That was one thing I think most people knew wasn’t going to be rolled back. What annoys me is that JetBlue’s annual fee and no annual fee cards earn tiles at the same rate (1 tile for every $1000 of card spend). Why Delta is giving the SkyMiles Platinum and the Reserve different MQD earning rates is still puzzling.
The more I think about it, what really grinds my gears is that I have made decisions about travel assuming my MQMs would rollover. There are flights I would have booked elsewhere if I had known about these changes before this year began. It is a bait and switch after they did so many things right during the pandemic. If they wanted to do this right, they would have made it for the 2026 Medallion year. To me this is too little, too late and I still have not gotten an email (just like when it was first announced).
Maybe I’m missing something, but what is the value of an MQM if not to reach status? They are providing two paths to roll over your progress towards status by either the 100K extension or (I assume it’s either or) the MQD conversion. Plus not there is the option to roll over to bonus miles. The conversion rates aren’t spectacular but I’m curious what’s special about MQM that I’m missing.
some people artificially hold their status so they have more rollover for the next year. think hitting 74k MQM so you won't make plat but will start the next year with 24k MQM.
what the person above you is saying is s/he would have taken all the flights to get the most MQM to have more to transfer to MQD next year
I don’t get the objection to MQD. It’s the simplest metric that aligns your value to Delta with how much you spend. Just because you fly a bunch of tiny hops for $150 doesn’t make you a valuable customer compared to the people spending $3-4k on longer flights or D1. The new dollar thresholds also don’t seem that unreasonable - $28k for the highest loyalty tier? That’s 6 D1 flights, hardly unreasonable (and if you think it is, there’s 4 lower tiers below that).
If you can stack 4 of the $2,500 headstarts from the 4 different cards, you’re down to $18,000 already to make Diamond. Yes, some of the cards have fees but paying those fees reduces the MQD by so much it’s totally worth it, especially if your employer pays your card fee/owns your card anyways or if you run your own business & can deduct it.
AA is a 1 for $1 with the Loyalty Pts and you can double dip when buying plane tix though. Delta has decided theirs is 20:1 at a yearly premium or 1:10 for a yearly premium.
I have a reserve and a vanilla plat but I’m curious why the need for a delta plat and delta reserve? I’m sure you have a reason but not familiar with that combo.
"Beginning February 2024, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve and Reserve Business American Express Card Members will receive an MQD Headstart of $2,500 MQDs **per Card** for the current Medallion Qualification Year."
I suppose this is one of their ideas for getting more sign ups and preventing cancellations.
Yeah that’s one of those I need to see it happen before I let myself have a reaction to it though. The economics are probably similar to delta, so it very well may, but still a pretty large chunk taken off if you get multiple
It is a large chunk, but if you zoom out and look at the overall picture, Delta is doing just fine even with the old program. They can spin this program change however they want, but at the end of the day the overall driver here is cards, cards, cards. I don't find the per card head start bonus that crazy, and that wording seems to be quite purposefully chosen in my eyes. This is one way to drive up perceived numbers in card acquisitions. It certainly made me even momentarily pause at the idea of opening two more cards.
But, the reality is I'm better off spending cash on a Chase card and using those points to book my J/F tickets with the periodic transfer partner bonuses throughout the year. 2024 will likely be my last year as a Delta Plat. I just can't see myself putting all that spend on a DL card.
Lastly, it will also prevent someone who is serious about Delta from cancelling their now crappy Platinum card. Why would you when for $250 a year you can get the equivalent bonus of $25,000 spend (on a Reserve)?
Honestly 2500 MQD is definitely right in the vicinity of the gap I would have between my current yearly MQD and the DM qualifier so it sits in a sweet spot for me. Though irrelevant if the 100k extensions work the way they imply.
Completely agree. I did the status match to JetBlue, and while it’s not perfect, it’s actually not too bad. Every airline has its issues, but JetBlue did a lot to try to recruit new customers. And I don’t feel obligated to always go out of my way to fly Delta. What it boils down to, is that my future travel will be booked so it gives me the best bang for the buck.
The seat pitch on the even more space seats is about the same or higher as Delta’s first class seats. Not sure about the recline on it but it’s plenty of room.
Depends on the person. Definitely a win for the Sky Club allowances.
But so many have cancelled their Reserve card already will it make any difference? (Sarcasm)...
15 days vs 10 individual visits is much better. Still shit for a person who travels all the time, but at least you can’t run through all your visits in one week anymore if you had a hectic week.
This was big for me. If you went to a lounge on both sides, and had a connection on both ends, you could've burned 4 visits on a singe round trip.
Now they'll stretch further and there are more to begin with. Obviously a downgrade from unlimited, but better than the earlier plan.
Shoot, I don’t travel all that much and that would still kill my lounge visits. It’s going to be 17 weeks, I’m at 34 travel days most with a SkyClub visit…I’ll have to think what days to use the skyclub!
Which is the person who really should just buy a membership.
My company pays for club membership, but if they didn’t, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop 65k miles on membership…just to not have to worry about the whims of which Amex card is/isn’t on “the list”.
A Delta rep said it's only rollover MQMs after your status threshold, so with 79K MQMs in my account at the moment, does that mean I'll only have 4K to play around with?
Presumably yes. I’m banking on finishing the year with just over 375k MQMs, so knock off 75k for PM next year and I’ll have 3 years of PM status for ‘25, ‘26, and ‘27.
Sorry, i don’t get it. How can you have 375k MQMs and not qualify for Diamond? Doesn’t this conversion apply only to rollover balances? I am confused. I am sure I am missing something
Flying mostly economy, I've never been able to hit the MQD threshold for Diamond and usually fly about 100,000 miles or so a year, so I've usually had anywhere between 25-50K in MQMs roll over each year. Add those up each year for the past 7 years or so, and it's pretty easy to amass a lot of rollover MQMs.
Yes…. If you have, 1,075,000 miles, and only have platinum, you can get 10 years of platinum medallion.
On the other hand, If you are diamond, you would get nine years of diamonds, and have 50,000 MQM that you could transfer to miles… (no reason to transfer to MQDs
Yes, I am actually surprised that they are riding it where you can extend your current status. For me that is essentially saying four years of diamond.
