I’ve written about how Alaska Mileage Plan awards elite qualifying miles for award flights, including for travel on all partner airlines. I think it’s only fair to give Delta SkyMiles a shoutout, as this is an area where Alaska actually followed Delta’s lead.
How Delta SkyMiles awards MQDs for award flights
Nowadays Delta SkyMiles elite status is awarded via the metric of Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs), and those can be earned for flying, credit card spending, and more. What many people don’t realize is that Delta SkyMiles also awards MQDs for virtually all SkyMiles award tickets, including for travel on partner airlines.
Here are the basics of how this works:
- MQDs are offered not just for award flights on Delta, but also for award flights on Delta’s partner airlines
- In order to be eligible, the award ticket has to be issued by Delta, so award tickets issued through partner frequent flyer programs don’t qualify
- The eligible SkyMiles number must be on the award reservation, and the traveler earns the MQDs
- MQDs can be earned for travel in Main Cabin and above (so basic economy awards don’t qualify)
- MQDs are awarded at the rate of one MQD per 100 miles redeemed; in other words, each mile is valued at one cent for the purposes of a redemption, and redeeming 10,000 miles would earn you 100 MQDs
In the interest of being thorough, here are the official Delta SkyMiles terms for this benefit:
SkyMiles Members can earn MQDs on Award tickets operated by Delta and Delta Global Airline Partners, in Main Cabin (or equivalent) or above, when booked through any direct Delta channel. MQDs will be calculated based on miles redeemed toward the Award Ticket price divided by 100. Government-imposed taxes and fees do not earn MQDs.
With that out of the way, there are a few things to note. Based on my understanding, the MQDs tend to post correctly and quickly for award flights that are for travel on Delta. However, it’s a little less consistent for travel on partner airlines. It can often take one to two weeks for the MQDs to post, and sometimes they even have to be requested manually.
On top of that, there’s a known glitch whereby the booking page doesn’t necessarily show the correct number of MQDs for award flights. For example, take a Singapore to Jakarta award flight on Garuda Indonesia in business class. It costs 40,000 miles plus $65.20 in taxes, so it should offer 400 MQDs.
However, the “counter” suggests it earns 296 MQDs, and it’s my understanding that wouldn’t be correct.
As a reminder, Delta SkyMiles has the following elite thresholds:
- SkyMiles Silver Medallion status requires 5,000 MQDs
- SkyMiles Gold Medallion status requires 10,000 MQDs
- SkyMiles Platinum Medallion status requires 15,000 MQDs
- SkyMiles Diamond Medallion status requires 28,000 MQDs
How rewarding are award flights with Delta SkyMiles?
Among the “big three” US carriers, Delta SkyMiles is the most generous when it comes to counting award flights toward status. United MileagePlus counts award flights for travel on United (but not partner airlines) toward status, while American AAdvantage doesn’t count award flights toward status.
This is ultimately a nice feature of redeeming Delta SkyMiles, and it fits into the overall theme the airline goes for, which is that SkyMiles is like a revenue based currency toward flights, rather than offering some incredible, outsized redemptions.
For those on the status hamster wheel, perhaps it works out well, since you can redeem your miles toward flights without opportunity cost in terms of earning status.
In theory this sounds like it could be lucrative for partner award flights as well. The catch is that Delta SkyMiles’ premium cabin partner redemption rates are awful, at least when traveling to or from the United States. If anything, the sweet spot for Delta loyalists is flying partner airlines outside of the Americas, where you can get decent redemption rates, and earn MQDs.
Bottom line
Delta SkyMiles awards Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) for award flights, at the rate of one MQD per 100 SkyMiles redeemed. This applies to both Delta flights and partner flights, and it basically values miles at one cent each.
This is a positive aspect of the program, since it allows those chasing status to be rewarded even when they redeem miles. Now, it would be nice if SkyMiles redemption rates were more attractive, but that’s a whole different story…
What’s your take on earning Delta MQDs on award flights, including on partners?
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