It looks like you really want an airline/alliance that allows upgrades to Buisness/First Class from Economy class. Two good choices are:

1. American Airlines / Oneworld : Allows upgrades from any economy fare to Buisness class, and provides its top elites 8 free VIP's (one way internal upgrades)per year and you get 8 extra ones the first time you qualify. The downside is that you need 100,000 miles of travel in discount economy to qualify for top elite level and you don't get free lounge access unless traveling the same day on an international trip. Additional one way upgrades to Europe are 25,000 miles.

2. British Airways/ Oneworld: Allows upgrades from Economy+ only (which typically will cost you what M-fare costs on Delta, though on sale they go about $400 above discount economy), but you only need 25,000 miles to upgrade a roundtip to Europe to Buisness Class. Few free upgrades for elites, but you get free lounge access even if you are just silver elite traveling on a US domestic trip and their Buisness class has flat beds.

3. KLM : The only airline other than American that allows upgrades from discount economy fares, is KLM, but you need a non-US mailing address to join their FF program. If you become top elite (75K miles) you get free upgrades on Northwest US flights and free lounge access in Northwest and KLM lounges even if you are not traveling. No free international upgrades, but one way upgrades to Europe are just 20,000 miles.

[This message has been edited by ananthar (edited Jan 24, 2004).]