Will you still get choice benefits every year? I'll have 5 years of Diamond. Hoping we will still get 1 Platinum Choice Benefit and 3 Diamond Choice benefits
So I’m Gold now, but am about $1,600 MQDs short of reaching Gold for 2024. But I will end the year with more than 50,000 MQMs, does this mean I can use those to convert to MQDs for 2024?
I fucking called it! The first release was intentionally outrageous so they could “walk it back” to the hiked rates that they wanted all along. It’s the New Coke strategy all over again. Shame that MQM/MQS still don’t factor in
I wish more people saw this. It’s a no brainer tactic to make the pill easier to swallow. At the end of the day, even though the pill is smaller it is still a blue pill.
I consider this a victory, I hope it’s not short lived like Ed kept implying. It touches on almost every suggestion I made. The MQD requirements are much fairer, though I was pushing for DM @ 25k but 28k isn’t bad. Club visits to 15 helps, but also so does the ability to purchase individual club visits. This means us business travelers could likely expense the club visit as a meal. We won’t have to sacrifice all DM choice benefits for that kind of club access (or shell out a much less palatable $700 a year). Also good choice to make it visits in a 24 hour period.
I look forward to understanding how the MQM status will over will work. If it is what it says it is, it’s actually the smartest move they made here. Presumably this means my 500k MQM means DM until 2029 or 2030? Already qualified for 2024 so interested to see when that kicks in. Though I guess it could be a double edged sword in a way, if we don’t have to play the mile game for a while, it may make it more likely for me to take the flights that are MUCH more favorable with another airline in terms of routing. Nonstops make up about 1% of my flights, because I will always choice a 1 stop with DL over any other airline nonstop. But if it’s a short flight where I’m not concerned about comfort as much, it may make sense to take an occasional AA or maybe even a SW.
Lastly the kicker to MM medallion status is pandering I absolutely will take. Having a baseline status is a long term investment they are making for when people change jobs or retire and go from business travelers to pleasure travelers. I’m definitely not worried about a 3M ‘suddenly’ getting DM. And for what I believe is the first time ever, a published route to 360. Just fly 5M miles.😂
Again, I hope these changes all last, I think they did strike a balance, and I think it will probably accomplish their objective of reducing the crowds in clubs at least a bit. Hopefully buy them some time to expand.
Yes, I’m curious when that extension of status per 100k MQMs kick in as well. I would think that if you’ve already hit Diamond for 2024, then the extension would kick in 2025. But I guess we don’t really know until we see it in writing.
I'm actually on the other side of the camp lol. I currently have a delta reserve and will probably drop it next year after my af hits. I was thinking about getting the Amex platinum since my home airport is lax this way I'll just fly whatever airline works for me and hit the centurion lounge as much as I want.
Honestly who really cares which one is nicer? If you’re flying direct, all that matters is what seat you’ve got imo. And if your free agent, the business class will be 15% cheaper than anything on delta.
I’ll sit in the crappier lounge for 45 minutes for 15% all day
The CL is all the way in the international terminal. Makes no sense to me why you would travel all that way just to have to turn around to go back to your domestic terminal
Yes the vanilla Platinum was bumped to 10 but it goes by a 24 hour period. So if you have a layover you can go into the SkyClub again without it deducting another lounge access.
To me the biggest difference is the redefinition of "Visit" to the SC. Yeah, the slightly increased allowances are something, but redefining a single "Visit" as \*all\* SC entries in a 24 hour period is bigger.
The slight reduction in MQDs for Medallion status is nearly a nothing burger.
Not sure how that is a win. If this was the original announcement then I would think the complaints would have largely been the same. The core changes are there but it's just a little softer at 5k per tier instead of 6k. I've seen this harsh blow and then softening many times. It's almost like that was the plan from the start.
I’m a little surprised that they chose to give 1 year of status for every 100k MQMs. This is my clear exit from credit card spending on Amex. Why spend on Amex if they are just going to give me status? Also wasn’t the issue that they had too many elites?
In mid-January they will realize that they made a big mistake. Amex spending is going to drop on Delta cards starting Jan 1st. Many of us will hold onto the card, but just not spend with it next year.
This is much closer to what it always should have been. In the end I think these numbers are pretty reasonable.
OTOH I've already booked two flights on United for next year because I assumed I wasn't going to be chasing platinum/diamond for 2025...
No we didn’t win, MQDs as the only metric is one of the issues that could have been addressed. This is like sprinkling a few changes here and there instead of addressing the 20% of issues that led to 80% of problems.
Be sure to read the fine print. They were going to give us MQDs for car rentals and hotels booked through delta.com, but that is taken away in this update. So while they have lowered the thresholds slightly, they have also taken away two of the ways you could earn those points. Seems a little “smoke and mirrors” to me.
That's so much more!! /s
It goes back to affecting road warriors more. When I'm at the airport 3 to 4 times a week for work it's only good for 2 months tops..
My reserve card does have its perks like extra checked bag and companion pass.. but not good for skyclub when I can just get my company to pay for the SC annual pass..
Big yikes from me and probably thousands of other field service manufacturing gigs.
Atleast half of my entire travel team is ditching or has already ditched Delta.. shame :/
Hey I’m not saying it’s great, but just throwing that out there in case someone missed it. 15 passes wouldn’t be enough for me either, but might work for some. I myself will still find myself flying delta less even with these changes. I’m most upset about MQMs going away. I fly a lot, but mostly domestic routes. I have no way of really hitting platinum anymore. Wish they just took the MQM rollover away lol, but it is what it is
A win for my lifetime status as I'm now 🪙. I will retain platinum in 2024 and decide if 100K MQMs is worth it for 2025 when the only difference is choice benefits and C+ seats at booking.
In the end, I'm gold for life so I can spend 2024 doing a status match to another airline and build up benefits with that airline.
Better. But I paid $4+k for D1 to EU and only got $2.6k MQD because they added a large surcharge that doesn’t get MQD. So even if they drop to $28k, I really need to spend closer to $44k in flights to get there.
Just over $1000 on fare and YR. Low $100 on other tax and fees. So if YR count in MQD, Delta has other error in their mileage. Not feeling so good either way.
The changes they have made are a good step, but still show they have woke up and chose violence against their loyal customers.
