can't recall.

So we looked at YVR-YYZ. There was one with R space. It was roughly 1400-2100. That wouldn't work.

So I pulled out EF, and picked the flight with the most J. They said I was rebooked into M, but my BP says LT07. I'm on standby for an upgrade.

So with the 2x AQM promotion, I went from 2288+500+1000 to 2078. I'll try to get those 1710 AQM, but I'm not hopeful.

On the bright side, I'm currently sitting in bed in a room in the Fairmont, courtesy of AC. I think the GAs felt sorry for me, seeing me run up panting, only to find out the flight had literally just closed the door.

Could have been worse! But using my FP for "guaranteed" upgrades and lots of miles isn't working out nearly as well as I had hoped when I bought it. Especially with the 2 week window for M fares. It really annoys me that IRROPS can't move you into a confirmed upgrade on whatever flight you end up taking. What's the point in the extended window if I'm just going to end up on the waitlist because of a delay?