If you are looking for travel deals from YVR, check out the website yvrdeals.com  They also have a pretty active Facebook page.  If you sign up for their newsletter, you will get maybe one or two email blasts a month but the Facebook page is more active.

I was able to book a return flight from YVR-HKG (connection in SEA)  last year for $440 CAD taxes and fees all in.  The ticket was booked through Flighthub which has terrible customer service and a sneaky shopping cart.  I got charged an extra $20 for a purchase guarantee which was an option selected by default with no pricing associated with it in the cart.  The final total did not show up until AFTER I submitted my credit card info.  I did phone the next day and had the charge reversed grudgingly but otherwise, the eticket issued was fine and checked out ok on the Delta website.  The purchase guarantee was a $20 extra charge for the option of cancelling flights within 24 hrs though most airlines allow this without an extra fee.  The bonus was that I also got skymiles for the flights, even though the flight was heavily discounted.

I actually wanted to go to BKK so booked my own connection on AirAsia.   I paid $265 CAD return from HKG.  I also planned  a side trip to Chiang Mai for a couple of days with a cheap flight on Nok Air $61 CAD return from BKK.  I should have planned it better since there is a direct flight on AirAsia from Chiang Mai to Hong Kong which may have saved me a bit of time and money.