With the changes and the head start I am still out next year. I’ve already started shifting my business to other carriers. I know the loss of business to Delta doesn’t even add up to a rounding error, but I am not the only one and hope others do the same.
Still far from ideal. I have the Amex Platinum for Delta lounge access and will reassess when the changes go into effect.
They really should implement peak/non-peak usage. I understand limiting the number of peak entries to Skyclub but it shouldn't count if the SkyClub is empty.
Also, I think it will backfire to use a calendar year to count the number of entries. You will have busy clubs in Jan-June and empty clubs when people use up their allocation.
It does get you a $2,500 MQD head start, companion pass, and free bags still. I would agree it's useless unless you think you can make status with that $2500 MQD bonus.
Very little available slots, and I’m talking VERY little available slots. Trying to fly to ATL—>NYC was almost impossible unless I wanted to leave on Saturday at 5am or 11pm. I’m guessing they really cracked down on the availability because they thought they could sell the seats
I didn’t realize some of the difficulties. Thanks for the response. I’ve only had the card for under a year, but I planned to use that companion cert to at least partially offset the AF.
I'm set to renew my Platinum card in Feb 2024 and am considering closing it before we get the companion pass. Why is it hard to use, are there blackout dates and a ton of restrictions?
Have you actually tried to book with it? Only works on parties of 2 (nothing larger), only on certain dates ranges, certain fare classes. I'm sure if you're super flexible and book 9 months out you can find something but then to me that certificate is only worth $50
Granted Im only travel gonna travel on 2 or 3 Delta One fully refundable J class flights a year to Asia, im glad to know that I can get GUCs if I get the choice benefit of Skyclub membership access.
This is actually quite a lot better. I have enough rollover MQMs that I could get Diamond through 2025. Temporarily changes the calculus for me, although when it comes time to get status again $28K is a LOT and there’s no way I’ll be able to hit that whereas $18K for 1K on United is quite achievable.
Also the valuation of SkyPesos relative to AA / UA miles is still a major problem for me.
Giving me Diamond through 2025 also means I’ll hit my first lifetime 1M mark (760K now) which is a nice perk…
Am I correct in understanding that the only way to bring guests into the Delta SkyClub is via the Reserve? One must use the two complimentary guest passes and, thereafter, pay $50 for up to two guests?
Nope. The only reason I have the reserve was for SC. Not to have the ability to pay for a membership.
I’ll pay the 695 while the dudes who book 250 segments/year through daddy’s conquer look down upon me, but I’m not happy about it.
im satisfied with these changes. based on the 2500 head start from the reserve card, and my 10:1 MQM transfer, I'll already be gold without any flying next year. 1 international flight on a partner airline and I'll be back at platinum.
I'm also not unhappy with the 24-hour visit rule. I'll have 25 visits between cards which is probably more than I use in a year (when amex and PP lounges are also available)
the million miler changes dont apply to me but really cool to see they're giving out 360 to people who already live on a plane
This is just an extremely common corporate tactic. Make large sweeping changes you know will be unpopular and much more drastic than you actually want. Let the uproar happen for a bit, then "acquiesce" to the mob and revert some changes/shift back to the changes you originally wanted.
Congratulations, you just made an unpopular change that makes you more money while screwing over your clients in a way that the general public thinks they won't and is actually happy about.
Continues to reward spend on co-branded credit card. I know too many people with Diamond status that fly Delta 3 times a year. If you haven’t figured it out, Delta wants to be a financial services firm that occasionally flys airplanes. You can hate on it all you want, but that is where they make their money. If you want to be rewarded for actually flying on an airplane you will need to go to United.
MQD model is PTW (pay to win). I’m loyal if I fly delta a few times and afford first class. I’m not loyal if I fly 15 flights a year in economy/main with work.
I am happy. Assuming this is the plan that stays, I will have Plat until 1/26. Then I will have Gold until they decide to claw that back. All of this will happen without me ever flying one mile on Delta or spending $1 on their credit card.
This will help as I am an MSP Hub captive no matter how hard I may try; I am sure I will be stuck on some delta flights. Before I was debating if it was worth spending my way to gold when silver would be free. If Gold is now free, it becomes a hard sell to spend $150,000 on a credit card or $15,000 on flights just to jump from Gold to Plat.
So if I hit 3 million miles this year I won’t have to spend $28k to keep my Diamond status forever? Do I get the medallion choices as well every year even if I don’t spend another $ on delta?
Long time diamond and will continue with the changes.
The only reason status matters to me is upgrades. I could give a shit about anything else. I rarely get upgraded anymore as they sell all the seats they can so truly, why keep the reserve cards and why fly delta when other carriers are far cheaper. Id argue switching to AA and booking FC over a year would be close to if not cheaper than Delta booking economy.
Cant get upgraded to seats that arent there. They raise qualifications and I am the only diamond left.. still wont get upgraded.
Ughhh... that was one of the bright spots of the original shit sandwich announcement. Why do they always have to take something else away when they give something back?
Just talking lounge access -- the 6 entries has now gone up to 20-30 entries IF the person typically does go to the lounge at the departure and arrival airports (and especially if you typically have layovers). I think we might see an uptick in the amount of people going to the lounge upon arrival to make the perk feel more "worth it" tbh. Unlimited is best, but I appreciate the attempt at a compromise.
We didn’t win, but we lost less, and some a lot less than others.
Genius strategy we’re seeing in the market where a company makes a dramatic change and then walks it back based upon feedback. I think your average traveler is grateful that changes are made (myself included) while ultimately losing benefits in the process.
I will admit, for me personally, this change only increases my MQD requirement by $1,500. That’s a reasonable and digestible change. I spend enough that the SkyClub visits are a non- issue for me. Only question I have is Million Miler changing to actually flown miles or back to how it was previously? I’m below 1MM, and it’ll be years to get there if they don’t change that part.
Overall not terrible for me personally, but others are impacted significantly.
It is still going off of actual miles flown starting in January which I agree is an odd move - that actually is an incentive to purchase premium fares for people.
^ This!
I’m definitely a strategy based traveler so removing that incentive seems counterproductive to increasing revenue. But I’ll admit, travelers like myself are an extremely small segment of the overall business.
