American Express and Delta have a portfolio of co-branded credit cards. One of the useful features of the premium versions of these cards is that they can help you earn Medallion elite status in the Delta SkyMiles program.
Delta lets you spend your way toward status, and in theory, you could even earn top-tier status with Delta exclusively through credit card spending. Delta used to be the only one of the “big three” US carriers to allow this, though with American AAdvantage’s Loyalty Points system, you can also earn AAdvantage elite status with credit card spending.
There’s no airline in the United States I’d rather fly consistently than Delta, and in the past I’ve often considered trying to spend my way toward status with Delta. That’s something I’m not considering anymore, as I generally find elite status to be less valuable than it used to be, and also because the opportunity cost of spending on airline co-branded credit cards is big.
In this post, I wanted to take a close look at the current state of earning Delta Medallion elite status through credit card spending, especially in light of the elevated bonuses we’re seeing on Delta credit cards.
In this post:
Delta SkyMiles Medallion status requirements
Delta SkyMiles has four Medallion elite tiers, with the following annual qualification requirements:
- Delta Silver Medallion requires 25,000 MQMs OR 30 MQSs AND 3,000 MQDs
- Delta Gold Medallion requires 50,000 MQMs OR 60 MQSs AND 8,000 MQDs
- Delta Platinum Medallion requires 75,000 MQMs OR 100 MQSs AND 12,000 MQDs
- Delta Diamond Medallion requires 125,000 MQMs OR 140 MQSs AND 20,000 MQDs
For those not familiar with MQMs, MQSs, or MQDs:
- MQMs are Medallion Qualifying Miles, which refer to the number of elite miles you earn (this can vary based on the type of ticket you’re booking, so you don’t always earn one MQM per mile flown)
- MQSs are Medallion Qualifying Segments, which refer to the number of elite segments you earn (again, you don’t always earn one MQS per segment flown, as it varies based on the type of fare)
- MQDs are Medallion Qualifying Dollars, which refer to how much you have to spend on your ticket to earn status; taxes and many fees are excluded from this total
Delta Amex Medallion Qualifying Dollar waiver
You can get a waiver on the MQD requirement with Delta Amex credit cards, as follows:
- You can get the MQD requirement waived for Silver, Gold, and Platinum status, if you spend at least $25,000 on a Platinum or Reserve Delta Amex during the calendar year
- You can get the MQD requirement waived for Diamond status if you spend at least $250,000 on a Platinum or Reserve Delta Amex during the calendar year
- If you have multiple cards, spending across the cards counts toward the waiver
Earning Delta MQMs with credit card spending
There are opportunities to earn MQMs for spending on an ongoing basis with Delta’s premium Amex cards. Let’s look at how that differs across the Platinum and Reserve cards, as you earn MQMs at different rates.
Delta Platinum Amex MQMs for spending
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (review) and Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (review) offer the following for ongoing spending:
- Earn 10,000 bonus MQMs after spending $25,000
- Earn an additional 10,000 bonus MQMs after spending $50,000
That means spending $50,000 on either of the cards would earn you 20,000 MQMs, or if you spent $50,000 on both of these cards you’d earn 40,000 MQMs.
Delta Reserve Amex MQMs for spending
The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (review) and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (review) offer the following for ongoing spending:
- Earn 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $30,000
- Earn an additional 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $60,000
- Earn an additional 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $90,000
- Earn an additional 15,000 bonus MQMs after spending $120,000
That means spending $120,000 on either of these cards would earn you a bonus of 60,000 MQMs, and if you spent $240,000 on both of the cards you’d earn a total of 120,000 MQMs.
Crunching numbers on Delta credit card spending
Ignoring any welcome offers (since those are “once in a lifetime”), on an annual basis you can earn:
- 20,000 bonus MQMs for spending $50,000 on each of the Delta Platinum cards
- 60,000 bonus MQMs for spending $120,000 on each of the Delta Reserve cards
If you want to earn MQMs as efficiently as possible, the Reserve is the way to go, since you’re earning half an MQM per dollar spent, in the right increments.
$120,000 of spending earns you 60,000 MQMs, and if you had both the personal and business version, you’d be looking at 120,000 MQMs for $240,000 of spending.
These are obviously huge amounts to spend and it won’t be possible for everyone, but I know plenty of people who spend a lot on credit cards through reimbursable business expenses, etc., so something like this could make a lot of sense.
