Originally Posted by
bamboosensation
Most everything has to go through Madrid or London which is just sometimes a pain in the ....
If the number of USA-Europe non-stop destinations is important you simply have picked the wrong carrier.
MAH4546 may correct me, but IIRC AA could double its number of destinations and still have fewer than Delta; I haven't checked CO thoroughly.
As for using upgrades/miles from your purchased fare class, that's another matter.