Originally Posted by
YXUhomebase
....As for enticing US fliers away from others I would say that AC changes has done the opposite. More and more seem to have given up on AC metal or using AC.com when flying into the US and instead just focus on US carriers. ....
IMHO, these are 2 separate things
As was posted on this forum, AC execs said in interviews that they were looking to "lure" (pick your favourite word) U.S. customers to fly via YYZ and YVR to international destinations. Other posters also gave examples of how much lower the cost is for those originating in the U.S. west coast to fly via YVR to Japan, compared to those originating in Canada and the XE rate is not the issue. Similar examples for pax from the east (eg. RDU etc) to connect via YYZ to Europe.
Your second sentence about people giving up on AC stuff might apply to Canadians booking from here, where have similar choices.
There are great examples on the Premium Fares thread where DL YYZ-TYO is $1,000 less than AC for the exact same dates and yes, many of us are perfectly fine with a connection.
There is also that similarly excellent deal YYZ-PVG for significantly less.
Anyway, as for the thread topics of whether others are like OP and feel better about not making SE status for next year, it is really all about what works for each individual - and of course the important variable in the equation: OPM