Using credit cards to earn Delta Silver, Gold, or Platinum status
I’d say earning Delta SkyMiles Medallion Silver, Gold, or Platinum status is extremely attainable with the help of credit cards. For one, you can knock out the MQD requirement (which is a major roadblock for people) by spending $25,000 on the Platinum or Reserve products.
Even taking a simple strategy, if you spent $60,000 on a Delta Reserve Card you’d be earning 30,000 MQMs:
- That’s more than enough for Silver status
- That puts you 20,000 MQMs from Gold status
- That puts you 45,000 MQMs from Platinum status
Using credit cards to earn Delta Diamond status
Earning Delta SkyMiles Medallion Diamond status through credit cards takes a bit more commitment.
The first thing to keep in mind is that Diamond status requires either 20,000 MQDs (meaning you have to spend $20,000 on Delta ticket purchases in a year, before taxes and fees), or you need to spend $250,000 on credit cards annually to get that waived.
In many ways, if you want to earn Diamond status with the help of credit cards, you should go “all-in” (though there’s a huge opportunity cost to that). The best strategy for going all-in here is to:
- Spend $240,000 across the personal and business Reserve cards, so you’d be looking at earning 120,000 MQMs
- You’d then want to spend an extra $10,000 to get the MQD waiver (you’d then be spending $250,000 per year on these cards), so that you don’t have to spend $20,000 on Delta flights to earn Diamond status
You’d then be just 5,000 MQMs short of earning Diamond status, which should be easy. Of course, there are some huge catches here:
- There’s a massive opportunity cost to spending that much on a Delta card, since you can earn more valuable rewards with other cards
- You have to decide how much value you’d actually get out of Diamond status; if you take just a few flights per year with Delta, it’s probably not worth it
Share your Delta Medallion MQMs with others
If you earn Delta MQMs through credit card spending, you can actually share those with others. That’s to say that you can choose for what account you want to redeem those MQMs. You can have your spouse, parent, sibling, friend, etc., open up a card, and then they could give you MQMs.
Delta offers rollover Medallion MQMs
Delta offers rollover MQMs, so if you over qualify for a status level over the course of a year, whatever miles you earn above a particular status level roll over to the following year.
For example, if you end the year with 45,000 MQMs you’d earn Silver status, but that only requires 25,000 MQMs. So 20,000 MQMs would roll over to the next year.
That can play into this strategy as well.
Opportunity cost of credit card spending
The best return on spending if you’re trying to earn Delta SkyMiles Medallion elite status is with the Delta Reserve Card. Let’s say you spend $120,000 on the card in a year, and earn 60,000 MQMs.
Spending $120,000 would earn you a total of 120,000 redeemable SkyMiles and 60,000 MQMs. I value SkyMiles at ~1.1 cents each, so to me that’s ~$1,320 of “concrete” value in miles, plus the value of the MQMs.
Then you have to consider the alternatives, which would probably be one of the best credit cards for everyday spending:
- The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) can offer 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent; on $120,000 of spending I would value that at $3,060 (to me Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.7 cents each), meaning with the Reserve you’d be giving up about $1,740 of “value,” but you’d be getting 60,000 MQMs
- The Citi® Double Cash Card (review) can offer 2x ThankYou points per dollar spent; on $120,000 of spending I would value that at $4,080 (to me ThankYou points are worth 1.7 cents each), meaning with the Reserve you’d be giving up about $2,760 of “value,” but you’d be getting 60,000 MQMs
- The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) can offer 2x Venture miles per dollar spent; on $120,000 of spending I would value that at $4,080 (to me Capital One miles are worth 1.7 cents each), meaning with the Reserve you’d be giving up about $2,760 of “value,” but you’d be getting 60,000 MQMs
To simplify it even further, at certain thresholds of spending you’re earning one SkyMile and 0.5 MQMs per dollar spent.
If you value SkyMiles at 1.1 cents and consider the opportunity cost of spending to be 2.55-3.4%, you’re essentially paying 2.9-4.6 cents per MQM. At that rate that’s the equivalent of “paying” ~$3,625-5,750 for Diamond status.
That’s not accounting for the annual fee on the cards either, since everyone will account for those costs differently, based on how much value they get out of card perks.
Bottom line
Delta makes it fairly attainable to earn SkyMiles Medallion elite status exclusively through credit card spending, or through a combination of credit card spending and flying. At a minimum, having a co-branded credit card with MQM earning potential can greatly help you earn Silver, Gold, or Platinum Medallion status.