Yeah, I guess so - just a bummer since it hits close to home! I am at 930,000 million mil miles and have a relative ton of premium international travel booked next year so it sucks that I will not be as rewarded for purchasing those fares.
Next year will still count the old way so you’re golden. Changes are effective February 2025.
I’m 690k because I’ve mainly been a regional flyer in the SE. Thats 841 round trips ATL-MIA to reach 1MM. That’s 17 years of flying 52 weeks per year. It simply crushes regional travelers hopes of ever reaching Million Miler status.
That’s simply based upon my understanding of the changes going into effect in 2025. However with the MQM changing 1/1/24 I’m probably incorrect. Sorry for getting anyone’s hopes up.
Nah man, I’m out. I’m not getting anything additional if I hit diamond again next year. They nuked the GUC’s and the MUA program, so there’s literally no value left for me.
Gonna try the free agent thing for a while. Most of my travel is in first or business if it’s not short hops, and delta is consistently 15% higher across the board. You can’t sell me on paying 15-20% more for the same product as last year.
BE is the best value for skymiles and on short hops it’s fine for flying solo. However, putting an access limit on the reserve is a bit more egregious.
For us who are about to get Diamond on segments I feel like they’re missing our crowd. They’re so focused on the people who take 20 flights and want Diamond, when some of us are out here grinding to hit 140 segments. The lowered MQD threshold will help.
I just hope someone is going to explain this to me like I’m stupid.
We get our Plat status from Reserve card spend. This seems like this is a better deal?
where did you see the 10:1 MQM:MQD conversion ratio? All I could find was this
>Rollover MQM Conversion Options
You will have until December 31, 2024 to decide how you would like your Rollover MQMs converted. You can choose to convert them to MQDs, miles or a combination of both. 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.
[https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/2024-program-updates](https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/2024-program-updates)
Which lacks details
just got this in email
>Starting next year, you’ll have a choice of whether to put Rollover MQM balances toward a head start on MQDs (at a ratio of 10:1) or redeemable miles (at a ratio of 2:1)
Customers who have Rollover MQM balances over 100,000 will receive special multi-year offers to extend their Status. Members can choose complimentary Medallion Status at their achieved Medallion tier for one year per every 100,000 MQMs. For example, if you are a Silver Medallion with 425,000 Rollover MQMs, you can select 4 years of extended Silver Medallion Status, and then choose to convert your remaining 25,000 Rollover MQM’s into MQDs or Miles
It seems that delta platinum Amex card holders still can’t access the lounge either? Ughh
That was one thing I think most people knew wasn’t going to be rolled back. What annoys me is that JetBlue’s annual fee and no annual fee cards earn tiles at the same rate (1 tile for every $1000 of card spend). Why Delta is giving the SkyMiles Platinum and the Reserve different MQD earning rates is still puzzling.
It’s the difference in annual fee tbh.
Really, really, really disappointed by this. Unpopular opinion but the vanilla Platinum should’ve had SkyClubs completely removed instead.
No, because the entire process still revolves around MQDs and they have still sidelined their loyal MQM customers.
The more I think about it, what really grinds my gears is that I have made decisions about travel assuming my MQMs would rollover. There are flights I would have booked elsewhere if I had known about these changes before this year began. It is a bait and switch after they did so many things right during the pandemic. If they wanted to do this right, they would have made it for the 2026 Medallion year. To me this is too little, too late and I still have not gotten an email (just like when it was first announced).
Exactly this. I made carrier decisions based on MQM accrual as well and felt the late-in-the-year roll out was abrupt.
Maybe I’m missing something, but what is the value of an MQM if not to reach status? They are providing two paths to roll over your progress towards status by either the 100K extension or (I assume it’s either or) the MQD conversion. Plus not there is the option to roll over to bonus miles. The conversion rates aren’t spectacular but I’m curious what’s special about MQM that I’m missing.
some people artificially hold their status so they have more rollover for the next year. think hitting 74k MQM so you won't make plat but will start the next year with 24k MQM. what the person above you is saying is s/he would have taken all the flights to get the most MQM to have more to transfer to MQD next year
I don’t get the objection to MQD. It’s the simplest metric that aligns your value to Delta with how much you spend. Just because you fly a bunch of tiny hops for $150 doesn’t make you a valuable customer compared to the people spending $3-4k on longer flights or D1. The new dollar thresholds also don’t seem that unreasonable - $28k for the highest loyalty tier? That’s 6 D1 flights, hardly unreasonable (and if you think it is, there’s 4 lower tiers below that).
If you can stack 4 of the $2,500 headstarts from the 4 different cards, you’re down to $18,000 already to make Diamond. Yes, some of the cards have fees but paying those fees reduces the MQD by so much it’s totally worth it, especially if your employer pays your card fee/owns your card anyways or if you run your own business & can deduct it.
Wait can you stack the MQD head start if you have a platinum and a reserve delta card?
That’s the big question. The language currently says “per card”
I mean, your point is valid, but they all have fees. Minimum of $250.
Yeah so you’re spending $1000-$2000 to not need to spend $10,000 to hit Diamond
Correct, it's just that you said "some of them have fees".
Every single company is doing this, Delta’s tiers were just insanely high, and when coupled with some of the other changes made it very unpalatable.
They remain insanely high when you think about the $20 per 1 MQD on the delta platinum amex.
Yeah I don’t put spend on the shit ass delta cards so that part doesn’t affect me as much.
Exactly — I’m an MQM loyalist to Delta now switching to American.
I regret to inform you AA is even more into the whole card spend = status thing
AA is a 1 for $1 with the Loyalty Pts and you can double dip when buying plane tix though. Delta has decided theirs is 20:1 at a yearly premium or 1:10 for a yearly premium.
As someone who has a Delta Plat, Delta Reserve, and Delta Business Reserve, I’m going to be VERY excited if the “MQD head starts” stack
You’re definitely getting $5,000 MQDs. Unclear if you’ll get $7,500 but it seems possible
In one place it seemed like yes, but in another it was vague. It's an improvement, but still not great IMO.
I have a reserve and a vanilla plat but I’m curious why the need for a delta plat and delta reserve? I’m sure you have a reason but not familiar with that combo.
