Incomes airline elite status can convey a wide range of advantages for frequent vacationers — and Delta Air Lines Medallion status isn’t any exception. Nonetheless, final fall, the service announced major changes to the way you earn elite standing within the SkyMiles program, and people adjustments are actually dwell.
Briefly, there’s only a single metric for qualification now: Medallion Qualification {Dollars}. And in making this transformation, Delta has additionally overhauled how credit cards may help in your pursuit of standing.
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This is how one can spend your solution to Delta Medallion standing in 2024 with out even setting foot on a aircraft.
Delta Medallion standing necessities
As famous beforehand, you now qualify for Delta standing primarily based solely on MQDs (gone are Medallion Qualification Miles and Medallion Qualification Segments). Delta’s unique announcement featured excessive thresholds, although these have been softened a bit for 2024 in response to customer backlash.
Listed below are the present necessities to earn Delta Medallion standing in 2024:
- Silver Medallion: 5,000 MQDs
- Gold Medallion: 10,000 MQDs
- Platinum Medallion: 15,000 MQDs
- Diamond Medallion: 28,000 MQDs
On most Delta-marketed tickets, you will earn 1 MQD per greenback spent (minus the taxes), although you’ll not earn on fundamental financial system fares. You might also earn more than 1 MQD per dollar on partner-issued tickets credited to Delta SkyMiles. Nonetheless, these earning rates were largely cut as of Jan. 1. Remember to check Delta’s website to learn the way many MQDs you’d earn when flying a partner-marketed flight.
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Earn Medallion standing with bank cards
In earlier years, choose Delta credit cards allowed you to earn Medallion Qualification Miles primarily based on spending. Now that MQMs have been retired, the service has overhauled use these playing cards to speed up your progress towards standing.
Briefly, Delta now lets you earn MQDs throughout 4 of its cobranded playing cards with American Specific. The precise particulars fluctuate from card to card, however there are two basic methods to make use of these playing cards to speed up your progress to Medallion standing.
MQD Headstart
In early February, Delta applied a brand new perk referred to as MQD Headstart for the next playing cards:
For every of those playing cards in your pockets, you will now obtain a one-time deposit of two,500 MQDs firstly of every qualification yr. This places you midway to Silver Medallion standing — although in case you have two playing cards, you will robotically hit Silver Medallion earlier than you even set foot on a Delta aircraft.
As well as, vacationers with the Delta Reserve card previous to Feb. 1 acquired an additional 1,000 MQDs this yr. I at present maintain that card, and I acquired an e-mail Feb. 1 with the topic “Updates To Your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Card” and the next particulars:
This implies present Reserve cardholders acquired a complete of three,500 MQDs in 2024 — although it will drop again to 2,500 MQDs beginning in 2025.
Nonetheless, the flexibility to earn standing on these playing cards does not finish there.
New standing boosts
As talked about beforehand, Delta Platinum and Reserve cardholders may beforehand earn bonus MQMs primarily based on spending. That perk ended as of Jan. 1. As a substitute, now you can earn MQDs primarily based on spending:
- Delta Platinum and Delta Platinum Enterprise playing cards: Earn 1 MQD for each $20 spent.
- Delta Reserve and Delta Reserve Enterprise playing cards: Earn 1 MQD for each $10 spent.
The phrases of this perk point out that it will possibly take eight to 12 weeks for the MQDs to hit your account. Nonetheless, I’ve discovered that it has been a lot quicker, as my first purchases of 2024 (each on Feb. 5) have been posted to my SkyMiles account simply two days later.
These standing boosts (coupled with the MQD Headstart) imply that you may successfully spend your solution to standing annually since there isn’t any restrict to the MQDs you may earn annually on these 4 playing cards.
For instance, to illustrate you may have a private Delta Reserve card. Yearly, you will obtain 2,500 MQDs. You’ll be able to then earn 1 MQD for each $10 you spend on the cardboard. This implies you may unlock Medallion standing with the next spending thresholds:
- $25,000: Silver Medallion (2,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
- $75,000: Gold Medallion (7,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
- $125,000: Platinum Medallion (12,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
- $255,000: Diamond Medallion (25,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
Now, there isn’t any debating that every one of those numbers symbolize plenty of spending. On the low finish, it is nonetheless greater than $2,000 per 30 days, whereas reaching Diamond standing requires greater than $21,000 in month-to-month spending! As well as, these Delta playing cards supply comparatively poor incomes charges on most purchases. In relation to incomes worthwhile rewards, you’d seemingly be higher off with a top credit card for everyday spending.
However, the vast majority of Delta cardholders seemingly fly with the airline a minimum of considerably continuously. In that context, spending in your Delta card can shut the hole to a better tier of standing.
Do you have to get a Delta bank card to spend your solution to standing?
When you’re not at present a cardholder, the flexibility to earn standing with spending may very well be a strong incentive to get one.
For instance, to illustrate you spend $7,000 per yr on Delta flights, with a mix of enterprise and leisure journey. With out a Delta card, you are taking a look at Silver Medallion standing since $7,000 in spending interprets to 7,000 MQDs. Nonetheless, for those who utilized for the Delta Reserve card, you’d get a one-time enhance of two,500 MQDs, leaving you simply 500 MQDs in need of Gold Medallion standing. You’ll be able to earn these MQDs with simply $5,000 in spending on the cardboard because you’re incomes 1 MQD for each $10 spent.
As well as, now is a superb time to contemplate certainly one of these playing cards, as they launched limited-time, elevated welcome presents (to coincide with an overhaul of their benefits):
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Extra methods to earn Delta standing rapidly
Past getting (and utilizing) these 4 Delta playing cards as a shortcut to Medallion standing, there are just a few different methods to earn MQDs outdoors of flying.
Make the most of a standing problem
In early 2024, Delta launched a new status challenge for elite vacationers with different airways. If you have not participated in a Delta problem within the final three years and earned standing with one other service final yr, you could be eligible for complimentary Medallion standing (as much as Platinum) for 3 months. Then, for those who accrue a set variety of MQDs throughout that three-month window, your standing will probably be prolonged by means of Jan. 31, 2026.
Earn on award journey
If you ebook Delta (or companion) flights utilizing SkyMiles, you will earn 1 MQD for each 100 SkyMiles you redeem. This implies a 20,000-mile award ticket will web you 200 MQDs.
Do not forget that you additionally get a 15% discount on Delta-operated award flights as a Delta cardholder.
Earn with Delta Holidays
Final yr, the Delta Holidays platform was overhauled, and also you now earn 1 MQD for each $1 spent throughout your entire package deal (excluding taxes and charges). You additionally earn redeemable miles when reserving this fashion.
Restricted-time MQD presents
Lastly, Delta will often supply limited-time strategies to earn MQDs for choose actions. For instance, by means of Feb. 29, you may earn 1 MQD for every dollar spent on hotel stays and car rentals booked by means of Delta Stays (with a checkout date on or earlier than Could 31).
Simply bear in mind that this can be a third-party reserving website, which signifies that you would not be eligible to earn resort factors or make the most of elite advantages by reserving a property that is a part of a serious resort loyalty program.
Backside line
There are many methods to earn Medallion standing with out boarding a aircraft. By way of the airline’s cobranded bank cards, you may spend your solution to a number of elite standing tiers.
Whereas most vacationers will seemingly mix the above bank cards with some precise flying, it is good to know that you should use a number of Delta American Specific playing cards to spice up your Medallion qualification prospects.
