+1. I absolutely hate the branded fare system. I've had to buy a couple last minute tickets over the last few months, and it blows my mind that AC can charge you say $500 for a one-way YEG-YYZ, and book you into a standard fare with 25% miles, no preferred seat for E50K, no upgrade chances, etc. Sitting in regular Y on this kind of flight with empty preferred seats is a slap in the face to FFs, especially when you consider airlines like UA let all FFs on all fares access E+.

At least with the old system, if you had to pay a premium for a last minute ticket, you got a "real" high-flex or latitude fare with the benefits of that.

As for upgrades - just remember that UA will upgrade a Silver FF on a domestic flight if there's space available, but AC will let J out empty, even if there is an SE MM on a full fare Y ticket in Y. Just the other day, I was on a flight that got switched from a 320 to a 789 - J had less than 10 pax, PE had zero, but the guy next to me in Y was an SE MM. I'm not saying he was entitled to an upgrade - he got what he paid for - but I think it just demonstrates how AC treats their top FFs.