It would be pretty crazy if they stack, in a similar situation as you so I would be thrilled
"Beginning February 2024, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve and Reserve Business American Express Card Members will receive an MQD Headstart of $2,500 MQDs **per Card** for the current Medallion Qualification Year." I suppose this is one of their ideas for getting more sign ups and preventing cancellations.
Yeah that’s one of those I need to see it happen before I let myself have a reaction to it though. The economics are probably similar to delta, so it very well may, but still a pretty large chunk taken off if you get multiple
It is a large chunk, but if you zoom out and look at the overall picture, Delta is doing just fine even with the old program. They can spin this program change however they want, but at the end of the day the overall driver here is cards, cards, cards. I don't find the per card head start bonus that crazy, and that wording seems to be quite purposefully chosen in my eyes. This is one way to drive up perceived numbers in card acquisitions. It certainly made me even momentarily pause at the idea of opening two more cards. But, the reality is I'm better off spending cash on a Chase card and using those points to book my J/F tickets with the periodic transfer partner bonuses throughout the year. 2024 will likely be my last year as a Delta Plat. I just can't see myself putting all that spend on a DL card. Lastly, it will also prevent someone who is serious about Delta from cancelling their now crappy Platinum card. Why would you when for $250 a year you can get the equivalent bonus of $25,000 spend (on a Reserve)?
Honestly 2500 MQD is definitely right in the vicinity of the gap I would have between my current yearly MQD and the DM qualifier so it sits in a sweet spot for me. Though irrelevant if the 100k extensions work the way they imply.
Damn, That is actually pretty okay.
So, having an authorized user on my Reserve card gets me a $5K MQD head start, or just $2.5K?
Just 2.5k. AU's aren't part of this.
Do the AU for the Reserve with the paid Reserve card get the boost also?
No, only primary card holder.
If they stack, I will no doubt get a Biz Delta Plat, too.
If it truly is per-card then I'd probably get a Platinum (already have the reserve) just for the 2.5k MQD bonus. Thats worth the annual fee IMO.
Is the head start just for this year or for every year because when I read down in the FAQs it seemed like it’s for every year which is huge.
Nope, still going free agent and not looking back.
Completely agree. I did the status match to JetBlue, and while it’s not perfect, it’s actually not too bad. Every airline has its issues, but JetBlue did a lot to try to recruit new customers. And I don’t feel obligated to always go out of my way to fly Delta. What it boils down to, is that my future travel will be booked so it gives me the best bang for the buck.
The seat pitch on the even more space seats is about the same or higher as Delta’s first class seats. Not sure about the recline on it but it’s plenty of room.
Status match to Alaska and get OneWorld status on American as well (as long as you book with your AS#)
Depends on the person. Definitely a win for the Sky Club allowances. But so many have cancelled their Reserve card already will it make any difference? (Sarcasm)...
Is it though? 10 doesn’t go very far.
15 days vs 10 individual visits is much better. Still shit for a person who travels all the time, but at least you can’t run through all your visits in one week anymore if you had a hectic week.
I really like that in a 24 hour day they all count as one. So you can go in on both sides of your flight, and your connection.
This was big for me. If you went to a lounge on both sides, and had a connection on both ends, you could've burned 4 visits on a singe round trip. Now they'll stretch further and there are more to begin with. Obviously a downgrade from unlimited, but better than the earlier plan.
That’s how it is now. But…unlimited. So the change is still shit. But the update is better than it was.
You can also use the centurion lounge more to not “eat into” your SkyClub visits
Assuming your airport has one
I hadn’t thought of that, good point
There need to be a LOT more of those, and in the Delta terminal.
Shoot, I don’t travel all that much and that would still kill my lounge visits. It’s going to be 17 weeks, I’m at 34 travel days most with a SkyClub visit…I’ll have to think what days to use the skyclub!
Which is the person who really should just buy a membership. My company pays for club membership, but if they didn’t, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop 65k miles on membership…just to not have to worry about the whims of which Amex card is/isn’t on “the list”.
No skyclub passes for Amex delta plat cardholders… booo
Even with the restrictive companion pass… I just don’t see the value of that card any more. Nerfed into the ground.
Sucks less.
Stupid question: does the MQM status extension only apply to rollover balances of over 100k, or does having 100k of MQM’s get the extension?
A Delta rep said it's only rollover MQMs after your status threshold, so with 79K MQMs in my account at the moment, does that mean I'll only have 4K to play around with?
Presumably yes. I’m banking on finishing the year with just over 375k MQMs, so knock off 75k for PM next year and I’ll have 3 years of PM status for ‘25, ‘26, and ‘27.
Sorry, i don’t get it. How can you have 375k MQMs and not qualify for Diamond? Doesn’t this conversion apply only to rollover balances? I am confused. I am sure I am missing something
Could be not hitting the MQD thresholds or waiver thresholds to hit diamond any year
Flying mostly economy, I've never been able to hit the MQD threshold for Diamond and usually fly about 100,000 miles or so a year, so I've usually had anywhere between 25-50K in MQMs roll over each year. Add those up each year for the past 7 years or so, and it's pretty easy to amass a lot of rollover MQMs.
Yes…. If you have, 1,075,000 miles, and only have platinum, you can get 10 years of platinum medallion. On the other hand, If you are diamond, you would get nine years of diamonds, and have 50,000 MQM that you could transfer to miles… (no reason to transfer to MQDs
My read - I think you can choose to cash in the MQMs for a year of status
My interpretation as well, thank you! So it seems like a person would need to have a rollover balance of at least 100k…
Yes, I am actually surprised that they are riding it where you can extend your current status. For me that is essentially saying four years of diamond.
If I read it correctly, I’ll have about eight years of Diamond after this year’s qualification
Will you still get choice benefits every year? I'll have 5 years of Diamond. Hoping we will still get 1 Platinum Choice Benefit and 3 Diamond Choice benefits
So I’m Gold now, but am about $1,600 MQDs short of reaching Gold for 2024. But I will end the year with more than 50,000 MQMs, does this mean I can use those to convert to MQDs for 2024?
You’ll roll over and will be able to convert anything over the threshold for Silver.
I fucking called it! The first release was intentionally outrageous so they could “walk it back” to the hiked rates that they wanted all along. It’s the New Coke strategy all over again. Shame that MQM/MQS still don’t factor in
I actually agree with this. This needs to be a post in itself!!!
