My main interest is to hedge against further Skymiles devaluations. I find DL service itself reliable for the most part, and they do right by me when things go wrong. On the other hand, I would love to see my miles on premium carriers in premium carriers (LH, LX, SG), and I did want to see if the grass is greener on the other side.

But it looks like if I can't use *A partners to met challenge requirements, I would need to have a hard look at doing it.