Delta’s 2024 elite program is completely bonkers. The justification Delta gave for making big changes was that they wanted to reduce the number of elite members so that they could offer better elite recognition. But the new program makes elite status easier than ever before to achieve via Amex credit cards. Previously you could earn high level status with a very high amount of credit card spend, but now you can earn up to Gold Medallion status just by having certain Amex credit cards. Here’s what you need to know…
Delta Elite Status Overview
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | DIAMOND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miles per dollar earned on paid flights | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 |
| Free domestic upgrades to 1st Class | Begins 24 hours before departure | Begins 72 hours before departure | Begins 120 hours before departure | Begins 120 hours before departure |
| Free domestic upgrades to Comfort+ | 24 hours before departure | 72 hours before departure | Shortly after ticketing | Shortly after ticketing |
| CLEAR membership discount price | $149 | $149 | $149 | Free |
| Dedicated phone line | Priority | High Priority | Higher Priority | VIP Line |
| Free companion upgrades | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Free preferred seat selection | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Waived bag fees | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Waived same day confirmed or standby change fees | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Sky Priority boarding | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Sky Priority expedited checked bags | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Sky Team lounge access on international flights | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Hertz elite status | Five Star | Five Star | President's Circle | President's Circle |
| Waived change & cancellation fees regardless of route | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| 2024 Choice Benefits: | Choose 1: | Choose 3: | ||
| Upgrade certificates | 4 Regional | 4 Global (or 8 Regional or 2 Global & 4 Regional) | ||
| Statement Credits (for Delta Platinum and Reserve Cardholders) | $200 | $500 | ||
| Starbucks® Rewards Stars | 4,000 Stars | 4,000 Stars | ||
| Delta Sky Club Executive Membership | N/A | Requires all 3 Choices | ||
| MQD Boost | 500 MQDs | 1,000 MQDs | ||
| Gift medallion status | 2 Silver | 2 Gold | ||
| Bonus miles | 20K | 25K | ||
| Delta Vacations Flight + Hotel Cert | $400 | $500 | ||
| Sustainable Aviation Fuel Contribution | $250 | $250 | ||
| Delta Travel Voucher | $250 | $250 | ||
| 2025 Choice Benefits (to the best of our knowledge at this time) | Choose 1: | Choose 3: | ||
| Upgrade certificates | 4 Regional | 4 Global (or 8 Regional or 2 Global & 4 Regional) | ||
| Statement Credits (for Delta Platinum and Reserve Cardholders) | $200 | $500 | ||
| Delta Sky Club Individual Membership | N/A | Requires 2 Choices | ||
| Delta Sky Club Executive Membership | N/A | Requires 3 Choices | ||
| MQD Boost | $1,000 | $2,000 | ||
| Gift medallion status | 2 Silver | 2 Gold | ||
| Bonus miles | 30K | 35K | ||
| Delta Vacations Flight + Hotel Cert | $400 | $500 | ||
| Sustainable Aviation Fuel Contribution | $250? | $250? | ||
| Delta Travel Voucher | $300 | $350 | ||
| Wheels up flight credit | ? | ? |
- Unlimited complimentary upgrades (when available, upgrade from coach to first class on domestic flights). Higher status leads to better chance of upgrades.
- Waived same-day confirmed fees and waived same-day standby fees (switch to different flight on same day as ticketed flight). Requires Gold or higher. Info about getting value from same day changes can be found here: Leveraging Delta’s Same Day Flight Changes.
- Complementary Preferred seat selection (choose exit row seats with lots of legroom)
- Complementary Comfort+ Seats (more leg room, free drinks, better snacks).
- Regional upgrade certificates. Puts you to the front of the line for regional upgrades. This is great to use for flights where upgrades are most important to you. For example, I use these for flights of about 3 hours or longer. This is a choice benefit for Platinum and Diamond status. Upgrade certificates can be applied to both paid and award tickets.
- Global upgrade certificates. Use these to upgrade from coach to premium select, or to business class on any flight when upgrade space is available. Delta will no longer confirm an upgrade in advance from cheap economy to Delta One business class. Instead, Delta will immediately upgrade you to Premium Select and then put you on the upgrade list to business class 24 hours before your flight. This is a choice benefit for Diamond status only. Upgrade certificates can be applied to both paid and award tickets.