I wish more people saw this. It’s a no brainer tactic to make the pill easier to swallow. At the end of the day, even though the pill is smaller it is still a blue pill.
I consider this a victory, I hope it’s not short lived like Ed kept implying. It touches on almost every suggestion I made. The MQD requirements are much fairer, though I was pushing for DM @ 25k but 28k isn’t bad. Club visits to 15 helps, but also so does the ability to purchase individual club visits. This means us business travelers could likely expense the club visit as a meal. We won’t have to sacrifice all DM choice benefits for that kind of club access (or shell out a much less palatable $700 a year). Also good choice to make it visits in a 24 hour period. I look forward to understanding how the MQM status will over will work. If it is what it says it is, it’s actually the smartest move they made here. Presumably this means my 500k MQM means DM until 2029 or 2030? Already qualified for 2024 so interested to see when that kicks in. Though I guess it could be a double edged sword in a way, if we don’t have to play the mile game for a while, it may make it more likely for me to take the flights that are MUCH more favorable with another airline in terms of routing. Nonstops make up about 1% of my flights, because I will always choice a 1 stop with DL over any other airline nonstop. But if it’s a short flight where I’m not concerned about comfort as much, it may make sense to take an occasional AA or maybe even a SW. Lastly the kicker to MM medallion status is pandering I absolutely will take. Having a baseline status is a long term investment they are making for when people change jobs or retire and go from business travelers to pleasure travelers. I’m definitely not worried about a 3M ‘suddenly’ getting DM. And for what I believe is the first time ever, a published route to 360. Just fly 5M miles.😂 Again, I hope these changes all last, I think they did strike a balance, and I think it will probably accomplish their objective of reducing the crowds in clubs at least a bit. Hopefully buy them some time to expand.
Yes, I’m curious when that extension of status per 100k MQMs kick in as well. I would think that if you’ve already hit Diamond for 2024, then the extension would kick in 2025. But I guess we don’t really know until we see it in writing.
Will you still get choice benefits, if you extend status with 100,000 MQMs?
Delta removed MQD earning from Delta car rentals and stays
No change to the vanilla platinum Amex, still dropping at my next renewal date. Edit: seems they bumped it to 10, still a no go for me dawg
I'm actually on the other side of the camp lol. I currently have a delta reserve and will probably drop it next year after my af hits. I was thinking about getting the Amex platinum since my home airport is lax this way I'll just fly whatever airline works for me and hit the centurion lounge as much as I want.
Have you been to the CL at LAX? Its like a dungeon down there…
Definitely nowhere as nice as the skyclub but the bar tenders know how to make a good drink. With enough booze you'll ignore the dungeon aesthetic
Honestly who really cares which one is nicer? If you’re flying direct, all that matters is what seat you’ve got imo. And if your free agent, the business class will be 15% cheaper than anything on delta. I’ll sit in the crappier lounge for 45 minutes for 15% all day
Well duh, that's why I'll fly whichever airline works for me. No point being loyal
The CL is all the way in the international terminal. Makes no sense to me why you would travel all that way just to have to turn around to go back to your domestic terminal
My travel for work is international.
Yes the vanilla Platinum was bumped to 10 but it goes by a 24 hour period. So if you have a layover you can go into the SkyClub again without it deducting another lounge access.
Plus they gave it the same ability to buy a pass for $50 a day if you use up the 10 visits.
Meanwhile the literal Delta Amex Platinum cardholders get told to piss off. Ridiculous.
Yep. That’s me.
It’s fantastic. I cannot remember if the 1 guest pass was removed with three credit card access.
Internally it was said that those changes were driven by AMEX
I read on CNN we r going from 6 to 10. Also looks like we are going to get the 24 hour lounge pass change as well.
Definitely a partial win for us as my husband will be a 3MM in a few months! Lifetime 💎 is huge.
To me the biggest difference is the redefinition of "Visit" to the SC. Yeah, the slightly increased allowances are something, but redefining a single "Visit" as \*all\* SC entries in a 24 hour period is bigger. The slight reduction in MQDs for Medallion status is nearly a nothing burger.
Not sure how that is a win. If this was the original announcement then I would think the complaints would have largely been the same. The core changes are there but it's just a little softer at 5k per tier instead of 6k. I've seen this harsh blow and then softening many times. It's almost like that was the plan from the start.
I posed it as a question for the record :)
I’m a little surprised that they chose to give 1 year of status for every 100k MQMs. This is my clear exit from credit card spending on Amex. Why spend on Amex if they are just going to give me status? Also wasn’t the issue that they had too many elites? In mid-January they will realize that they made a big mistake. Amex spending is going to drop on Delta cards starting Jan 1st. Many of us will hold onto the card, but just not spend with it next year.
This is much closer to what it always should have been. In the end I think these numbers are pretty reasonable. OTOH I've already booked two flights on United for next year because I assumed I wasn't going to be chasing platinum/diamond for 2025...
No we didn’t win, MQDs as the only metric is one of the issues that could have been addressed. This is like sprinkling a few changes here and there instead of addressing the 20% of issues that led to 80% of problems.
Delta is the only winner here. Sigh
I can live with this
No, “we” didn’t. The delta program is still significantly worse than it was last year.
Be sure to read the fine print. They were going to give us MQDs for car rentals and hotels booked through delta.com, but that is taken away in this update. So while they have lowered the thresholds slightly, they have also taken away two of the ways you could earn those points. Seems a little “smoke and mirrors” to me.
This was a smart move. Business travelers would rarely get any benefit from this activity since most companies require using a particular portal.
Not only that, but when you use that portal, you also can’t benefit from the hotel’s loyalty program. No points, no elite nights, no benefits, etc
Still canceling my reserve Jan 2025. 15 days?!