However, for the really hardcore credit card spender, putting enough spending on Delta co-branded credit cards could earn you Diamond status. You’d want to spend at least $250,000 so you could get the MQD waiver, but that would make the status quite attainable beyond that.
If you want to earn Delta SkyMiles Medallion status, then the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card are the cards you should be considering.
To Delta loyalists, to what extent do you use Delta Amex cards to earn Medallion status?
I fly enough on Delta to earn Gold status so putting $30k a year on the Delta Reserve is an easy way to boost up to Platinum status by getting an additional 15k MQM while also waiving the MQD spend requirement (especially when compared to booking status runs to earn the equivalent by flying). The four regional upgrade certificates, auto upgrades to Comfort+ and occasional first class upgrade not to mention improved customer support as...
I fly enough on Delta to earn Gold status so putting $30k a year on the Delta Reserve is an easy way to boost up to Platinum status by getting an additional 15k MQM while also waiving the MQD spend requirement (especially when compared to booking status runs to earn the equivalent by flying). The four regional upgrade certificates, auto upgrades to Comfort+ and occasional first class upgrade not to mention improved customer support as a Platinum Medallion more than outweighs any opportunity cost I might have earned on another card.
There is a strategy for getting perpetual Diamond via credit card spend for a net outlay of single digit thousands per year over and above one's normal Delta earning.
If you get 10k MQM per year (easy now that award travel on DL metal paid with SkyPesos, especially if the mileage prices are particularly high) you can every other January make a payment to the IRS of about $245k on personal and business Reserve cards...
There is a strategy for getting perpetual Diamond via credit card spend for a net outlay of single digit thousands per year over and above one's normal Delta earning.
If you get 10k MQM per year (easy now that award travel on DL metal paid with SkyPesos, especially if the mileage prices are particularly high) you can every other January make a payment to the IRS of about $245k on personal and business Reserve cards (at least $120k on each). The processor will add about $5k in fees total, which takes you over the waiver threshold in January and you get 120k MQM. File taxes in February and the IRS will refund you the $245k. If you have more than 5k MQM from rollover or January flights, you're then Diamond until the end of January of year +2 because you're qualifying for year +1, Delta gives you a grace month in January of year +2, and gives you the new status for the current year.
The net outlay in this strategy is the $5k plus whatever it costs you to tie up $245k for a month and a half, which is $8k at most based on a 24% APR. Since you only have to do this every other year, that's a $6,500 annual outlay for Diamond every year, though you only get one set of Choice Benefits. The recent changes to the GUC/RUC rules mean your new certs are good for 24 months, though.
I actually suspect that the reason AA shifted to a March-February elite year is to make this sort of thing difficult, since tax payments after January 15 are credited to next year's taxes.
And each person must ask oneself whether the tier status is worth that expense. If the answer is yes and the person has the $250k to employ, swell. But, I'm not certain how many takers there would be.
This strategy seems logically sound... but wouldn't there be a credit limit on the Amex Reserve(non-business). I can see it working flawlessly for platinum status. Diamond seems to be alot more work. As it should be.
I have a huge stash of MQMs that rollover each year from signup bonuses and some partner flights that were very lucrative. So my strategy is to spend 25k on my personal Platinum card, get the waiver and MQM bump, and then not spend anything else on that card for the year. I qualify for platinum medallion status and use the companion certificate and regional upgrade certificates, and to me that justifies the "opportunity cost"...
I have a huge stash of MQMs that rollover each year from signup bonuses and some partner flights that were very lucrative. So my strategy is to spend 25k on my personal Platinum card, get the waiver and MQM bump, and then not spend anything else on that card for the year. I qualify for platinum medallion status and use the companion certificate and regional upgrade certificates, and to me that justifies the "opportunity cost" of not spending on a different card, as well as covering the annual fee.
While SkyMiles themselves are hard to get great value from, Delta does run occasional flash sales, and the new Take15 benefit should stretch them further.
I usually qualify for Diamond every year by flying and the most valuable perk of that status is the 4 Global upgrades. Delta has made that less interesting since now you have to buy international economy plus to be able to upgrade to Delta One but still those upgrades can save you thousands of $. Just used one to upgrade to Delta One on a ticket I paid $2,800 vs almost $10k if I were...
