Originally Posted by
DeltaFlyingProf
Comp domestic upgrades on AA are great if you are EXP. Not so if you are Gold or Platinum.
As for International Burning opportunities, as an EXP I do not intend to use my miles to fly to Europe. I'd rather use an SWU on a cheap fare. I look at burning miles to Asia and I have already experienced a rather easy way of finding premium awards on One World partners...
So for me it works with the same criteria as yours except for the destination of my mile burning activities.
I wouldn't burn my AA miles to LHR
but have experience finding no availability (except for the 2 weeks most recently opened to award availability) as a result of my Oneworld award. I would say that DL availability, on their own metal, is similar to AA avail. Couldn't find any saver availability for many of the flights I wanted on AA so I ended up on LA or IB.