Actually this is not always true...
I made Gold back in July when I flew LAX-YVR-YYZ I made Gold on the YVR-YYZ portion, however, they gave me loyalty bonus(50%) for both segments. Also they missed giving me points for an AS flight back in May, so I sent in my boarding pass, and that also gave me the 50% bonus.

Regards,
Empress

Empress, thanks for the pointer. I'm actually going to try AA through ORD this trip, since I was able to get the ARTAA (discount "FC" return) fare. I'm doing it to set myself up for the 5-carrier promo. If it turns out as badly as I expect, I may go back to CP and take my chances on upgrades. Conversely, if it turns out well, I might do it again.

With a 50% bonus for FC (if I read the CP site correctly), it's more q-miles than YOW-YVR-LAX, and only 65mi less than YOW-YYZ-YVR-LAX.

Applying one YOW-ORD segment to my AA account, I'll only be at 34689 when I get back. Based on your experience, I'd better make sure I don't hit 35000 on a YOW-YYZ-YOW trip!! (If I do have to make that trip, maybe I'll fly in the back for 250 each way, and make the return my "AA miles for CP flight" segment.

andrew