I usually qualify for Diamond every year by flying and the most valuable perk of that status is the 4 Global upgrades. Delta has made that less interesting since now you have to buy international economy plus to be able to upgrade to Delta One but still those upgrades can save you thousands of $. Just used one to upgrade to Delta One on a ticket I paid $2,800 vs almost $10k if I were to buy Delta One. Other than that, Platinum is good enough although if you live in a hub like me a Platinum will never see an upgrade to domestic first class.
The problem with all these Delta cards is that they earn worthless Skypesos. So you're forgoing reward points with actual value when you spend on these cards (i.e., Chase points, Aeroplan, etc.). I think these cards could be worth it for a one-time signup bonus, but then cancelled as the opportunity cost is simply too high. Delta elite status is becoming less valuable over the years anyway with said worthless skypesos greatly devaluing redemptions, and...
The problem with all these Delta cards is that they earn worthless Skypesos. So you're forgoing reward points with actual value when you spend on these cards (i.e., Chase points, Aeroplan, etc.). I think these cards could be worth it for a one-time signup bonus, but then cancelled as the opportunity cost is simply too high. Delta elite status is becoming less valuable over the years anyway with said worthless skypesos greatly devaluing redemptions, and upgrades becoming scarcer and scarcer unless you're a diamond on a high fare.
I personally do not find the opportunity cost worth it . I carry the reserve card for the companion certificate and the 2 sky club guest passes ( and the occasional comfort plus upgrade) That alone justifies the annual fee for me. I also live near Cleveland which does not have a dominant airline, so chasing status with is not worth it.
Agreed with most comments here, the sweet spot is ignoring Diamond and just getting the $25K MQD waiver for Platinum because otherwise the benefits really are minimal now (upgrades out of a fortress hub like ATL are virtually nil even at Platinum except for maybe the last flight out).
One key benefit of the Delta AMEX Biz Plat (not the Reserve) is the 1.5x for large purchases ($5K+ I believe). So my only spending...
Agreed with most comments here, the sweet spot is ignoring Diamond and just getting the $25K MQD waiver for Platinum because otherwise the benefits really are minimal now (upgrades out of a fortress hub like ATL are virtually nil even at Platinum except for maybe the last flight out).
One key benefit of the Delta AMEX Biz Plat (not the Reserve) is the 1.5x for large purchases ($5K+ I believe). So my only spending on the card is some of my estimated taxes reducing the opportunity cost to .5x versus a Venture X (or AMEX BBP) plus the 15% off awards does seem to be a real (albeit modest) benefit from my first booking...
Agreed about the solid DL soft product but their hard product could use some serious investment! My Delta One trip this summer in a 767-300 looks pretty uninspired. My fall ANA RTW trip in J looks way better in NH, SQ and TK 787's and A350's!
Imagine you put that spending on the Amex Business Platinum and earn 1.5X MR points instead. You then use the airfare rebate to receive 1.538 cents per MR point . . . plus, you earn Delta points on the booking. If you have Platinum tier status, in the end, the total value of each MR point is about 1.73 cents. Your economics might be better with the Amex Business Platinum as opposed to the Delta...
Imagine you put that spending on the Amex Business Platinum and earn 1.5X MR points instead. You then use the airfare rebate to receive 1.538 cents per MR point . . . plus, you earn Delta points on the booking. If you have Platinum tier status, in the end, the total value of each MR point is about 1.73 cents. Your economics might be better with the Amex Business Platinum as opposed to the Delta Business Platinum. You would need to apply your numbers and see the result.
Lee - the issue is that by earning Platinum over something like Gold, you earn "value" on every Delta flight you take - regardless of how you purchase the flights.
1) You earn 1 more mile per dollar (9 versus 8) on all flights
2) You have chance for first class upgrades (say you earn a few upgrades per year, and value them at $100)
3) You earn choice benefits - 20,000 Skymiles...
Lee - the issue is that by earning Platinum over something like Gold, you earn "value" on every Delta flight you take - regardless of how you purchase the flights.
1) You earn 1 more mile per dollar (9 versus 8) on all flights
2) You have chance for first class upgrades (say you earn a few upgrades per year, and value them at $100)
3) You earn choice benefits - 20,000 Skymiles and maybe 4 regional upgrade certificates
In addition to the cents per point, you need to value the incremental benefits of earning Platinum over Gold, Gold over Silver, etc. Conceptually, you spend on cards like Delta Platinum/Reserve, or cards in the Citi/AA program, to earn a status level above one you would earn organically. And the benefits of status are relevant for those taking a lot of paid flghts, typically domestic when we are talking about Delta, American and United.
