Delta Air Lines is one of the largest airlines in the world, with over 5,400 daily flights to 325 destinations worldwide. Its most frequent travelers are rewarded with Delta Medallion elite status tiers, which include benefits like flight upgrades, free checked bags, and lounge access.
Here’s what you should know about Delta Medallion elite status before you work toward it, including an extensive look at benefits and how to earn each status tier.
Delta Medallion elite status gives Delta frequent flyers access to extra benefits that can make their travel experience more enjoyable. Some are relatively small benefits, like free checked bags on all flights. Meanwhile, others — like complimentary upgrades and access to preferred seats — provide more value.
Delta offers lifetime Medallion elite status to members who fly 1 million miles with Delta and its partners over the life of their Delta SkyMiles account. You can upgrade your lifetime elite status to higher tiers when you reach 2 million miles, 3 million miles and so on.
Here’s what lifetime status tier you’re eligible for at each million miler tier:
You can view your million miler balance on the “My Account” page on Delta’s website.
Delta 360 is Delta’s invite-only elite tier. Details are scarce, but members report it’s essentially an upgraded version of Diamond Medallion. Some benefits include a Sky Club Executive membership, frequent tarmac transfers during layovers, unique bag tags, and an annual gift.
There are no set requirements for earning this status — instead, Delta must invite you. The only surefire way to get an invite is by reaching 5 million lifetime miles with Delta, where you’ll receive Delta 360 status for life.
Delta has four published Medallion elite tiers, ranging from Silver to Diamond Medallion. You’ll earn these elite tiers by earning a set number of Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD) during a calendar year. The higher the tier, the more benefits you’ll enjoy.
MQDs are now Delta’s sole elite qualifying metric. These are primarily tied to how much you spend on Delta flights, but you can also earn them on partner flights and by spending on select Delta American Express credit cards.
Delta’s four elite tiers require the following numbers of MQDs:
Here’s an overview of all the ways you can earn MQDs.
Earning MQDs on Delta flights is relatively simple. When you book a Delta, Delta Express, or Delta partner flight on Delta ticket stock, you earn $1 MQD per $1 spent on the flight before taxes. You can view an estimate of how many MQDs you’ll earn after you complete the flight when you buy a flight on Delta’s website.
Delta award tickets also earn MQDs. You earn $1 MQD per 100 SkyMiles redeemed for a Delta flight. This can make it far cheaper to earn status, especially if you earn lots of Delta miles through credit card spending.
Things change when you book a partner flight and add your SkyMiles number to the itinerary. You’ll earn MQDs based on a percentage of the physical distance of the flight, and each fare class earns a different rate. Note that this does not apply to partner flights booked on Delta.com.
You can view Delta’s partner earning rates on its airline partner page. Typically, you’ll earn the most SkyMiles and MQDs on Delta’s Core Global Airline partners, which include Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic and others.
Let’s consider an example. Say you want to fly from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow (LHR) in Virgin Atlantic premium economy. According to Delta’s website, all Virgin Atlantic premium economy fare classes earn 150% SkyMiles and 25% MQDs based on miles flown.
A round-trip flight from New York to London clocks in at 6,902 miles flown. This means the flight earns $1,725 MQD and 10,353 SkyMiles regardless of how much you pay for your ticket. This can be a good deal if you find inexpensive flights, but you could earn less than a Delta-ticketed flight on pricier days.
Four of Delta’s American Express cards provide two ways to earn MQDs. The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and their small business equivalents – the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business Card – each provide $2,500 in MQDs per year as a “headstart” toward elite status. You can earn one bonus per card, giving you $10,000 MQD if you open all four.
In addition, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business Card earn $1 MQD per $10 spent on the card, while the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business Card earn $1 MQD per $20 spend. While not a great earning rate, it can be a good way to earn a small amount of MQDs if you’re short of your desired status tier.
Here, we showed you everything you need to know about earning Delta elite status. Whether or not it’s worth it is up to you and your travel habits. If you don’t mind flying Delta and its partners on all of your trips — potentially spending more to do so — the benefits can be worth the effort. At the same time, it’s best to skip earning status if you plan to book the cheapest ticket whenever you fly.
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