ozstamps, ONLY DOMESTIC Delta miles can be added to your UA account, and they don't count towards UA elite status. But then, flyguy was asking about Delta mileage run ideas...I think Delta is pretty prominent on the USA east coast. That's probably why it's his choice of airline. I live on the west coast and Delta doesn't have the extensive routings here (at least in the Pacific Northwest).
So if he is needing 30 segments to reach PM, and wants to do it segment-wise, that probably means he has a very low mileage balance, and that it would be MUCH harder to achieve PM by miles.
Just my two cents...
Linda