Thanks for the answer. I am thinking the same thing - I love it when the agent smiles and says, "Canada is not an international destination. If it was, you would be in the SFO International Terminal".

Strange that I am welcomed to the AC lounge in Canada for the return flight, but that it is hit-and-miss with the outbound from the USA.

Other thing that I noticed is that I did not have access to their seats in the "elite" section of coach. I guess I was mistaken in thinking that I'd be able to access those seats by having a Star Gold profile.