Incomes airline elite standing can carry quite a lot of advantages for frequent vacationers — and Delta Air Strains Medallion standing isn’t any exception. Nevertheless, final fall, the provider introduced main adjustments to the way you earn elite standing within the SkyMiles program, and people adjustments at the moment are dwell.

Briefly, there’s only a single metric for qualification now: Medallion Qualification {Dollars}. And in making this alteration, Delta has additionally overhauled how bank cards might help in your pursuit of standing.

Associated: The 5 Delta SkyMiles Amex adjustments I am most enthusiastic about

Here is how one can spend your method to Delta Medallion standing in 2024 with out even setting foot on a airplane.

Delta Medallion standing necessities

As famous beforehand, you now qualify for Delta standing based mostly solely on MQDs (gone are Medallion Qualification Miles and Medallion Qualification Segments). Delta’s unique announcement featured excessive thresholds, although these have been softened a bit for 2024 in response to buyer backlash.

Listed below are the present necessities to earn Delta Medallion standing in 2024:

• Silver Medallion: 5,000 MQDs
• Gold Medallion: 10,000 MQDs
• Platinum Medallion: 15,000 MQDs
• Diamond Medallion: 28,000 MQDs

On most Delta-marketed tickets, you may earn 1 MQD per greenback spent (minus the taxes), although you’ll not earn on primary economic system fares. You may additionally earn greater than 1 MQD per greenback on partner-issued tickets credited to Delta SkyMiles. Nevertheless, these incomes charges have been largely reduce as of Jan. 1. You should definitely test Delta’s web site to learn the way many MQDs you’d earn when flying a partner-marketed flight.

Associated: The very best bank cards to succeed in elite standing

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Earn Medallion standing with bank cards

In earlier years, choose Delta bank cards allowed you to earn Medallion Qualification Miles based mostly on spending. Now that MQMs have been retired, the provider has overhauled the best way to use these playing cards to speed up your progress towards standing.

Briefly, Delta now lets you earn MQDs throughout 4 of its cobranded playing cards with American Categorical. The precise particulars differ from card to card, however there are two normal methods to make use of these playing cards to speed up your progress to Medallion standing.

MQD Headstart

In early February, Delta carried out a brand new perk known as MQD Headstart for the next playing cards:

For every of those playing cards in your pockets, you may now obtain a one-time deposit of two,500 MQDs at the start of every qualification yr. This places you midway to Silver Medallion standing — although in case you have two playing cards, you may robotically hit Silver Medallion earlier than you even set foot on a Delta airplane.

As well as, vacationers with the Delta Reserve card previous to Feb. 1 acquired an additional 1,000 MQDs this yr. I presently maintain that card, and I acquired an e mail Feb. 1 with the topic “Updates To Your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Card” and the next particulars:

This implies present Reserve cardholders acquired a complete of three,500 MQDs in 2024 — although it will drop again to 2,500 MQDs beginning in 2025.

Nevertheless, the power to earn standing on these playing cards does not finish there.

New standing boosts

As talked about beforehand, Delta Platinum and Reserve cardholders might beforehand earn bonus MQMs based mostly on spending. That perk ended as of Jan. 1. As a substitute, now you can earn MQDs based mostly on spending:

• Delta Platinum and Delta Platinum Enterprise playing cards: Earn 1 MQD for each $20 spent.
• Delta Reserve and Delta Reserve Enterprise playing cards: Earn 1 MQD for each $10 spent.

The phrases of this perk point out that it may possibly take eight to 12 weeks for the MQDs to hit your account. Nevertheless, I’ve discovered that it has been a lot sooner, as my first purchases of 2024 (each on Feb. 5) have been posted to my SkyMiles account simply two days later.

These standing boosts (coupled with the MQD Headstart) imply which you can successfully spend your method to standing annually since there is no restrict to the MQDs you’ll be able to earn annually on these 4 playing cards.

For instance, to illustrate you’ve gotten a private Delta Reserve card. Yearly, you may obtain 2,500 MQDs. You’ll be able to then earn 1 MQD for each $10 you spend on the cardboard. This implies you’ll be able to unlock Medallion standing with the next spending thresholds:

• $25,000: Silver Medallion (2,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
• $75,000: Gold Medallion (7,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
• $125,000: Platinum Medallion (12,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)
• $255,000: Diamond Medallion (25,500 MQDs from spending; 2,500 from the pinnacle begin)

Now, there is no debating that each one of those numbers characterize a variety of spending. On the low finish, it is nonetheless greater than $2,000 per thirty days, whereas reaching Diamond standing requires greater than $21,000 in month-to-month spending! As well as, these Delta playing cards provide comparatively poor incomes charges on most purchases. In terms of incomes priceless rewards, you’d doubtless be higher off with a prime bank card for on a regular basis spending.

However, the vast majority of Delta cardholders doubtless fly with the airline not less than considerably regularly. In that context, spending in your Delta card can shut the hole to a better tier of standing.

As well as, now is a superb time to think about one among these playing cards, as they launched limited-time, elevated welcome provides (to coincide with an overhaul of their advantages):

Associated: Greatest Delta bank cards

Extra methods to earn Delta standing rapidly

Past getting (and utilizing) these 4 Delta playing cards as a shortcut to Medallion standing, there are just a few different methods to earn MQDs exterior of flying.

Make the most of a standing problem

In early 2024, Delta launched a brand new standing problem for elite vacationers with different airways. If you have not participated in a Delta problem within the final three years and earned standing with one other provider final yr, you could be eligible for complimentary Medallion standing (as much as Platinum) for 3 months. Then, should you accrue a set variety of MQDs throughout that three-month window, your standing might be prolonged by way of Jan. 31, 2026.

Earn on award journey

Whenever you e book Delta (or associate) flights utilizing SkyMiles, you may earn 1 MQD for each 100 SkyMiles you redeem. This implies a 20,000-mile award ticket will web you 200 MQDs.

Keep in mind that you additionally get a 15% low cost on Delta-operated award flights as a Delta cardholder.

Earn with Delta Holidays

Final yr, the Delta Holidays platform was overhauled, and also you now earn 1 MQD for each $1 spent throughout your complete bundle (excluding taxes and costs). You additionally earn redeemable miles when reserving this manner.

Restricted-time MQD provides

Lastly, Delta will sometimes provide limited-time strategies to earn MQDs for choose actions. For instance, by way of Feb. 29, you’ll be able to earn 1 MQD for each greenback spent on lodge stays and automobile leases booked by way of Delta Stays (with a checkout date on or earlier than Could 31).

Simply remember that it is a third-party reserving web site, which implies that you would not be eligible to earn lodge factors or make the most of elite advantages by reserving a property that is a part of a significant lodge loyalty program.