- Free award changes and cancellations. This used to be huge, but now all awards originating in North America are free to change or cancel for all members. With Platinum and Diamond status, that benefit extends to flights originating elsewhere. Requires Platinum or higher for free changes on awards originating outside of North America.
2024 Elite Requirements
Starting in 2024 for the 2025 elite year, elite status will be based entirely on MQDs (Medallion Qualifying Dollars). MQDs are defined primarily as dollars spent on Delta flights and Delta Vacations (MQDs are earned once you actually travel, not when you purchase the travel), but they can also be earned through holding certain credit cards, spend on certain credit cards, and as Choice Benefits for Platinum and Diamond elite members.
In 2024, the following MQD amounts will be required to earn each level of elite status for the 2025 Medallion year. Note that once the thresholds are met, you will get elite status at that time and it will last through the rest of 2024, all of 2025, and through January of 2026:
- Silver Medallion: $5,000 MQDs
- Gold Medallion: $10,000 MQDs
- Platinum Medallion: $15,000 MQDs
- Diamond Medallion: $28,000 MQDs
Shortcuts to Delta Medallion status
In addition to earning MQDs through spend on Delta (and partner) flights and vacations, the following options are available: MQD Headstarts, MQDs from spend, MQD Accelerator Choice Benefits, and MQM Rollovers (2024 only). Each is described below…
MQD Headstarts
For each of the following cards you have in 2024, you will get $2,500 MQDs towards Medallion elite status:
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
It’s possible to have all four of the above cards and to therefore get $10,000 MQDs (enough for Gold status) automatically. Note though that these are credit cards and Amex limits each person to 5 or 6 credit cards total (charge cards, or what Amex likes to call “Pay over Time” cards, like the Gold Card, Platinum Card, and Green Card do not count towards this total). Due to the credit card limit, it can be difficult to get all four qualifying Delta cards.
MQDs from Spend
You can earn MQDs with spend as follows:
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $10
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $10
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $20
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $20
Obviously if you’re interested in earning MQDs from spend, the Delta Reserve cards are a much better option than the SkyMiles Platinum cards. Plus, that spend will count towards the $75K needed to get unlimited Sky Club visits.
MQD Accelerator Choice Benefits
Each year, Platinum and Diamond Medallion members get to pick Choice Benefits. Platinum members can select one Platinum Choice Benefit. Diamond members can select one Platinum Choice Benefit and 3 Diamond Choice Benefits.
- MQD Accelerator Platinum Choice Benefit: $1,000 MQDs
- MQD Accelerator Diamond Choice Benefit: $2,000 MQDs
A Diamond member could select both the $1,000 MQDs for their Platinum Choice Benefit plus $2,000 MQDs for the Diamond Choice Benefit. Additionally, they can presumably use all three of their Diamond Choice Benefits this way for a total of up to $7,000 MQDs
MQM Rollovers (2024 only)
Those who roll over MQMs into 2024 will have the following options (and they can mix and match):
- Convert to miles at a 2 to 1 ratio. For example, 50K rollover MQMs will become 25K redeemable miles.
- Convert to MQDs at a 10 to 1 ratio. For example, 50K rollover MQMs will become $5K MQDs.
- Members with MQM Rollover balances over 100,000 can also choose to extend their 2024 Medallion Status for 1 year per every 100,000 Rollover MQMs.
Platinum and Diamond members with over 100K MQMs rolling over will most likely prefer to extend status. However, those with fewer than 100,000 MQMs and those with leftover MQMs after using your 100K MQMs to extend status will have to choose between getting redeemable miles or MQDs.
An Easy Path to Status
Step 1: Get both Delta SkyMiles Platinum Cards
Make sure to get both of these $250 cards:
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
As long as you haven’t had the above cards or the consumer Delta Reserve card before, you should be able to qualify for the current welcome bonus for each card. That should more than make up for the first year annual fee for each card. Then, in subsequent years, perks like the annual companion ticket can make up for the annual fee.
