I think "the vast, vast minority of situations" means "the vast, vast majority of frequent flyers don't have a clue how valuable the current DL rules are." Nuff said.
I have a very good understanding of my best options with DL miles.
Yet, at peak times, I have often had to accept unwanted 3 connectoins or overnights in order to use DL miles (on partner airlines) for the needed dates at saver levels. Often the itinerary in one direction, but not the other, was relatively convenient. Being able to use the DL miles for the part where they work well and use AA/UA miles for the other part would have made things much better.
