Based on the two posts by OP, sounds like he is not happy with the service in J and the eupg process. Not sure if any of these are going to improve anytime soon. So if you are based in Canada, the choices are split your spend and go for the best quality and routing in J, OR move your spend to another airline/alliance. Based on the examples, there will be more connections and time spent if you pick any of these options. AQD spend is required on most airlines so not sure what the solution here is other than if you fly a US carrier, there will be no AQD as you do not live in the US. Also doubt that a US carrier will equal or better AC service and hard product so in that case its buy what works best.
Generally I have been happy with the concierge service though recently I have experienced wait times or no response.