In order to sign up for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it’s common for people to have businesses without realizing it. For example, if you sell items at a yard sale or on eBay, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship and you can apply for a business credit card using your own name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as your business Tax ID (also known as EIN).
If you have the two SkyMiles Platinum cards early in 2024, you will be given a $5,000 MQD “Headstart” within six to eight weeks after February 1, 2024. Boom. You’ll then have Silver Medallion status!
Step 2A: Sign up for each of the Delta Reserve cards
If you have enough credit card “slots” (i.e. you currently have no more than 3 Amex credit cards), then you can sign up for each of the $550 Delta Reserve cards:
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
As long as you haven’t had these cards before, you should be able to qualify for the welcome bonuses which will go a long way towards making up for the first year annual fees. For subsequent years, the card perks like Sky Club access, companion tickets, etc. may make up for the annual fees.
Once you have both Delta Reserve cards, you will be credited with another $5,000 MQDs for a total of $10,000 MQDs. Boom. You’ll then have Gold Medallion status!
Note: If you sign up in 2023 for the Delta Reserve cards, it can make sense to wait until January to spend towards the welcome bonus offers so that the spend will also count in 2024 towards both earning MQDs and towards the $75K required for unlimited Sky Club visits.
Step 2B: Upgrade to Delta Reserve cards
If you don’t have enough credit card slots to sign up for Delta Reserve cards, or you simply don’t like the idea of having so many Delta cards, another option may be to upgrade…
The terms and conditions of the MQD Headstart specifically say that you won’t earn an extra MQD Headstart if you downgrade from the Delta Reserve to the Delta Platinum card, but the terms do not spell out the opposite. This makes me fairly confident (but not 100% sure) that upgrading from the Delta Platinum to the Reserve card will result in another MQD Headstart.
Additionally, I don’t know if Delta will let you upgrade if you’ve had your Platinum card for less than a year. If you’re interested in this approach, I’d recommend getting the Platinum cards as soon as possible in 2023 so that you can upgrade to the Reserve cards before the end of 2024.
Important: I recommend waiting at least 60 days after getting your Delta Platinum MQD Headstart before upgrading to the Reserve card. The MQD Headstart terms suggest that MQDs may be withdrawn if you downgrade within 60 days of the MQDs being deposited to your account. This suggests to me the possibility that upgrading won’t result in double MQD Headstarts if done less than 60 days from when the Platinum card MQD Headstart was deposited to your Delta account.
Step 3: Spend towards higher level status
If you never set foot on a Delta flight, the above steps will get you to Gold Medallion status. You can then put spend on one of your Delta Reserve cards to earn additional MQDs towards higher level status. This is true for the Delta Platinum cards too, but at half the MQD earning rate.
In fact, any spend you do in order to earn welcome bonuses in 2024 will add to your MQD count. As a reminder, the Delta cards earn MQDs at the following rates:
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $10
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $10
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $20
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Earn $1 MQD per $20
Example: If you have $10,000 MQDs from the MQD Headstarts and you want to get to Platinum status (which requires 15,000 MQDs), you can get the extra 5,000 MQDs with $50,000 spend on Delta Reserve cards.
Additional Options for Current Elites
Those who have earned MQM rollovers into 2024 and those who have earned 2024 Platinum or Diamond status have additional options for accelerating their 2025 status in 2024:
- Use rollover MQMs to extend status for multiple years with each 100K MQM rollover
- Convert rollover MQMs to MQDs at a 10 to 1 ratio
- Select MQD Accelerators as Choice Benefits
Conclusion
If you’re willing and able to sign up for a number of fairly pricey Amex cards, you can earn up to Delta Gold elite status without stepping foot on a plane and without even putting any spend on those cards. If you want to earn a higher level of status that can be done through spend on your Delta Reserve cards.
Of course, earning elite status isn’t worth much if you don’t fly Delta often so I don’t recommend doing this if you’re not going to fly Delta. If you do fly Delta a fair amount, you’ll earn additional MQDs from flying. Even when redeeming SkyMiles you’ll earn MQDs (at a rate of $1 MQD per 100 Sky Miles spent). So you’ll potentially reach an even higher level of status through the combination of credit card MQDs and flight MQDs.
