As I had asked for information here, I wanted to relay my experience as succinctly as possible. I was trying to purchase a PE/PS ticket that was AF and/or KL marketed, operated by AF/KL/DL, and use GUCs to upgrade to business while still getting MQDs based on distance. I was unable to do so. I had assumed I might need to follow up with DL, after the flights, to give me the proper MQD credit, with which I was fine doing.
Part of the problem was that as KL doesn't yet offer a PE/PS class, if I bought a KL codeshare (whether I got upgraded or not), I would not get at least the 30% MQDs, as DL does not have this on their KL partner earning chart. I assumed that I'd be able to buy the flights (the return in this case, ARN-West coast), AF marketed/DL operated. For some reason, if you buy the tickets as one ways, AF does put their code on these DL flights, but bought as a a RT, they do not. Made no sense to me. With the AF code share flight numbers (from the one way booking), I called DL and AF, several times, to get them to ticket this as AF code shares (providing the AF code share flight numbers), but no one was able to do this, except as very expensive one way tickets. On the RT pricing, the return kept reverting to KL codes (for the DL operated flights), which would not work as I would not receive the 30% MQDs.
I gave up and just bought business class tickets.