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If it was me I would go with that. Better to have economy for 4 hours with the rest of the trip in a Air Canada pod vrs and angled product.

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Good choice. When you get on the station at the airport, your basically getting on an empty train and have a good selection of seats. Then Waterfront is the last station on the line for you so everyone else is also getting off. That makes it easy. There is also space under the seats for bags. I find skyrain much faster and easer than the O-train in Ottawa.

In BC in June minimum wage goes up to $17.10/hour. So no one is living on tips alone. That said Vancouver is an expensive city and certain it is appreciated in either US or CDN. No one is going to be offended getting a tip in US dollars. Canadian banks have no issue working with US dollars in branch. Fairly easy to deposit in person.

It is incomplete. There is a city Traffic department web cam that captures one side of Canada Place but not the other. https://trafficcams.vancouver.ca/BurrardCanadaPlace.htm

If your set on spending time in China then its the major US, Canadian and Asian airlines with the associated pricing. Zipair is the low cost operator between Canada/US and Japan. You may be able to get some reasonably priced business class seats there. Spend some time in Japan then travel a much shorted flight into/from China on someone else. WestJet sometimes have decent business class, however that is going to be a two stop route with both a connection in Calgary and then again in Japan or South Korea.

In addition to Icelandic year round service, you also have Air Canada, WestJet, Delta and United that fly into Iceland during the summer. Lots of direct options as well.

Air Canada just started a Vancouver-Singapore route today. When airlines do this they normally have introductory sales. No idea if it works for you with connections or price vrs the other options.

Your making things more difficult for everyone involved. Given what you describe, at the Canadian airports you likely will be offered a ride on a golf cart for the long stretches instead of a wheelchair. That said, if you ask the airline for the chair instead they will likely accommodate. If you indicate you want to do the pushing they likely will be more than happy to leave you to it. In Asia there is a different service culture. They will be much more enthusiastic to go above and beyond even if its not exactly what you wanted. If you call the airline and describe what you are after they likely will make a note on the reservation and have everything ready for you.

Those are good. The aircraft narrows towards the back and front. So those seats are typically in an area where there is not enough room for 3 seats but still more space between the two seats and the wall. The only disadvantage is your are at the tail or the aircraft so on arrival you end up having to wait for everyone to get off. On the domestic narrow body aircraft, the last row is usually blocked for cabin crew rest. However on the widebody aircraft (like the 777), the crew have a private cabin upstairs so not a worry. Some people may complain about lineup for the washrooms, however I don't think that is a big issue on a widebody like that.

Another "creative" option is to drive to Vancouver and fly BA from Vancouver. The long-term parking lot at YVR has no shortage of cars with Washington plates. On the same ticket you may also find something that includes the Alaska connecting flight to Vancouver.

You answer the kiosk questions ahead of time before the flight. At the airport in Canada you jump to the front of the line. On the kiosks, you are asked if your answers are still correct and your done. Great setup. The US has a similar app for US entry.

That is a weird ticket. Air France and Air Canada will interline bags and auto-transfer. That said, it is weird, in that Air France and WestJet are partners. It would have been far more common to be on an Air France/WestJet ticket or an Air Canada for both legs. Nothing wrong with what you have, it is just not as common. Air France goes into Terminal 3 and Air Canada into Terminal 1. I would expect you will have to pickup your bags and if they are tagged all the way through to have to drop them off again. Due to the long overnight layover you may not even be able to tag your bags all the way through. If Air Canada asks you to pay baggage fees to check them in show them your ticket and remind them your making a connection. You should be able to encourage them to wave it for you.

The normal way this works is if you check your bags in VCE all the way to CLE, the rules for the overseas flight trump the rules for the local connecting flight. If were not a connection and you were staying in Madrid for a few days, then rules for the Venice to Madrid flight would apply. For what it is worth, business on narrow body aircraft in Europe is very scaled back from what you would use to in the US/Canada when it comes to the seat. Food/beverage can be better in Europe but your millage varies on that. Being seated in economy for one leg is not that rare. It happens sometimes. I would all call to AA and ask them if you could be moved into business. Your will quickly find out if it was glitch, if all the business seats are sold out or its something else. (You may also discover that airline call centre staff have little insight into why the computer does things one way or another). Are you on a weird fare with some odd rules? Possibly. In the case there may be some other rules at play.

Assuming your on Air Canada (Jazz) or WestJet (Encore) into Vancouver. If so, then you don't go into the same line as passengers who started their trip in Vancouver. There is a special area for connecting passengers that is significantly shorter and faster than those passengers who are starting their trip in Vancouver. Bad news, is you will do security part again. The only difference I have ever noticed, if for the US flight they want you to take your shoes off. I am based in Victoria and regularly do this. I can usually do the connection in under hour. However it is very tight and there is no room of delay. If you are coming into Vancouver on a different airline (e.g. Pacific Coastal), you will arrive at the south terminal and need to grab a shuttle to the main terminal. If that is the case, then you will need the hour and likely a bit more time.