Those who already have high level status and a large number of MQMs rolling over should find it exceptionally easy to keep their status, at least next year, via the 100K rollover MQM status extensions or by converting rollover MQMs to MQDs.
Overall, Delta’s new plan seems to take things completely in the wrong direction from the stated goal of reducing high level elite numbers. Instead of making it harder to earn high level status for frequent flyers, the new program (at least for 2024) makes it easier than ever.
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great post! I would like to upgrade my delta Amex platinum to reserve to get the 10:1 conversion rate of my annual spend (60k). Delta rep told me I need to upgrade by Jan 10th to get the boost benefit. I didn’t ask if I get 2 headstarts if I have 2 credi cards. I would rather not pay 2 fees. Do you think I could get the boost only if I apply by the 10th if Jan? I know the conversions starts Feb 1 but I am not sure if I need to hurry to upgrade. Thaoughts? Platinum medallion in 2024 if that makes a difference.
There’s nothing in the terms about the Headstarts that suggests that you need to get the card by Jan 6. In fact, there are specific terms about how long it may take to get credited with the Headstart if you get a card after Feb 1. So, no need to hurry in my opinion.
I am $102 short on MQD for Platinum this year with 3 weeks to go. Short of travel, is there anything I can buy with Delta that will get me the MQD? I don’t have their credit cards
A flight !
I have around 102K excess MQMs and will start 2024 as platinum. I anticipate getting to Diamond in late 2024. Will I be able to apply my 100K MQMs as a Diamond earned in 2024 to extend the Diamond level in 2025.
I think this question is slightly different than some of the other questions in that I will start 2024 as platinum and then earn diamond in 2024 and I want to extend my newly earned diamond status in 2024 to 2025…. Thanks
Great question. Unfortunately no. Unless details change, you will only be able to extend 2024 status earned in 2023
???? If someone starts 2024 as a Platinum and earns Diamond status during 2024, doesn’t that status start immediately and extend through 2025 (or actually Jan 31st 2026)?
Yes that’s correct but the question was about exchanging rollover MQMs for extra years of status. If Dirk could do that (he can’t) he’d have Diamond through Jan 2027
Greg…Delta talks about MQM rollover to MQD’s or Miles or a COMBINATION of both….OR 100k status extension…..BUT, not if it’s possible to use in COMBINATION of all 3…. rollover to MQD’s AND 100k status extension AND miles.
Below is my situation and preference.
BTW…..my preference would be for Delta to allow me rollover MQM’s to LIFETIME MILES. That would put me at Lifetime Diamond and I wouldn’t have to worry about any of the above.
Thanx
Greg (also)
I’m 99% sure that you can do all three. You have to make all of your choices in 2024 though, so I don’t think it makes sense for you to convert any MQMs to MQDs if you already have Diamond status. Instead, use as many 100K MQM rollovers as you have available to extend your diamond status out multiple years and then convert the remainder to miles.
Re: rollover to lifetime miles. That won’t happen. All MQMs you have have already counted towards your lifetime miles so Delta won’t let you roll them over and count them again.
If I extend my 2024 status for two years with 200,000+ MQMs will I get choice benefits for each year?
Yes
Thanx for the reply.
Greg G – platinum (lifetime) and flying colonel
In 2024 will spending with the Amex Platinum Reserve card still earn skymiles and if so, will those skymiles count towards earning million miler or in my case 2 million miler status. Also, will converting excess MQMs this year go towards earning million miler status?
Yes, in 2024, Delta Reserve spend will still earn SkyMiles. No, those miles won’t count towards million miler status. Starting in 2024 there won’t be any way to progress towards million miler status with credit card spend.
And, no, rollover MQMs from this year won’t go towards million miler status (they already counted towards million miler when you earned them originally)
If you are a million miler and get gold stays automatically— do additional MQD’s earned build from there? I’d do you start with $10,000 so only need $18,000 of the other to reach diamond?
No, you’ll start with 0 MQDs each year regardless of your million miler status
Great information. I’m going to hit Diamond this year…finally!! Because SC access is important to me and I travel several times a year and upgrade to FC, I’m going to apply for the Delta Business Reserve. Two questions, should I wait until 2024 to apply so my MQDs don’t reset, and is there any downside to getting the Business Reserve vs Delta Reserve (I have an LLC). I’m going to probably keep my AmEx Platinum card as well for restaurants/hotel points, etc. TIA!!
