Thank you CM. Answers which are different from my expectations (as you can probably tell by the way the questions are phrased
).
My experience seems that if I am just flying around (even if on a VFR FP - for say an international flight) getting crossings and radar service I am treated as Z. However, if I am on what I would call an airways flight plan ATC parts the seas for me when OCAS or transiting in and out of controlled airspace. (thank you all for the great job you do)
Other than the obvious case of a local training flight, how does ATC determine if a flight is Normal or Z - as my theory is clearly incomplete at best.