Update: The temporary 2021 bonuses mentioned in this post all expired in 2021.
In 2021, Platinum and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card will receive a 25% boost to their status boosts. Both cards offer “status boosts” towards elite status at set amounts of spend. In 2021, those boosts will be 25% bigger than usual.
Status Boosts in 2021 [Expired]
The following bullets show the number of MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Miles) earned with spend with each of the Delta Platinum & Reserve cards:
- Delta Platinum and Delta Platinum Business. For each $25K of calendar year spend (up to $50K), earn 12,500 MQMs in 2021 (usual: 10K MQMs). [Expired]
- Delta Reserve and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card. For each $30K of calendar year spend (up to $120K), earn 18,750 MQMs in 2021 (usual: 15K MQMs) [Expired]
Delta Elite Requirements
As a reminder, here are Delta’s elite requirements:
My Take
While this is better than nothing, taken alone this seems to me to be far too little to encourage extra spend. That said, I think it is likely that Delta will in some way reduce elite status requirements in 2021. They’ve already announced that MQMs earned this year will roll over into next, but I’m also hoping to see a reduction in MQD requirements and MQD waiver requirements (especially for Diamond status). Only time will tell.
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I’m having a hard time deciding still whether or not to grab the 22,500 MQMs from the Amex promotion. I don’t want to end up getting Platinum by accident in 2021, which would make getting Gold harder in 2022 due to fewer rollover miles.
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I called to drop my reserve card yesterday, even with the $100 loyalty credit that had already been applied. They offered 50k miles with no spend, so I took it.
This doesn’t do much to incentive me. I am planning to drop my Reserve card. The benefits aren’t there for the cost especially when I’m not in a Delta club every week.
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Greg- in light of the elimination of redeposit fees for international award tickets do you think platinum status is worth it anymore? That’s the main reason I’ve kept spending on Delta Reserve Amex past few years.
Really good question. I have nor searched……are the award ticket changes permanent?
Yeah, maybe not. Off the top of my head, the advantages of Plat over Gold now are mainly the ability to upgrade to Comfort+ at the time of booking, better 1st class upgrade chances, and a Choice Benefit (e.g. Regional Upgrade certs). I need to redo this post: https://frequentmiler.com/what-is-delta-elite-status-worth/
I agree with Gene and Mike. I used to spend $60k per year and was super loyal to Delta, but no more. I’ve only earned 2k pts so far this year in their program.
Now, how about a VERY SIGNIFICANT drop in the CC MQD waiver !
@ Greg — We are already planning to intentionally drop from Diamond to Silver to maximize our rollover to 2022. Delta has stabbed us in the back enough with the mileage devaluations. No Delta credit card spend in 2021. I hope you are reading this Delta. You are now the least trusted of the Big 3 in my book.