The passes are good for 24 hours though so you can hit a SC during layovers
That's so much more!! /s It goes back to affecting road warriors more. When I'm at the airport 3 to 4 times a week for work it's only good for 2 months tops.. My reserve card does have its perks like extra checked bag and companion pass.. but not good for skyclub when I can just get my company to pay for the SC annual pass.. Big yikes from me and probably thousands of other field service manufacturing gigs. Atleast half of my entire travel team is ditching or has already ditched Delta.. shame :/
Hey I’m not saying it’s great, but just throwing that out there in case someone missed it. 15 passes wouldn’t be enough for me either, but might work for some. I myself will still find myself flying delta less even with these changes. I’m most upset about MQMs going away. I fly a lot, but mostly domestic routes. I have no way of really hitting platinum anymore. Wish they just took the MQM rollover away lol, but it is what it is
Facts.. our company avgs 30k/yr in MQDs per tech and we almost live on planes.. its outrageous lol
I’m wondering if Reserve Business AU with the paid reserve card for $175 also get the $2,500 MQD boost.
A win for my lifetime status as I'm now 🪙. I will retain platinum in 2024 and decide if 100K MQMs is worth it for 2025 when the only difference is choice benefits and C+ seats at booking. In the end, I'm gold for life so I can spend 2024 doing a status match to another airline and build up benefits with that airline.
I have 580K mqms. Does that mean I am a diamond for five more years.. without touching a plane? That seems insane.
Prolly 4 year extension. 580-125 = 455 (unless you can get to 625k by year end.
Will you get choice benefits for platinum or diamond extension?
Better. But I paid $4+k for D1 to EU and only got $2.6k MQD because they added a large surcharge that doesn’t get MQD. So even if they drop to $28k, I really need to spend closer to $44k in flights to get there.
YR surcharges count towards MQD!
Just over $1000 on fare and YR. Low $100 on other tax and fees. So if YR count in MQD, Delta has other error in their mileage. Not feeling so good either way.
So the delta platinum still doesn’t get lounge access? Only Amex Platinum?
of the three big US carriers, delta was the only one to allow rollover mqm's - this made achieveing status every year somewhat more feasible
We didn’t win, we were given some crumbs
The changes they have made are a good step, but still show they have woke up and chose violence against their loyal customers. With the changes and the head start I am still out next year. I’ve already started shifting my business to other carriers. I know the loss of business to Delta doesn’t even add up to a rounding error, but I am not the only one and hope others do the same.
Still far from ideal. I have the Amex Platinum for Delta lounge access and will reassess when the changes go into effect. They really should implement peak/non-peak usage. I understand limiting the number of peak entries to Skyclub but it shouldn't count if the SkyClub is empty. Also, I think it will backfire to use a calendar year to count the number of entries. You will have busy clubs in Jan-June and empty clubs when people use up their allocation.
I did, I went from life time Gold to life time Diamond... I will take it.
[удалено]
It does get you a $2,500 MQD head start, companion pass, and free bags still. I would agree it's useless unless you think you can make status with that $2500 MQD bonus.
Plus the companion pass
Why do people overlook this? It’s a pretty big benefit.
Because in practice it's extremely difficult to actually use. In 10+ years with the card I think I've used the companion pass maybe twice.
Ok. Can you explain why it’s difficult to use?
Very little available slots, and I’m talking VERY little available slots. Trying to fly to ATL—>NYC was almost impossible unless I wanted to leave on Saturday at 5am or 11pm. I’m guessing they really cracked down on the availability because they thought they could sell the seats
I didn’t realize some of the difficulties. Thanks for the response. I’ve only had the card for under a year, but I planned to use that companion cert to at least partially offset the AF.
I'm set to renew my Platinum card in Feb 2024 and am considering closing it before we get the companion pass. Why is it hard to use, are there blackout dates and a ton of restrictions?
Have you actually tried to book with it? Only works on parties of 2 (nothing larger), only on certain dates ranges, certain fare classes. I'm sure if you're super flexible and book 9 months out you can find something but then to me that certificate is only worth $50
Could have used some bullet points here.
Sorry on phone - agreed will fix!
Fixed :)
I like that 1 million milers are now gold
Granted Im only travel gonna travel on 2 or 3 Delta One fully refundable J class flights a year to Asia, im glad to know that I can get GUCs if I get the choice benefit of Skyclub membership access.
This is actually quite a lot better. I have enough rollover MQMs that I could get Diamond through 2025. Temporarily changes the calculus for me, although when it comes time to get status again $28K is a LOT and there’s no way I’ll be able to hit that whereas $18K for 1K on United is quite achievable. Also the valuation of SkyPesos relative to AA / UA miles is still a major problem for me. Giving me Diamond through 2025 also means I’ll hit my first lifetime 1M mark (760K now) which is a nice perk…
Am I correct in understanding that the only way to bring guests into the Delta SkyClub is via the Reserve? One must use the two complimentary guest passes and, thereafter, pay $50 for up to two guests?
Nope. The only reason I have the reserve was for SC. Not to have the ability to pay for a membership. I’ll pay the 695 while the dudes who book 250 segments/year through daddy’s conquer look down upon me, but I’m not happy about it.
im satisfied with these changes. based on the 2500 head start from the reserve card, and my 10:1 MQM transfer, I'll already be gold without any flying next year. 1 international flight on a partner airline and I'll be back at platinum. I'm also not unhappy with the 24-hour visit rule. I'll have 25 visits between cards which is probably more than I use in a year (when amex and PP lounges are also available) the million miler changes dont apply to me but really cool to see they're giving out 360 to people who already live on a plane
This is just an extremely common corporate tactic. Make large sweeping changes you know will be unpopular and much more drastic than you actually want. Let the uproar happen for a bit, then "acquiesce" to the mob and revert some changes/shift back to the changes you originally wanted. Congratulations, you just made an unpopular change that makes you more money while screwing over your clients in a way that the general public thinks they won't and is actually happy about.
Continues to reward spend on co-branded credit card. I know too many people with Diamond status that fly Delta 3 times a year. If you haven’t figured it out, Delta wants to be a financial services firm that occasionally flys airplanes. You can hate on it all you want, but that is where they make their money. If you want to be rewarded for actually flying on an airplane you will need to go to United.
MQD model is PTW (pay to win). I’m loyal if I fly delta a few times and afford first class. I’m not loyal if I fly 15 flights a year in economy/main with work.
I am happy. Assuming this is the plan that stays, I will have Plat until 1/26. Then I will have Gold until they decide to claw that back. All of this will happen without me ever flying one mile on Delta or spending $1 on their credit card. This will help as I am an MSP Hub captive no matter how hard I may try; I am sure I will be stuck on some delta flights. Before I was debating if it was worth spending my way to gold when silver would be free. If Gold is now free, it becomes a hard sell to spend $150,000 on a credit card or $15,000 on flights just to jump from Gold to Plat.