They will let you upgrade the business delta platinum to the reserve within 1 year, but not the personal. I currently have an upgrade offer on my Delta Business Platinum to Reserve and its been open only a couple of months.
Good to know!
You never fail to amaze me on how you dissect these programs Bravo!
My wife and I usually fly together so we decided we only needed one of us to be Platinum.
I have 60k in Skymiles and 90k MQM which will allow me to rollover to Platinum for next year. I have the Reserve card but also 4 other Amex cards
She has 600k in Skymiles and 20 k MQMs.
Based on your analysis I assume we are ok for now but should consider making her Platinum next year with the acquisition of cards and convert Skymiles to MQDs
Make sense?
Thanks again for the post. You took a confusing Delta system and converted it into plain English
Yes that makes sense. Except I assume you mistyped when you wrote “convert Skymiles to MQDs”. We will be able to convert MQMs to MQDs at a rate of 10 to 1. Will your wife rollover 20K MQMs? If that’s all she has now, that’s not enough for Silver and none will rollover.
If you don’t fly Delta often enough, what is the point of chasing the elite status? Falling into their trap to spend more money than necessary perhaps. It does not really make sense for majority people to chase status, rather than just to buy the ticket you want. It only makes sense if you are a frequent flyer or very close to certain status.
In this case, it depends, if one does utilize companion pass well, 2-4 companion passes can potentially outweigh the annual fee (not saying it will be for everyone), 2 companion passes can save more than $500 potenitally, then it’s like enjoying free Silver Medallion Status for free. But yeah, I agree with you that unless you only fly Delta/Skyteam for certain amount of times like I don’t know, at least once or twice a month? Otherwise, Silver status only gives you the edge 24 hours ahead of choosing Comfort+ for free only. (Not considering the slim chance of getting First Class upgrade given the numbers of elites)
Personally, I prioritize Star Alliance and OneWorld over Skyteam with Star Alliance Gold and OneWorld Sapphire status, going for Skyteam makes zero sense for me but I will definitely consider the four cards setup if circumstances change in the future such as Star Alliance Gold or OWS becomes useless at certain points of the future. I will always take Main Cabin Extra and Flagship Lounge access on Basic Economy ticket over Delta Comfort+ and Delta SkyClub that has to be with non-Basic Economy Ticket domestically or Premium Economy ticket internationally. (Yes, it sucks that you need a Premium Economy ticket at least to access SkyClub internationally) Let alone unless it’s Delta hub, Delta seems tend to be more expensive than United and American.
Greg- if I choose to convert mom to mqd at 10:1 ration when will that be applied to my status? Example: I will have a head start of $10k due to having each of the 4 eligible cards. I also have 180k rollover mqms. If I choose to convert those to $18,000 MQD in Feb 2024 will that give me 28,000 MQDs in Feb of 2024 and move me from Platinum to Diamond not only for 2025, but for the remainder of 2024? I know the Delta information says you have until end of 2024 to decide how to use your MQM rollover. But, it also says you will receive option to convert in early 2024. Does that mean that would immediately apply towards your 2025 status tracker? If so, usually once you hit a higher status’s criteria, you get the benefits of that higher status the remainder of the year. So, would I be able to do the above example and get moved from Platinum status to Diamond in early 2024?
Yes, once they enable the rollover conversion and once it is applied to your account, you should immediately get Diamond status for the rest of 2024 and all of 2025 and Jan of 2026
My dad has a ton (400k) of rollover MQMs, but is also a 3 million miler. Assuming that he’ll just be diamond through the million miler program, I think the best use of the MQMs now is just to transfer them to skymiles, does that sound about right? Or would there be any reason he should transfer them to anything else?
Yes definitely
Please correct me if I’m wrong but I think the number of miles for the miles choice benefit/awards has increased from the 20k and 25k listed in the table.
I think it changes for 2025 choice benefits as noted in the table, but I could be wrong. I’ll update the table if/when I get confirmation that it starts with 2024 benefits.
Too much hassle for only Gold Medallion status.