Since AC is taking away my B/H class upgrades with SWU I'm looking for other options to get over to Asia. As most of my travels these days are to TPE and SIN, the Elite Class on BR (Eva Air) looks like an interesting option and not much more expensive than usual H-class fares on AC.

I was wondering if anyone has experience buying the BR-metal, AC-codeshare on YVR-TPE-YVR and either buying or upgrading to Elite Class? I know there is one old thread that says this is impossible, but maybe this has changed.

Does anyone have comments on how the regular BR economy seats compare to regular AC seats (assuming non-XMed)? Other options?