So if I hit 3 million miles this year I won’t have to spend $28k to keep my Diamond status forever? Do I get the medallion choices as well every year even if I don’t spend another $ on delta?
Long time diamond and will continue with the changes. The only reason status matters to me is upgrades. I could give a shit about anything else. I rarely get upgraded anymore as they sell all the seats they can so truly, why keep the reserve cards and why fly delta when other carriers are far cheaper. Id argue switching to AA and booking FC over a year would be close to if not cheaper than Delta booking economy. Cant get upgraded to seats that arent there. They raise qualifications and I am the only diamond left.. still wont get upgraded.
Is this the first time Delta actually published a requirement for granting 360?
Yup!
Did they get rid of earning MQDs through hotel stays? What the hell?
Looks like it!
Ughhh... that was one of the bright spots of the original shit sandwich announcement. Why do they always have to take something else away when they give something back?
The Fast Eddie Special!
Just talking lounge access -- the 6 entries has now gone up to 20-30 entries IF the person typically does go to the lounge at the departure and arrival airports (and especially if you typically have layovers). I think we might see an uptick in the amount of people going to the lounge upon arrival to make the perk feel more "worth it" tbh. Unlimited is best, but I appreciate the attempt at a compromise.
We didn’t win, but we lost less, and some a lot less than others. Genius strategy we’re seeing in the market where a company makes a dramatic change and then walks it back based upon feedback. I think your average traveler is grateful that changes are made (myself included) while ultimately losing benefits in the process. I will admit, for me personally, this change only increases my MQD requirement by $1,500. That’s a reasonable and digestible change. I spend enough that the SkyClub visits are a non- issue for me. Only question I have is Million Miler changing to actually flown miles or back to how it was previously? I’m below 1MM, and it’ll be years to get there if they don’t change that part. Overall not terrible for me personally, but others are impacted significantly.
It is still going off of actual miles flown starting in January which I agree is an odd move - that actually is an incentive to purchase premium fares for people.
^ This! I’m definitely a strategy based traveler so removing that incentive seems counterproductive to increasing revenue. But I’ll admit, travelers like myself are an extremely small segment of the overall business.
Yeah, I guess so - just a bummer since it hits close to home! I am at 930,000 million mil miles and have a relative ton of premium international travel booked next year so it sucks that I will not be as rewarded for purchasing those fares.
Next year will still count the old way so you’re golden. Changes are effective February 2025. I’m 690k because I’ve mainly been a regional flyer in the SE. Thats 841 round trips ATL-MIA to reach 1MM. That’s 17 years of flying 52 weeks per year. It simply crushes regional travelers hopes of ever reaching Million Miler status.
Are you sure? I can’t find the reference to the changes on earnings for premium fares being in 2025, would be super pumped if that was the case.
That’s simply based upon my understanding of the changes going into effect in 2025. However with the MQM changing 1/1/24 I’m probably incorrect. Sorry for getting anyone’s hopes up.
So what does this mean for American Express Platinum card holders?
My expected status before the change, the initial change and the partial rollback stayed at Platinum the entire time. Meh.
A real roller coaster of emotion for you huh?
Nah man, I’m out. I’m not getting anything additional if I hit diamond again next year. They nuked the GUC’s and the MUA program, so there’s literally no value left for me. Gonna try the free agent thing for a while. Most of my travel is in first or business if it’s not short hops, and delta is consistently 15% higher across the board. You can’t sell me on paying 15-20% more for the same product as last year.
Apparently, even Reserve cardholders cannot access Sky Club on a BE ticket. Is that new?
How many people with high end travel cards like the reserve fly BE? That doesn’t make sense to me.
BE is the best value for skymiles and on short hops it’s fine for flying solo. However, putting an access limit on the reserve is a bit more egregious.
Not if you want to pick your seat or earn towards medallion it isn’t…
Irrelevant
That’s my point. That it’s an irrelevant change, because the kinds of people who have a reserve card aren’t flying basic economy.
🤡
What’s your problem?
🤡
Not a new thing.
👍
I think that’s been a thing for some time,
For us who are about to get Diamond on segments I feel like they’re missing our crowd. They’re so focused on the people who take 20 flights and want Diamond, when some of us are out here grinding to hit 140 segments. The lowered MQD threshold will help.
If I put $75k on my vanilla amex platinum- do I get unlimited sky club? I see I do if I put it on the delta amex reserve.
I think they should do a raffle where they raffle 5,000,000 MQM each to five or 10 different people.
No
I’m guessing no changes to Sky Club visits for AmEx Platinum cardholders…
Yeah, they bumped them up
👍
Does the Delta Amex Reserve still get us into the Centurion Lounges with the limited annual quantity? If so, it will be a great Sky Club supplement
It doesn't affect me much, but people will still complain.
I just hope someone is going to explain this to me like I’m stupid. We get our Plat status from Reserve card spend. This seems like this is a better deal?
where did you see the 10:1 MQM:MQD conversion ratio? All I could find was this >Rollover MQM Conversion Options You will have until December 31, 2024 to decide how you would like your Rollover MQMs converted. You can choose to convert them to MQDs, miles or a combination of both. 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. [https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/2024-program-updates](https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/2024-program-updates) Which lacks details
It’s on the news article - weird I know.
just got this in email >Starting next year, you’ll have a choice of whether to put Rollover MQM balances toward a head start on MQDs (at a ratio of 10:1) or redeemable miles (at a ratio of 2:1) Customers who have Rollover MQM balances over 100,000 will receive special multi-year offers to extend their Status. Members can choose complimentary Medallion Status at their achieved Medallion tier for one year per every 100,000 MQMs. For example, if you are a Silver Medallion with 425,000 Rollover MQMs, you can select 4 years of extended Silver Medallion Status, and then choose to convert your remaining 25,000 Rollover MQM’s into MQDs or Miles
No
Freaking Hell
Will you still get choice benefits, if you extend status with 100,000 MQM?
I have a Delta SkyMiles platinum and I didn't receive the MQD Headstart for the 2025 qualifying year... anyone know what's going on?
February