Originally Posted by
lcohen999
It goes
YYZ-SYD, then YYZ-YVR and finally YVR-SYD
in that order
and of course, if YYZ-SYD is J0 and YYZ-YVR is J9, if you are wait-listed the whole way, they will not clear you in YYZ. If the segments are broken up, they will.
Of course, not everyone boarding in YYZ upgrading to J will go onward to SYD. So it may be J5 (YYZ) and J6 (YVR) and when 33 leaves YYZ, it becomes J2 (YYZ) and J3 (YVR)
You get the idea..
As a rule of thumb, your best chance in getting the upgrade is starting in YYZ...but they do release more Rs from YVR for this same reason.
This route AC tries to balance it as it is high demand and two major hubs.
I suspect that status plays a role also, ie, an SE YYZ-YVR will go ahead of an E50 (me) YYZ-SYD. But when you know that it's J9 R9 YVR-SYD, and the YYZ agent assures you that the YYZ waitlist transfers to YVR (as it used to), and in YVR they tell you that you are on no lists, it hurts. The YVR agents tried very hard to find a way to do it, but AC did not want my copay. The most startling aspect was that ground staff from the duty manager down would not process an upgrade for fear of retribution, and in fact, the help desk told one agent that she would be fired if she did. Quite the eye opener!
Do you know exactly what to ask be done before departure from YYZ re splitting the segments? As I indicated earlier, SYD concierges at least know exactly how to do it, and do so proactively. But I gather they have had no success in getting AC to educated YYZ agents on handling the issue.