I agree with what you say. But, I maintain that each person must do the math for one's specific circumstances. What is the expected benefit and what is the expense cost to achieve that benefit?
Agree that DL is a great ride. Unfortunately, their loyalty program is terrible for anyone trying to redeem miles for international Business Class travel. Any pursuit of status with their program, especially via credit card spend, is a fool’s errand.
The sweet spot in $30k on the Reserve, and then switch to a more lucrative card. This is essentially what I shoot for: get the MQD waiver, then spend to get the first bonus MQMs.
The grand majority of my business travel is domestic (where company rules only allow me to purchase an economy ticket), so I can easily hit the mile requirement but sometimes the spend requirement can be weird, depending on what clients I had that year.
The technical term for spending $250,000 on something that otherwise costs $20,000 is “absolute stupidity.”
What benefit does tier status provide that a domestic first class ticket does not?
Attaining Platinum status via Delta credit card spending imposes an opportunity cost (vs. value garnered from other credit cards) of $2000 to $2500. Diamond imposes an opportunity cost of $4000 to $5000.
Why not take those dollars and simply pay for upgrades? You have your upgraded seat and all of the benefits.
The opportunity cost is vastly overstated as people aren't spending that much solely on status... The real spend is $30K (you get the Platinum MQD waiver and you get 15K of MQM to supplement your organic flying) - that is opportunity cost of $450 or so. RUC alone can be worth several hundred, and you also get 20K SkyMiles (conservatively valued at $200).
The title of the article is: Is Earning Delta SkyMiles Elite Status With Credit Cards Worth It?" My comment spoke to that specific question and expressly stated attaining tier status VIA CREDIT CARD SPENDING.
Had the title instead been "Is Using Credit Cards To Attain Higher Delta SkyMiles Elite Status Worth It?", I would have spoken to that very different question. Of course, the answer depends wholly on each person's circumstances. Where is the person...
The title of the article is: Is Earning Delta SkyMiles Elite Status With Credit Cards Worth It?" My comment spoke to that specific question and expressly stated attaining tier status VIA CREDIT CARD SPENDING.
Had the title instead been "Is Using Credit Cards To Attain Higher Delta SkyMiles Elite Status Worth It?", I would have spoken to that very different question. Of course, the answer depends wholly on each person's circumstances. Where is the person starting and where does the person want to finish?
I should also say that if a person attains tier status organically, as it seems you do, fine. But, if a person does not and is going to incur an expense that one would not otherwise incur, what does that math look like? Reasonable?
No, it is absolutely not worth it to earn status with credit cards. Anyone who earns status with credits cards, ipso facto, is not earning status by flying. And if someone flies so sporadically that flying does not meaningfully contribute to status they absolutely do not need that status.
Instead, they should be applying credit card spend to more generous cards.
The recent partner devaluations may have changed the maths. It’s a high price to pay to get Delta MQM’s, The floor on the redeemable miles is more like 1c per mile now.
It's kind of the opposite - the 15% "discount" associated with the cards on redemptions puts domestic redemptions closer to 1.4-1.5 cents, maybe as high as 1.5 cents.
In terms of international business class, it's Flash Sales for Delta. Otherwise it is a waste.
I have generally put about 30K on my Delta Reserve - to get the Platinum MQD waiver and a 15K MQM Bump. That was valuable during the pandemic to accumulate MQM due to rollover. 250K is a lot of spend to put on a Delta card - If I had that kind of spend, other cards would come first.
I *may* do 60K on the Reserve this year as I am doing some more American...
I have generally put about 30K on my Delta Reserve - to get the Platinum MQD waiver and a 15K MQM Bump. That was valuable during the pandemic to accumulate MQM due to rollover. 250K is a lot of spend to put on a Delta card - If I had that kind of spend, other cards would come first.
I *may* do 60K on the Reserve this year as I am doing some more American Airlines flying, so I may be under my usual flying MQM with Delta. As long as I have one paid business trip to Europe, Diamond MQD should be attainable without the Diamond card waiver. I imagine most Delta Diamonds get there via a paid business class international flight or two, combined with domestic travel and credit card spending.