Yes, so much of this is based on our respective points of origin and destinations. YYZ is the catch there for sure. Now if you get a feeder to ORD or JFK you are golden but that is an extra leg which is totally unnecessary with BR. Tough sell.
And, yes, pricewise the BR fares are an amazing deal.
Yes and AC from my local is so expensive to even YYZ, it makes it impossible to fly to JFK or ORD. If my original departure point is YYZ, I might have looked at those airports.