Originally Posted by
essxjay
For me, visits from PDX to TLV will likely be in the 2x/year category. As I'll easily recapture*A Gold via UA this year (my preferred) regardless, I can afford to divert some of my loyalty to LY and/or its partners.
If you sign up with DL, you can fly codeshare on LY and those two r/ts alone will give you Silver Medallion status (even in Coach).
You will also have the following alternative choices for getting SkyMiles:
ATL-TLV non-stop (Delta)
JFK-TLV non-stop (Delta)
EWR-TLV non-stop (CO)
Several different airports in the US connecting through CDG on AF.
Several different airports in the UD connecting through FCO or MXP on AZ.
JFK-PRG-TLV on Czech Air.
You could also fly Delta into any European airport it goes to and continue your flight into TLV on El Al (but you would not get MQMs for the Europe-TLV segment -- only SkyMiles).
Delta will also allow you to stop in one city in Europe going and a different one coming back (or coming back non-stop).
With any of these choices you would earn free flights much more quickly than you would being an LY Matmid member.